Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsFAILED after 2 weeks....
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2020
UPDATE: The soundbar abruptly stopped passing the HDMI signal in the middle of a movie after two weeks of light use and the screen went black and the sound stopped. Switching the setup to HDMI ARC audio only did not solve the audio problem. Troubleshooting isolated the problem to the HDMI output hardware. Clearly a quality control issue. Very very disappointed in Yamaha. Will be returning this and will get a different system (Yamaha no more).
INITIAL REVIEW: First understand my star rating: 5 stars for home theater sound, 1 star for music = 3 stars. Yamaha is a brand I have loved for over 30 years for their great products in the music world, so when I was looking for a soundbar which could deliver both great home theater sound AND also music, I was drawn to this soundbar. If you are looking for a home theater experience and don't want to hassle with multiple speakers, it does a pretty good job (great clarity, good but not overwhelming bass, nice reproduction across the range); the virtual surround feature was a bit lost in my large room, but I blame the space, not the bar for that, and it was still a nice auditory experience. Sadly, music reproduction from bluetooth streaming sources was poor, due to harsh and often distorted treble at the mid to upper ranges on most tracks (rock, jazz, classical, acoustic), including on vocals. This was at its worst when using the 3D surround feature, but was not fixed by using either the "music", or "stereo" modes provided, or by a firmware update. There is no other equalizer option. Both Amazon Music HD and Apple iTunes files had the same issue. In contrast, when I connected my vinyl phonograph (TEAC TN300, using its built in pre-amp (RCA out, using an inexpensive RCA to TOS-Link converter, so I could make use of the only other single port (optical) on the bar...HDMI is the main of course), it did not have this problem and actually sounded very nice. Go figure, but I am guessing it has to do with the reproduction of the compressed (and undoubtedly loudness adjusted) digital streaming files through this unit vs. the more natural dynamic range of the analogue to digital signal from the vinyl. A bit disappointed on this front, because my plans are to use it both for music and TV. I am probably expecting too much at this price point, considering the feature set provided, but I wanted more from my old friend Yamaha. I don't use Alexa, so I can't comment on that. Set up was straight forward using the enclosed quick start guide, with easy pairing of the wireless sub. The iPhone control app is pretty worthless, as it offers far fewer features that the small physical remote provided. I will probably keep the bar for now and rely mostly on my vinyl collection for music in that space; still, its too bad that streaming will not be a great option.
