Customer Ratings & Reviews

Worked better than advertised. Very nice high quality unit with clear voices and clean bass. Linked two BT devices without an issue. Optical connections work perfect. Low profile so not to interfere with the bottom of the TV. Links: https://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio_visual/sound_bar/sr-b20a/index.html https://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio_visual/sound_bar/sr-b20a/downloads.html#product-tabs Details: Product highlights: two-channel sound bar with simulated 3D surround sound two 1" dome tweeters two 2-1/8" cone midrange drivers two 3" cone woofers built-in amplifiers: 30 watts x 2 for front left and right drivers, 60 watts for bass drivers DTS Virtual:X digital sound processing emulates object-based surround sound like DTS:X and Dolby Atmos simulated surround and height-channel speakers create a spacious, lively soundstage built-in Bluetooth for wireless music streaming from compatible devices Dolby® Digital and DTS decoding Clear Voice mode for clearer, louder dialogue with movies and shows listening modes: stereo, standard, movie, and game Connections and general info: 1 HDMI ARC connection 2 optical digital audio inputs mono RCA subwoofer output for adding your own powered subwoofer free downloadable Sound Bar Remote app for Apple® and Android™ lets you control the bar via Bluetooth with your smartphone keyhole slots for wall-mounting remote with subwoofer volume control 35-7/8"W x 2-1/8"H x 5-1/8"D weight: 7.1 lbs. warranty: 2 years MFR # SRB20A No A/V receiver required. What's in the box: Yamaha SR-B20A owner's manual Active soundbar speaker 6' AC power cord Remote control (CR2025 3V battery (installed) 5' Optical digital cable 2 Spacers Quick Start Guide Wall-Mount Template Product Registration Safety Brochure Warranty Information Contact Information

This new sound bar from Yamaha combines the brand’s usual thoughtful design and excellent build quality with solid performance that should be a major upgrade from almost any built-in TV speakers. This versatile design can be positioned on a TV stand or wall mounted and connects via HDMI (ARC) or optical cable (one of the latter is included in the box). A handy remote is included, but touch controls are also available on the front of the device itself. Sound quality is smooth and, clear, and louder than one might expect for a bar of this size, and although the “built in subwoofers” obviously cannot overcome the laws of physics, I found bass performance to be quite strong. I used an optical audio source and everything I tested from music to movies to video games (complete with convincing booming of battleship shells as they were fired) sounded excellent. In addition to truly superb stereo separation, there are simulated surround sound and elevation effects which, while not a replacement for a true surround speaker setup, offer an impressively broad and rich sound stage. Yamaha offers a broad range of options to make it easy to control the speakers, including a hand held remote (batteries included), CEC control from devices like smart TV’s, and a smartphone control app which connects via Bluetooth and allows configuration of various effects and sound modes in addition to basic volume and source control. Kudos to Yamaha for also including easy to use touch controls on the unit itself so you can easily turn it on or off or adjust volume without having to reach for a remote. Pros: - Attractive, thoughtful design and high quality construction mean this device will look great in any living room. - Audio performance that exceeds expectations for a setup of this size (and without a dedicated separate subwoofer too). - Outstanding sound stage and stereo separation make everything from music to movies to games sound great. - Options to help make movie and TV dialog louder and clearer - Easy to use remote and front panel controls. - Can be table or wall mounted. Cons: - No options for rear speakers (but there is an output for a separate subwoofer) - No built-in support for Chromecast or AirPlay If you’re looking for an easy to setup and easy to use option to dramatically improve the sound from your TV without the hassle of rear speakers and a dedicated receiver, this sound bar should fit the bill very nicely and is easy to recommend.

Yamaha has been making good sound for years. I’ve had Yamaha instruments and a Yamaha receiver. This is my first Soundbar from the company. I was very impressed. It’s small, but powerful. It delivers a very well balanced stage which genuinely fills the room. It also has a subwoofer output which works with any standard unit. I paired the sound bar with an older model I had previously used with a home theatre amp. The sound bar blended very nicely with the subwoofer, even though they weren’t made for each other. When it comes to surround, Yamaha has positioned the speakers inside the bar in a way they send the sound all around. While not true surround, it’s significantly better than what comes from my TV. It makes it reasonable to enjoy movies in my bedroom when I don’t feel like fighting my kids for the home theatre set up in the living room. For music, there’s a full, rich sound. Stereo mode brings a good bit of separation, despite the whole bar being only 36” long. Bass is noticeably present, even without a subwoofer. Connecting with bluetooth allows this to beat the pants off any portable speaker in the same price range. It mounts easily to a wall and its black finish fits in with any decor. This speaker will definitely be appreciated in my house for many yeas to come.

I was actually quite disappointed with the speaker. I thought for the money and the brand it was going to sound a lot better than it does. The built in subwoofer is almost a waste and I feel like I got better sound out of my 10 year old LG sound bar than this.

I am enjoying this sound bar. It was very easy to set up. This sound bar did not come with a hdmi cord, which delayed my initial set up. It will work without it, but then you have two different volume controls. The sound quality makes movies and games come to life. Blends well with my furniture nicely. You can’t go wrong with this device. Very pleased.

I have the sound bar connected to my PC, which I consume most of my media from, via optical cable. When I’m not gaming or watching a movie or video, I Bluetooth music to the soundbar from my phone while doing things around the house. The sound coming from the sound bar is loud and clear when you have clear voice and 3d sound turned on. I found that the Bass extension was a little distorted and not really necessary. For me the best setting for the subwoofer was at 2. Music and action scenes become immersive, and for me, are miles above any built in speaker in a modern tv. The accompanying app allows you to adjust input, turn on or off sound settings, select preset sound profiles, as well as adjust subwoofer and device volume. One of the neat things I didn’t expect is the app works while connected to via optic cable. Once you connect your phone via Bluetooth and use the app, the app still works even if you’re not using audio through your phone. This eliminates annoying back and forward pairing. This is a great sounding sound bar. It will enhance any home setup and if you never thought about getting a sound bar for your computer or gaming setup, I would recommend it as it changes from a “computer setup” to more of a media center.

I like the sleek design of the Yamaha SR-B20A but otherwise, don’t find anything else particularly compelling about it. It’s a basic sound bar with few extras, the most noteworthy being Bluetooth connectivity that allows streaming to the bar from Bluetooth enabled devices. Although the sound bar is ARC-capable, only a thin, basic optical cable is included. The exclusion of even a cheap generic HDMI cable is puzzling and forces purchasers of this sound bar who own ARC-equipped televisions or receivers to supply their own HDMI cable. The size and footprint of the bar are just right and the low profile design should fit in front of most non-mounted sets without obstructing the bottom of the screen. Each side of the sound bar has a bass port. Sound quality is average. It doesn’t sound bad but doesn’t sound great either. It’s somewhat generic sounding and lacks the warmth, clarity and richness of some similarly priced competing sound bars. My biggest issue with the sound is that the volume is noticeably quieter than the smaller sound bar that this bar briefly replaced. On the prior smaller bar, a volume level of 12 is normally sufficient for watching television in a quiet environment from 12-15 feet away. I have to more than double the volume well into the 20’s on this Yamaha to achieve the same loudness under similar conditions. Also, there is little noticeable difference in sound quality with surround and/or enhanced bass enabled. Enhanced bass slightly increases resonance but doesn’t come anywhere close to the room vibrating performance of even an inexpensive dedicated subwoofer. Surround is the same, having very little noticeable impact on overall sound. Clear voice does effectively help isolate dialogue for better clarity and feels like the most effective of the three enhancements. ARC performance seems somewhat glitchy. My other sound bars allow me to adjust the sound bar volume through either my TV or cable remotes. None of my television or cable remotes work with this Yamaha through ARC. I’m forced to use either the included remote. The included remote is comfortably sized and works fine. However, there are flashing indicator LEDs on the sound bar to indicate certain remote commands seems a little odd. For example, the number of LED flashes indicates whether certain features are being toggled on or off. Why not just a single binary state LED to indicate whether a feature has been toggled on or off? Yamaha also offers a smartphone app available for both iOS and Android that makes remote control a little easier but that’s assuming it actually connects to the sound bar. Once connected, it basically performs the same functions as the physical remote, just a little more efficiently. Despite my listing several cons, this isn’t a terrible sound bar. I just can’t recommend it at this price point. There are too many other sound bars available that are similarly priced but sound nicer and have more additional features. Some even include wireless subwoofers that sound much better than the built-in subwoofers on this bar. I’m also left scratching my head wondering why Yamaha felt it necessary to include an optical cable yet exclude an HDMI cable. I realize not all manufacturers bundle HDMI cables with their devices but I typically find a bundled HDMI along with other cables when I purchase a sound bar. It didn’t take me long to remove the Yamaha and put the previous sound bar back in place. I really like the size and design but am not a fan of the sound or operation.

The sound and set up of the Yamaha are second to none! First the sound is amazing and with built in sub it takes up little space. Last the Bluetooth connections make little use for wires - Buy, Buy!!!

This is a great compact, low profile option for upgrading your sound system/tv in any viewing area. I got it specifically for my "man cave" area. I have a rec room/gym/ sports watching type room that has a big screen projection viewer but with stock box sound. This system fit my needs perfectly. Its not a huge room, so the compact size works great and fills the space with sound. It is blue tooth and multi use capable, so i can listen to music from my phone, watch tv, movies, sports etc. all with the click of a button. It also has custom sound settings for movies, sports, music etc. which changes the levels and depth of sound to fit what is coming through it. I really like this thing. It has completed my system.

Depending on what you’re looking for, this may fit your requirements, but there are a couple quirks related to this model, so be sure this is exactly what you’re looking for before purchasing. This model is designed to be super compact and functions best when wall mounted under your TV. It has built-in subwoofers to add some low end, but does include a subwoofer output connection if you wish to add an external subwoofer for more impact. Unboxing and setup was very easy but noticed a couple minor cons right off the bat. They didn’t include any wall mounting hardware, which is surprising considering that’s how this is designed to be installed, and they didn’t include an HDMI cable for the ARC hookup method. Not deal breakers, but something to be aware of. Moving onto overall design, the unit was extremely easy to hookup and turn on, but there is a little bit of a lack of feedback from the unit. The LEDs on the front of the unit are fairly basic, and the remote offers no feedback either. It’s pretty easy to tell your making sound, and the sound level can be indicated by how loud it is, but it’s harder to understand which EQ or “mode” you have selected. There are quite a few choices like Clear Voice or 3D Surround, that unless you know exactly which LED it is, you have to get pretty up close and personal with the sound bar to look at the labels for the specific LEDs that are turned on. Sound quality was adequate for this level of sound bar, but nothing I’d personally write home about. It’s an improvement over most built in TV speakers, and will allow for more volume and will fill a room, but it’s just adequate. The sound quality was much better over one of the wired connections that it was over Bluetooth. I tried streaming music from 2 different Bluetooth devices and both times the audio sounded compressed and lacked a huge amount of quality. Comparing the same audio track via HDMI made a very noticeable improvement to the point I’d not recommend using this if you’re planning to connect your TV via Bluetooth. Overall, if you’re looking for a nice compact, wall mountable, AIO type sound bar that you will connect hardwired via HDMI (ARC) or SPDIF, this will serve you great. This sound bar would also serve well in instances where you utilize shared walls like an apartment where you can’t have loud thumping from a dedicated external subwoofer. It has some low end that you can hear but not as much feel which would be great in that scenario.

I like that you have options. It’s not just one sound. Stereo, Standard, Movie and Game. Each has a unique sound. You also can add more bass, see the Ext Bass button. It does add a bass undertone during dialogues but you can turn down the subwoofer so it’s not as heavy, see pic. For me, Stereo is my best option and with the bass ext off, because you can hear the voices better while still getting that subwoofer sound. Movie sound is my next option after Stereo. Connection: I use the HDMI, doesn’t come with one, however it comes with a opt out audio cord. With the hdmi, it works good with powering on/off with my TV so 1 remote is used. I use the Yamaha remote only for the sound adjustment and Bluetooth. Bluetooth: YES! There is an on/off switch for that. It’s not just constantly on. I say yes because nobody can just prank you and connect into your sound bar and play their phone music!, so that is a huge PLUS with this sound bar and why I recommend! Great all around sound bar with the subwoofer built-in which leaves for plenty of space.

Pros: Works well for gaming Compact size Cons: Comes with just an optical and my TV works better when using hdmi I use this on a TV primarily used for gaming. I have another soundbar with a set of speakers and a sub that I use for the main TV. I just wanted to try out something small to make gaming more fun. I wish this came with an option other than optical to hook up since hdmi is easier with the TV we use for gaming. The war game played by my husband definitely is louder and delivers a different experience with a soundbar vs just the TV. My husband is on the fence at this point though and might stick to wearing headphones vs using this. It's louder than our TV which has had some volume issues in the past but doesn't compare to our larger soundbar. The sound is OK and the bass is decent. Not sure I would recommend this without trying other compact soundbars first.

Knowing that new TVs have horrible speakers we decided to get this Yamaha - SR-B20A Sound Bar for our recently purchased 4k Roku TV in our bedroom. The first thing I noticed out of the box was the sleek design and low profile of the Yamaha sound bar. I also noticed when I picked it up that the mesh felt-like covering was very loose. I felt if it was to slip out of my hands the covering would just rip off. Set up was very easy. Yamaha supplies an optical audio cable with the unit so you will have to buy or use your own HDMI cable if you want to use the ARC port on your TV. It also comes with a mounting template for attaching to a wall under your TV which even though I didn't do I would recommend because of the speaker configuration. That bring me to the sound performance. When I first turned it on I thought I must have hooked it up wrong. I was standing 5 feet in front of the TV and sound bar and the sound was not much better then my TV. It felt as though the sound was coming from under my TV where the TV speakers are. Turns out when you don't wall mount the Yamaha - SR-B20A the 4 best speakers ( 2 bass and 2 midrange on each end) are facing upward and not towards you. The sound seemed to get lost. There are 2 small tweeters in the front but they are almost unrecognizable. I guess they do this to get that 3D surround feeling but in no way do I feel any immersive sound that Yamaha is shooting for. I tried turning the speaker upright to change the orientation but it is very unstable and blocks the bottom of the TV that way. Once I turned the volume way I up I was able to get a good quality sound out of the sound bar. Because the speakers face upward in the non mounted orientation, it feels as if the whole room needs to fill up with sound before the quality starts to get decent which meant that I had to turn my TV volume up into the 30's level to get good sound. Without this sound bar even though the TV speakers weren't good I only had to turn the TV to the low 20's to get understandable sound. The last thing I want when watching TV in the bedroom is to have the whole room filled with sound. The EQ presets are fine. There's 4 choices to choose from but I found out just choosing stereo output worked the best. There is also a port to hook up a powered subwoofer which I would recommend due to the lack of punch in bass from the included sub's. We will continue to use this but I'm sure with some exploring you can find just as good or better sound bar for less.

While I’m listening to music or watching my favorite tv series, the sound is crisp and vibrant. You can either use the controller by connecting it to your phone with Bluetooth or the controller it comes with to choose how you would like the sounds to be. I personally love the Yamaha sound bar since I enjoy listening to music often and it’s able to make the songs I play sound like I’m actually in a concert! Even though I barely play video games on my own, The sound quality is amazing and worth the money. I would totally recommend this to my peers and family members to make movie night a bit better!!!

This sounds bar far exceeded my expectations. It really feels like the sound bounces off the wall behind us when we watch movies. What’s also great is our tv is on the same wall where our kids hall is. It seems like since the sound bar faces the opposite way our kids don’t seem to be affected by it.