Yamaha - MusicCast BAR 400 200W Hi-Res Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer - Black
Model: YAS-408BL
SKU: 6311227
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Customers enjoy the MusicCast BAR 400 for its great sound quality. Many customers mentioned that the sound quality is excellent for a sound bar and they would definitely buy it again. The product also offers good value for money, with customers praising its sound and build quality.
This soundbar produces Yamaha quality sound...no question about it! I have MusicCast receivers throughout my house so I have been trying to figure out the best way to get the Bedroom integrated in the system. I didn't want to purchase another receiver for the bedroom since it requires so much space. Yamaha did a nice job making everything wireless and easy to hide when you don't have a ton of space to hide components. What I love about this soundbar: - Plug and play setup. - Wireless subwoofer. - Great sound for the price. - MusicCast integration into the rest of my house. What needs to be improved: - The lack of on-screen setup and configuration is frustrating for 2019. - Placing the required MusicCast connect buttons in a location that is nearly impossible to reach if the soundbar is mounted too close to the TV is ridiculous. - Yes, this soundbar can be mounted on the wall (and should be in my opinion) but the wall mount holes are nearly impossible to use without extreme patience. A soundbar of this quality should include a mounting bracket that gets properly secured to the wall and provides the capability to be attached/released from the wall without major issues. A paper template and tiny holes that have to be aligned +/- 2mm is insane for a soundbar in this price range. I would totally get it if this was a $200 sound bar...but it is not.
Posted by RobSFL
Had this soundbar/subwoofer combination for about a month prior to adding the Yamaha MusicCast20 surround speakers. I purchased a new LG 65" UHD Smart TV. The soundbar/subwoofer system was fairly simple to set up. The MusicCast app was downloaded on my iPhone which made it simple to adjust sound programs and input sources (Net Radio, Sirius, Pandora, etc.). I ignored the audio input instructions provided by Yamaha for my cable tv box and simply hooked up the Yamaha provided digital-audio hookup from the LG to the soundbar. Be sure to set the 3D Surround as the sound seems to come from all vertical and horizontal parts of the wall behind the TV. Very good deep lows from the subwoofer (no mid-bass boom) and the sound quality from TV programs and Netflix movies is very good. For the $450 price, this is tough to beat. What is poor is the sound quality the soundbar directly accesses from the web. No dynamic range (no lows or highs, only mid-range) and generally lackluster. This sound quality doesn't compare to Sonos or Bose. This is the only reason I would give this 4 stars. While this review doesn't cover the addition of the two surround MusicCast 20 speakers I purchased later (about $450), I recommend these be added to the system. WOW. Turn off 3D sound and turn on simple surround sound and the sound from TV, Sports, Netflix streaming is astounding. This part gets 5 stars. Even better, play a Blu-Ray disc and the audio quality is superb. Crystal clear with smooth low frequency effects. Buy the surround speakers too. Their build quality is terrific.
Posted by Bogeyman
Pros: wireless versatility (other MusicCast speakers, AirPlay, Pandora, etc.), sound quality, aux input (unavailable on Sonos Beam, principal competitor), app functionality (nice to control volume with iPhone volume buttons, too), Cons: "works with Alexa" is not nearly as helpful as having Alexa integrated, only one HDMI input (Yamaha wants to sell receivers, too), and--most frustratingly--the ARC throughput is unreliable on my TV. I upgraded and replaced all of my HDMI cables to no avail. The sound quality is fine over the optical input but for whatever reason the volume is lower--not a problem in my apartment, but it perhaps would be in a larger room.
Posted by BenWabiSabi