Yamaha - SR-B20A Sound Bar with Built-in Subwoofers and Bluetooth - Black

Yamaha SR-B20A Sound Bar: Product Advertises: “Built-in subwoofers, DTS® Virtual:X™ virtual 3D surround sound, and slim enough to fit in front of your TV or wall-mounted. • Built-in subwoofers for deep bass in one slim sound bar • Clear Voice for enhanced dialogue clarity • DTS Virtual:X virtual 3D surround sound • Bluetooth streaming that allows easy switching between two devices • Simple setup with HDMI® or optical” Box Contents: • Sound bar • Remote • Quick Start Guide, Safety Brochure, Warranty, ect… • Cardboard Mounting Template and wall spacer foam • Optic cable • Power Cable • (shoe not included, just needed to prop up the box to prevent photo glare) Other Accessories: • The Sound Bar Remote App by Yamaha My Review: Let’s start with a general question. Why should you consider buying a sound bar? Ever noticed that all flat screen TV’s nowadays, no matter the screen size or picture quality, have speakers in the back of the TV? Yeah, the sound bounces off the wall behind it back to the viewer, but definitely reduces the sound quality that you would hope to get for the money you paid to have the big 4k picture. A sound bar would solve the issue and maybe even give you better sound quality than the TV speaks would if they were actually in the front of the TV. Sound bars are the cheaper option than going all out and buying a surround sound set up. Initial Setup (5/5): Super easy to set up! The connection options are Optic, HDMI ARC, or Bluetooth connection to the TV (assuming that your TV has any of these capabilities though I don’t recommend using Bluetooth to connect to the TV). Turn the sound bar on, change the setting on your TV to the output you are using to connect, and you’re all set to enjoy! It is recommended that you use an HDMI ARC connection if you have the output for it, this allows you to control the volume and the power on the sound bar with your TV remote (when the TV is set to the audio output for the sound bar). Alternatively, you can use a regular HDMI port along with the Optic port to have the same affect. There is a remote app that you can down load and connect to the sound bar using Bluetooth, but this is not necessary for setting up your device. The sound bar is a bit bulky if you are limited with space to put it. If your TV is mounted on a wall, you could mount this sound bar below it. Unlike the traditional sound bars that I was use to a few years back, this sound bar projects the sound from the side and top of the device. So mounting on the wall wouldn’t take away from the direction the sound waves travel from the device. Sound quality (5/5): There are three different sound settings (Clear Voice, Bass Extension, and 3D Surround) and four different sound programs (Stereo, Standard, Movie, and Game). You can select one of the sound program options with or without any of the sound settings at a time (excluding the Stereo program with the 3D Surround setting). • Stereo: This provides a 2-channel stereo playback for music. Not my kind of a listening setting, but that’s just me. Can be used with Clear Voice and Bass Extension. • Standard: This provides a nice surround sound for general content like regular TV stations. Can be used with Clear Voice, Bass Extension, and 3D Surround. • Movie: My preferred program to use across the board, though it is designed specifically for Movie content. Can be used with Clear Voice, Bass Extension, and 3D Surround. • Game: Designed specifically for Game content. Can be used with Clear Voice, Bass Extension, and 3D Surround. • Clear Voice: This mode definitely amplifies voices while watching regular TV content or even movies without reducing the other sounds in the content. It has an odd effect with playing some songs by amplifying voices along with a few of the instruments. I don’t recommend using this with music playback. If you don’t know the lyrics, search the web. • Bass Extension: This setting is supposed to enhance the bass of the current sound program that you are using. Standard has a subtle bass that can be heard but not really felt, with the setting on it amplifies the bass sound while providing the feel of it. The subwoofer is adjustable in this setting ranging from -4 to +4 so you can surely find the right level of bass for your preferred listening experience under any of the programs. • 3D Surround: This setting moves the existing surround sound in more directions. I prefer to have this on while watching TV, listening to music, or playing games. It provides a richer, even surround sound that enhances the sounds perfectly to my liking. This device provides a variety of sound options that should be able to suit anyone’s needs. I prefer Movie, Bass Extension, and 3D Surround together for everything except general TV content, then I turn off the bass. I didn’t encounter any issues with the timing of the playback not tracking with the content even with playing PS4 Horizon Zero Dawn, Fallout 4, Uncharted 4, and GTF 5. Remote (2/5) and Remote App (4/5): The physical remote is pretty basic and dull, then again most speaker remotes are. No light indicator when you press buttons, but the sound bar indicators will light up. Not to mention that you have to point the remote right at the bar. I prefer to use the App to set the sound settings and programs since you can easily see what sound settings are active without walking to the sound bar indicators, but the app is not necessarily the best tool to adjust the volume without over adjusting. Though if you have the HDMI ARC or the HDMI/Optic connections, your TV remote will adjust the volume without any issues. It also has the added bonus of not having to point a remote in the direction of the device. You can also adjust the options on sound bar itself, but it doesn’t appear to have control options for the subwoofer adjustment. Overall (4/5) and closing remarks: I would recommend this device to enhance your TV experience without diving into a multi-speaker surround sound system. The ability to connect via Bluetooth with other devices to playback music is an added bonus. If you are looking for a total surround sound system experience, this would not be the device for you.

REVIEW: YAMAHA - SR-B20A SOUND BAR WITH BUILT-IN SUBWOOFERS AND BLUETOOTH - BLACK Best Buy Tech Insider Network GREAT SOUND BAR – ALMOST PERFECT Full disclosure I am a Yamaha Hi-Fi enthusiast. I think that Yamaha makes great sounding equipment from musical instruments to receivers to soundbars (Jet Skis too!). This is the 3rd Yamaha soundbar that I own, and it is the best of them all so far. Especially when paired with a Subwoofer (optional), it can more than hold its own on family Movie night. Overall, especially for the price, you likely won’t be disappointed. This is a very good bar at this price point and probably even worth 2X-3X more. I would much rather have a high quality (sounding) bar like the SR-B20A than a bad sounding system with a bunch of cheap speakers. I just returned another 5.1.4 soundbar that cost 5X the amount in favor of the SR-B20A. Give this bar a try before you move onto really expensive units that don’t add that much to the sound experience. BEST FEATURES - Easy to use and decent sized Remote - Easy to use simple App for a Remote (I prefer it over the remote) - Sub Woofer Out for added bass if desired - Multiple Sound Formats Supported - Strong overall sound stage - Built in Power Supply (no brick just a cord) SETUP Everything works as expected and was easy to setup and use. For modern use, for the most part, you just connect your existing TV ARC HDMI port to the same on the Yamaha SR-B20A. My 6 year old TV instantly recognized the soundbar which allowed me to control the volume with the TV remote, without any additional setup. I find the android app helpful for fine tuning the sound field (movie, standard, clear voice, bass, etc). I use it more than the remote, even though the remote is also perfectly good. MINOR NOTE 1: There is no 3.5 mm analog port on the soundbar. Generally, you don’t need it unless you are connecting very old devices. You could, if needed, for about $20 get a converter that converts analog to optical or bluetooth. MINOR NOTE 2: The bar is really designed to be wall mounted and would look best that way. It works fine on a shelf (as I use it), but then you can’t see the volume lights and controls that are on the top. If you use the APP as your primary remote then this is not an issue. Additionally, typically your TV remote would be used to control the volume. I did not find any real difference when leaning the bar against the wall instead up flat on a shelf. A hard surface below the bar really highlights the bass from the built in subwoofer. THE APP: is really easy to use, and I like it more than the remote. The remote is good, but the app lets you see the current state of your settings instead of only toggle on/off. It is cool in that the same app auto senses “which” Yamaha bar you are close to and changes available buttons to match the capability of that specific bar. I do wish it had a custom “favorite mode”. For example, to watch a movie, 1 Press for Movie Mode, then 1 Press for Surround, then 1 Press for Voice enhancement, then 4 Presses to max out subwoofer, etc. Then to switch back to every day TV I need to turn all those setting off again. Not a big deal, but it would just a nice to have feature on the app. TESTING I ran three tests for music (vinyl and mp3), every day TV Watching, and action movies. MUSIC / VINYL (BLUETOOTH) – Right off the bat is my first little let down. No analog input. I had to use an analog to Bluetooth adapter. Overall, it was better (crisper) than my older similar class, Yamaha ATS-1030 soundbar (about 7 years old). I cranked the SR-B20A up to over 100db and it still sounded great. MUSIC / MP3 (BLUETOOTH STREAM FROM ALEXA) – Very Good / Competent sound throughout the full volume range. Using the remote setting for stereo music makes a good difference in Left/Right separation. I will say the SR-B20A very slightly underperformed my old Yamaha ATS-1030 in the bass department. Listening to Eric Clapton / BB-King – “Riding with the King” the low end was not as pronounced. It was still very good, don’t get me wrong, just not thumping like the older Yamaha bar. Once I activated a separately purchased subwoofer, it was very impressive. Almost as good as a stand-alone receiver with high end speakers. TV VIEWING IN 10 X 20 ROOM (HDMI-ARC) – The SR-B20A excels at everyday TV viewing (HDMI-ARC From the TV). I had to turn down the bass to -4 for everyday use, but especially with Clear-Voice enabled, the sound was great and not too much bass. MOVIE VIEWING (HDMI-ARC) – My go to movie for testing audio is The Avengers. There was good bass and clear vocals, and explosions were good overall. Eventually, I hooked up my old SubWoofer (Yamaha YST-SW012 8-Inch). This really made all the difference for the movie. This is almost as good as my 10 year old 7.1 Yamaha receiver and full size speakers. (minus the rear surround sound of course). If my full receiver (Yamaha RX-V1400) and large speakers rates a 9/10 for movies, then this bar with an optional sub-woofer is at least 8.5/10. Without optional subwoofer I would still rate it 8/10 compared to my full stereo. That is a really good rating for a fraction of the price. After testing the SR-B20A I decided to declutter my family room, and to move my AV receiver and big speakers to the basement and then just use the bar for everyday sound. (it is that good). One last note on Movies. While the bar does decode DTS:Virtual X, it does not decode ATMOS. Since it is not an ATMOS system, that is not huge deal breaker, but it would have been nice to have it as a supported format. I have looked very hard and tried (and returned) several ATMOS bars. They all have various problems and are very expensive. On top of that, their poor rear and height speaker performance makes the soundstage worse than a simple 2.1 bar like this SR-B20A. For my needs the SR-B20A outperforms other expensive ATMOS systems for everyday use. OVERALL IMPRESSION I also have the little brother to the SR-B20A, which I use for a small room and small TV. While that other unit (SR-C20A) does a good job at everything, it does not excel in many areas other than medium to low volume music and everyday TV listening. For a few $ more (range +$20-$40 more), the SR-B20A is easily double the performance of its little brother. It gets louder with less distortion and has deeper bass, even without an additional subwoofer. The SR-B20A supports more decoding formats natively (DTS Virtual X for example). It is just a better all-around bar. The only drawback I have with this bar is the lack of an analog input. (but I will get over it). SUMMARY / CONCLUSION / RECOMMENDATION I would definitely recommend the SR-B20A for a fantastic everyday listening experience. If you are into strong bass this bar is very good as is. If you pair the SR-B20A with a powered subwoofer (I suggest Yamaha of course) then you are not that far away from a mid-level receiver in terms of movie listening experience. For pure music only listening, I still prefer a full receiver and full-sized speakers over a bar. However, you can’t beat the bar for the convenience of everyday use, including movies and Music.

I am a self-proclaimed audiophile; I think that music is a part of our life that helps express our moods and feelings. I picked up the Yamaha SR-B20A to mount in my 28x16 shop in my backyard, I have spent a lot of time there since the pandemic hit. The sound quality is pretty amazing right out of the box. The SR-B20A fills a space with a rich full sound. There is no real need for an external Subwoofer, since there are dual subwoofers built in with dual reflex ports. Stream your favorite music from any streaming device to give your ears what they deserve. Connections: You can connect the Sound bar to your audio source by either Optical cable, HDMI, or Bluetooth. If your TV has a HDMI jack labeled ARC then you will only need to connect the HDMI cable. If your TV does not have the ARC HDMI port, then you will have to connect the HDMI cable and the Optical cable. If you are using with HDMI control function, the soundbar should come on when you turn the tv on. When you use the Bluetooth connection just select and pair and you’re ready to go. Remote: The remote has some basic features, but it also has a lot of nice upgrades when it comes to the audio output. There are 4 listening modes, Standard, Movie, Game and Stereo. These modes are self-explaining, but all except for Stereo have Surround Playback active. There are also 3 main adjustments, 3D Surround, Clear Voice and Enhanced Bass. 3D Surround elevates the surround sound to multiple levels and heights giving a greater sound experience. Clear Voice makes it easier to hear when there is a lot of background noise and sound effects. Enhanced Bass creates a more powerful Bass experience. Besides a Volume Control there is also a Bass Control on the remote App: Besides the Remote, Yamaha has an app that controls the functions of the soundbar, like the remote would. It has the Input, the sound settings, the sound program, led indicators, volume bass control. The one thing that I feel is missing is an equalizer, when streaming music, having to switch between apps to adjust the Treble, Mids. and Bass is an issue. Most of the Streaming services do not have an equalizer since most audio components have one. It would be a great benefit if they were to come out with some presets or an adjustable equalizer.

The Yamaha SR-B20A is a basic soundbar with an internal subwoofer. In the box you get: the soundbar, remote control, power cord, digital optical cable, spacers, mounting template, quick start guide, and safety brochure. There is no HDMI cable. If you plan on using the eARC from your TV to connect to the soundbar, you will need to have one available. You can of course use the optical cable provided as well. The soundbar is well made. Set up is very straight forward. Connect everything and you are good to go. I wanted to test the different connection methods and sound settings. In the picture you will see the connections available are: HDMI out/TV ARC, TV (optical), Optical (other sound source), Update Only (USB) and Subwoofer Out (connect to a separate subwoofer). The sound modes are on the remote are: Stereo, Standard, Movie and Game. The sound modes on the Yamaha Sound Bar Remote app are: TV Program, Stereo, Movie, Music, Sports and Game. NOTE - there are more sound modes on the app than the remote. My first test was connecting my phone to the soundbar using Bluetooth. My Android phone identified the soundbar and connected with no issues. The quality of the music was good. I played with the different sound modes and subwoofer levels. Overall the sound quality was good. Even at loud volumes. The subwoofer enhances the bass with the built in subwoofer but will not really shake the walls. You can connect a separate subwoofer if that is your desire. My second test was connecting my TV to the soundbar using the optical cable to the TV input. I set the sound mode to movie and tried both movies and sports. I did not notice a huge difference between the Sports and Movie sound setting. Clear voice is a good selection if you are listening to podcasts or something with a lot of dialogue. Using the Surround option sounded hollow to me and was not to my liking. Again the bass is good but not earth shattering. My third test was connecting my TV to the soundbar using eARC. If your TV supports this, you want to use this option. The advantage is your TV remote will control the soundbar volume. Also, the soundbar will turn on or off in tandem with the TV. The sound experience was the same as using the optical cable. For my testing I used the remote most often to configure the soundbar to my liking. You can also use the App or the controls on top of the soundbar. In conclusion, I give this soundbar 4 out of 5 stars. Yamaha has always provided exceptional quality and this soundbar is no exception. It is solidly build and sounds good. It is a solid contender in this lower cost soundbar category. The bass could be better but my expectations were not high with a built in subwoofer. A separate subwoofer is needed for good bass differentiation. From a value perspective, there are competitors in this price range where you can also have a separate subwoofer. So docking 1 star from a value perspective is reasonable.

This soundbar sound absolutely amazing for the price point. I had bought a simular sized and priced soundbar from another name brand audio manufacturer last year ans was super disappointed which left me skeptical when getting this one. To my surprise it was a night and day difference! Setup was quick and easy! We used the provided optical cord to hook the soundbar up to the TV. If you need to hook it up via HDMI, you will need to buy one separately. While this soundbar comes with a remote, Yamaha also has a Sound Bar Remote App as well. This app was a great feature. The app setup was simple and connected to the speaker automatically. The great thing about the app is that if you were ever to misplace the remote, you have back up. The other great thing is that you can use it to change the settings from other rooms. I had music playing when I got a phone call while in another room, I was able to turn the sound down to answer my call which was nice. I have attached a picture of what the app interface looks like. We have used this soundbar across multiple platforms; tv/movies, gaming, and music. This siundbar exceeded expectations in all categories. The sound is very crisp and clear at all volumes. This was huge for me as my last soundbar got very tinny sounding at higher volumes. This soundbar also gets 3x louder than my former one- anotherthing I was pleasantly surprised by. All to often at this price point, the sound volume and quality are not much better than that of a decent tv- this was not the case with this unit! As for gaming, we used the SR-B20A while playing COD as well as Red Dead Redemption 2. You could hear so much more fine details in the games, including amplifying the sounds of nearby footsteps- giving an advantage in the games (especially COD). Another thing I liked about this unit was the lack of sound delay. Often with sound bars or surround sound you have to mute the TV or else you get a horrible echo, we did not have that happen with this soundbar. This soundbar does have a small built in subwoofer which does work very well for its size. This is a bass heavy unit and it pushes quite a bit of air. If you want a little more punch you do have the ability to hook an external sub to this as well. The internal subwoofer is adjustable on the remote as well as in the app. Lastly, this sleek looking soundbar can be either mounted to the wall (it has a built in bracket to mount it this way) or can be placed on your entertainment center. This thing sounds and looks great either way.

This Yamaha SR-B20A soundbar is the perfect compliment to a flat panel TV to add sound I crave when watching media on my TV. The fact that this soundbar offers dual built in subwoofers is a great find for my household to keep things minimal without extra speakers filling my space. I feel like this soundbar is the ideal audio choice for someone in an apartment, dorm, or small/medium living space. This will surely pump out some loud and adequate sound and give you a clean and sophisticated look as well. I really like the size of this soundbar as is it not too overly big or heavy. Being about 36" in width and about 7 pounds in weight, I find it adequate for my TV stand and paired with my 50" TV. I also like that this can be wall mounted as well if you have a setup that would allow for that. The sound capability of this soundbar is impressive since it packs a lot of technological advances into it. Features such as DTS X Virtual, DTS Digital Surround, Dolby Audio. Hooked it up to my TV set with the HDMI within minutes and had it up and running. Right away I could tell the difference and the sound was fantastic while watching 4K content on Disney+. Paired it to my iPhone XR and the music had a great tone of clarity to it along with that thump from the subwoofers. Very pleased with the overall results. There is also an app that allows for customization and functionality, you can also use the remote that comes with it to control the volume. Don't settle for poor quality sound from your flat panel TV. Make the small investment in a quality, name brand Yamaha soundbar to enhance your movies, shows, and music content. Virtual 3D Surround Technology has been quite noticeable within our home and my family has loved the experience. PRO: Excellent sound quality Form factor is the perfect size Great physical appearance CON: Lacks a LED visual display readout

The time had come to replace my old soundbar, so when the Yamaha SR-B20A came available, I was excited. Setup was extremely easy, literally from box to TV in under 10 minutes. Once I had installed it and downloaded the app to get full control of the soundbar, I started to run it through its courses. My first impressions are that this is much louder than my previous one. MUCH louder. Then I connected it to my TV via HDMI and it recognized it immediately, so that also went well. I then used the Bluetooth connection to play music from a voice assistant device which worked wonderfully as well. Alas, there is no analog input, so I can't use my record player to grade those sound impressions. The unit comes with a decent remote of decent proportions. It performs as expected and catches hair and dust from the environment. Get the app for this soundbar! It gives you the most control over the sound so you can customize it to your taste. I also used the soundbar with a gaming console to test the "GAME" mode. It performed adequately once I had set up my preferences. Now we have to talk about the sound. It isn't just loud. It's loud and clear. It can enhance speech and boost bass. I honestly didn't know how much fun a soundbar could be. It can connect to 2 Bluetooth devices and become a great addition to your smart speaker since the quality of sound and volume fills a room with excellent results. I'm happy with this addition to our living room, and knowing I won't have to think about replacing it for a lone time to come...

This is the perfect sound bar for someone looking for very capable sound (much better than TV speakers) at a very affordable price. This sound bar punches above it's price segment. While it goes without saying that this certainly won't compete with your 7.1/5.1 dolby atmos home theatre setups, this is still a huge upgrade from your standard TV speakers. The built-in subwoofer does a VERY adequate job of providing deep lows; especially at it's highest setting (this thing is a must for gaming!) The sound bar is very thoughtfully designed. It's an upward firing sound bar so it feels as though the audio really envelops the room. Yamaha carefully placed the LEDs above the sound bar in order to minimize any "light pollution" that one may experience while watching TV in a dark room. It's also very low profile making it ideal to tuck underneath practically any modern TV. I have highlighted pros and cons that I've experienced while using this soundbar: **********PROS********************************************************* - Setup is incredibly easy; either connect an HDMI to an "ARC labeled HDMI on your TV or use the included optical cable. Make sure to enable your ARC input in your TV's menu setting -Thoughtfully designed; low profile with non-distracting LEDs -3D Surround sound for gaming!!! A lot of the newer gen console games have 3D audio support. Sound is incredible for this price point. Respectable built-in subwoofer with deep lows and pretty decent mids and highs. It really shines when paired to a console. I paired this up to my Playstation 5 and it completely changed my experience when playing Demon's Souls -Very small form factor and intuitive remote -Pre-set EQ modes were perfect for my needs (Movie, 3D Surround sound, Standard, Game). Yamaha did a great job of tuning each profile - Built-in subwoofer provides some impressive lows out of such a small driver. No distortion even at it's highest volume level. Yamaha was again very thoughtful with this. There are four volume settings that allow you to turn the bass up or down including bass extension (a bass booster of sorts). This will be a very useful feature for those that live in apartments or are sharing walls and need to be mindful of subwoofer volume -"Clear Voice" EQ profile. This EQ profile boosts the highs and mids for movies that are dialogue heavy (e.g. dramas, comedies) - Yamaha Remote App for Android/IOS. You can pair the app and control all of the functions and settings directly from your mobile device - Bluetooth connectivity. Pair any bluetooth source to the soundbar . I've been using this to play music in my living room as I do the dishes, clean, etc. - Cost. I think this is an outstanding value in terms of what you get for what you pay. Definitely delivers (in terms of sound) above it's price range - When connected via the ARC input through the HDMI cable, the volume is automatically controlled by your main TV remote without you having to set anything up! - Support for external subwoofer connectivity **********CONS******************************************************************* -When you use the mute button there are 3 LEDs that constantly keep flashing. This can be distracting if you quickly want to switch to a pair of headphones and continue watching your movie/content. A quick fix is to just turn the volume down all the way instead - Not an official Dolby Atmos certified soundbar (it supports "Dolby audio", DTS, and DTS X Virtual). However, Dolby Atmos sources still sounded great! -No custom EQ settings for those that want maximum customizability Overall, I highly recommend this sound bar for someone looking for a quick and significant upgrade over their TV speakers but don't want to spend too much. Ideally, it's probably also more suited for small to medium sized living rooms as very large living rooms will probably require more power output (however, I can still see it doing just fine in larger spaces). Also, if you game but don't want to invest in a full fledged 5.1/7.1 home theatre setup or are facing space restrictions, this is a must!