Customer Ratings & Reviews

Compact and powerfull. I was hoping for a little more bass however I can always add a sub.

I received this product in exchange for my fair and unbiased review. TL;DR - The SR-C20A is a compact, elegant sound bar but creates a big, full sound in small to medium spaces - offices and bedrooms - once you enable the surround mode. It has deep bass that, while not external subwoofer-punchy, reaches very low before dropping off, and is controllable via a phone app, something that other sound bars in this class seem to lack. It has a remote that doesn't feel cheap, unlike some. other options that are similarly priced. There is also plenty of switchable connectivity - optical input, analog (3.5mm aux jack) input, Bluetooth connection, and HDMI ARC (for TVs that support this feature). The more major of its two drawbacks is if you plan on using HDMI ARC to connect this to your TV, it lacks a pass-through so you lose that HDMI port - but don't worry, you don't need to connect this to your TV via HDMI at all as long as you don't care about the automatic power on/power off that HDMI enables. Also, the power adapter is of the "line lump" variety; I like to see integrated power supplies since it gives a cleaner look. All in all, it's a good sound bar with great audio quality and few shortcomings on connectivity and design. Unboxing and first impressions: Pop a couple of seals and tabs on the box and you'll open to find the power cord, an AC adapter (output of 20 volts @ 42 watts/2.1 amps), an optical cable, instructions and other literature (including a template and most of the hardware needed for wall mounting), and a remote all wrapped in plastic. Supported by foam on both ends of the box and wrapped in a soft foam sheet is the sound bar itself. Nothing too extraordinary, though the inclusion of an optical cable is a nice addition. I would have liked to also see an HDMI cable and a set of cables for analog input (3.5 to 3.5 cable and a 3.5 female to RCA L/R male adapter would be nice here). Setup is pretty straight-forward. You pop the battery tab out of the remote, you remote a piece of plastic film from the control buttons on top of the sound bar, you connect the power and whichever input cables you need (I tested out all three inputs and bluetooth), and you'll also want to download the app "Yamaha Sound Bar Remote" to your smartphone. (Note that there is also an app called "Yamaha Sound Bar Controller" that doesn't work with this sound bar.) The SR-C20A itself looks premium, overall. Matte black plastics with a glossy black control center on top and black cloth speaker grill that wraps around the front, sides, and top gives this an elegant look whether it's on or off. The 5 front panel LEDs glow white, with the Bluetooth indicator glowing blue when it's connected to a phone or other device. The LEDs are also used to indicate volume level as you turn the system volume up and down. Using the Sound Bar Remote app, you can turn the indicator LEDs to an off, dim, or bright setting when they're inactive. The remote is good. It's not perfect, but when it comes to remotes that come with sound bars, it's definitely better than what I'm used to seeing. It's roughly the same size as an iPhone 5 series or iPhone 12 Mini, and even though it doesn't weigh a lot, it feels pretty substantial. The plastic is strong, the buttons feel just right for a remote, and the curve makes it comfortable to hold. While I'm not a fan of coin cell batteries for remotes, the CR2025 in it should last a very long time before needing replacement. Usage and performance: Sound quality is good overall, as long as you have one of the three surround sound modes activated. The unaltered stereo mode sounded very "narrow" and lacked bass punch, even with the subwoofer turned up. The three surround modes - Standard, Movie, and Game - each filled the sound out in their own way. Standard mode gave all the music I threw at it - orchestra, jazz, hip-hop, and metal - a feeling of space as you listened, spreading out as if you were listening on a far larger audio system. Movie mode did the same for special effects in Black Hawk Down, the Matrix, and Ralph Breaks the Internet, while clearly defining where the center channel should be in the room. Gaming mode did introduce an even more well-defined center channel but at the expense of the expansive surround of Standard mode not being as strong - not that it's a bad thing if you decide to use this sound bar for your gaming battle station instead of a TV. As far as testing goes, I did put this through its paces with a few movies, some TV shows, gaming on PC, and gaming on an iPhone with Bluetooth audio. TV shows with studio audiences - game shows like Jeopardy, sitcoms like Everybody Loves Raymond, and even older fare like Full House - gave you the feeling that the actors were in front of you while the audience was behind you as long as you were in Standard or Movie surround mode. Dramas like House and The Morning Show, and the movies I tested with had clear dialog, music that didn't drown out the dialog, and the environmental effects were expansive while in movie mode; with the movies, the effects didn't have the bass punch you'd feel from a separate high-power subwoofer, but you could still hear it. One thing I usually have issues with - musical acts on TV - didn't have the problem I normally have with audio, where instruments drown out the vocals. Playing a few FPS games, you could get a real feel for where the action and your enemies were since the Game mode audio does a good job of helping you pinpoint where things would be. Again, the audio wasn't as punchy as if you were using a speaker set with a high-powered subwoofer, but in this case, it doesn't need to be. As for Bluetooth performance, I'm very impressed. Testing with an iPhone 11, music from Apple Music, Pandora, and SoundCloud sounded good; videos from YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, and Twitch sounded good; but perhaps the most impressive thing was nearly imperceivable audio lag while playing games; many Bluetooth devices have a slight lag and the SR-C20A just did not have one I noticed no matter what I played. It also supports multipoint Bluetooth connectivity, meaning you can have this sound bar connected to your phone and someone else's phone, tablet, or other device that supports Bluetooth audio output simultaneously; however, you'll only be able to play back from one device at a time. Now for the downsides: The power adapter isn't integrated into the unit. If you're placing the sound bar in or on a TV stand that's normally pushed to the wall, or you're connecting it to a wall-mounted TV, you'll need to account for hiding the power adapter. This could be alleviated with a sound bar that has an integrated power supply. This is yet another sound bar with HDMI ARC connectivity but no HDMI input. What this means is if you have a TV with 3 HDMI ports, you lose one as a video input to this. Going a step further, the instruction manual recommends running an HDMI cable between this sound bar and your TV even if your TV doesn't support ARC. Chances are that if your TV doesn't support HDMI ARC, your TV doesn't have HDMI CEC correctly implemented as well. Conclusion: The Yamaha SR-C20A is a solid sound bar. Compared to others in its class, it offers more and better features including switchable inputs, multipoint Bluetooth, an integrated subwoofer, and app control capability. The unit looks great and sounds great. The only drawbacks are the power adapter and the lack of HDMI pass-through. Otherwise, this is the best sound bar I've used in this class in an overall.

Yamaha is a great product and it works very well with my Toshiba 55" fire TV

Great sound and easy to setup at a great price. Compliments my TV nicely.

This sounded worse than the built-in speakers on our large samsung smart tv (with ARC port). We placed it in front of and under the tv, a few inches away. Tried cranking bass. The sound was not impressive to me at all and built in speakers had more of a surround quality. It's very good as a regular, inexpensive speaker. Not better than speakers on a high end large tv. Disappointed.

The sound bar was easy enough to set up. I put cable in wrong slot at first, but figured it out.

Awesome sound. Just wish it adapted the volume when you change channels or commercials.

Compact still powerfull. Bought this for a 32 " tv and was surprised of clarity of sound for the price.

Awesome Product! Love it. Works Great and Sounds Amazing!!

Loud and sounds really good. It comes with an app to change the settings too

Works well, sounds great. Just wish it had a universal remote like my previous soundbar

Needed a sound bar to focus sound forward. Size and simplicity were main features in decision making. Didn’t need a separate woofer speaker unit. All in one soundbar was what I was looking for to purchase. Price point was good

Very happy with my new sound bar! Really enhances my tv sound. Being 65, I need a little help and this fits the bill.

Great sound quality. Easy to attach to tv and mount on the wall. Enjoys the sound.

Incredible compact sound love the built-in sub. Highly recommended for smaller applications.

Easy to install and setup. We’ve have had virtually no problems with its production since it was installed.

Amazing sound and affordable price. Would recommend

Good speaker, good sound, but max volume it isn't to load.

This sounds great! More than I expected for the price. Yamaha will be on my list to research from now on.

Switchable inputs worked well for the PC setup I have. Sounds decent for 2.1.