SR-B40A Dolby Atmos Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer (Black)

Excellent sound quality. Easy to setup. I like that there is the ability to add a stand alone subwoofer but I don’t think it is necessary because of the built-in subwoofer.

1st order, used-like-new was open-box. Well re-packaged but the HDMI port was loose and kept disconnecting from TV hence it had to go back, kudos to Amazon support to make this process easy. Ordered new 2nd time. Setup was straight forward. Just connect HDMI cable to TV and two power cables, one for soundbar and another for subwoofer. Subwoofer connects to soundbar automatically and wirelessly. One thing though, included HDMI cable was little stiff and I had to use other cable to keep setup tidy. Since then soundbar is working great. Spoken content is now easier to understand, bass works great with subwoofer. I enjoyed NBA playoff and movies. Game works well, too with low latency. It sounds good even at lower volume level. And I don't hear complaint from my family in the night. Super happy.

Even before the price drop, for $300, it was worth it. Works well, integrated with my TCL 4K TV and Roku Ultra via eARC. Nice small profile fits nicely between the TV legs. The bass output from this little guy has exceeded my expectations. Was watching the latest Furiosa movie last night and audio experience was great. No actual custom EQ functionally is the only negative for me. Otherwise very good for its price point. And setup was cake, just plug in and good to go.

First, I'll start by saying that this is the first soundbar I've ever owned, so I don't have a prior soundbar to compare this to. What I did have previously, was a 7.2 surround sound component system,built over the years with seven independent full range speakers, two 10-inch subwoofers, and four tactile transducers installed in the seating. My wife put her foot down and told me to choose the surround system or her. So out of the house I packed my surround system. Most of it, anyway. I purchased the SR-B30A, specifically because this model includes a subwoofer pre-out port. I had invested a great deal of time, energy and effort to get the tactile transducers setup and balanced with the subwoofers, and I didn't want to loose that. For me, the most immersive aspect of the system I had before, was always the way that you could really feel the low end. I knew that no soundbar with a wireless sub was going to be able to come close to delivering that for me, so Yamaha had me sold on this aspect principally, but I also wanted to experience Atmos in my home. In this regard, the SR-B30A was really the only choice I saw for myself. Even if I had spent three, four or even more, times the money I would always feel that I was missing out. This being said, the spacial aspect of the sound that the bar produces doesn't compare to what I had with the seven separate speakers on stands and mounted to walls around the room. Those seven speakers are what my wife hated, and I didn't expect a 2.1 speaker arrangement to be able to replicate that. I am, however, impressed with how well dispersed the sound is, when playing back Dolby Atmos and surround sound source material. If Yamaha can do this with just the 2.1 speakers, I can only imagine the awesomeness that could happen were they to expand the number of speakers with different angled mountings. Yeah, more speakers would necessitate a higher price tag, but I'd pay it. There are speakerbars out there that are selling for around $1K. There are a couple of weak points, but nothing that would cause me to knock any stars off; your situation may be different though. The app for adjusting the settings of the bar is really basic. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad it's there, but coming from a home theater receiver with loads of crossover and room correction adjustments available, what is offered by the app seems geared to those without much audio equipment experience. The app also needs to be reconnected to the speakerbar most times after you switch apps or close it. A way to connect some Bluetooth headphones to the bar for late night listening would be a good feature too. Speaking of Bluetooth, one thing that I hadn't need expecting, was that I'm unable to utilize the Bluetooth source when the TV is on. I suspect that this is due to me using my TV's eARC CEC for control of the basic power and volume functions of the speakerbar. I have Spotify and the other streaming services available through my TV already, so it isn't a problem for me. Just unexpected. All told, I'm very pleased with what I got from the SR-B30A. Not the downgrade I thought it would be!

Sounds great and best of all it allows for an external sub to be connected via RCA with no work-around or adapters.

Really nice and the movies sound great set up is so ez 5 minutes

Worked fine for three days then lost all capability to stay connected to either TV or Bluetooth devices. Bummed because the sound quality was good. Do not recommend this unit.

Note: video above I switch between each sound setting: stereo, standard, movie, and then finally gaming. Tldr: Decent midranged cost speaker. However, it might be worth it to save up more money for a better sounding system since Atmos mode is poor and the subwoofer is ok. <b>The sound bar </b> Sound quality is pretty good for the price of the speaker. Music sounds crisp and movies also sound great. It will definitely outperform any TV speakers. I use it in my medium sized living room and 50% is more than enough decibels for loud audio. There are 4 modes, stereo, standard, movie (Dolby Atmos), and gaming. I usually keep my speaker on standard, and maybe switch to movie or stereo depending on what I'm watching. I tried the gaming setting and it sounds bad. The movie mode has too much sound bleeding for regular viewing. <b> Dolby Atmos </b> Do not expect true surround sound with the Dolby Atmos, the feature does not work that well. If that's a serious selling point, then it's probably better if you invest in a full system instead of this speaker setup. I'm a bit disappointed with Atmos mode. And since this bar does not have "True X Surround Sound", I cannot use Yamaha back speakers to improve the surround sound. <b> The subwoofer </b> The subwoofer is pretty good. It can't get extremely loud, but provides enough tremble and bass for a excellent living room movie theater experience. It can only be connected to the speaker via Bluetooth. This setup is best placed in a small or midsized room. Also, when you turn off the sound bar, the subwoofer light repeatedly blinks. So you have to unplug the subwoofer every time you turn off your TV. <b> Simplicity (Good and bad) </b> Setting up the sound bar took almost no work: just plug it in and you're good. This was a positive experience. However it's simplicity has some downsides as well. There is limited configurability for this system. The only benefit of the app is you can manually change bass and tremble. Otherwise all the settings on the remote is what you get. Additionally, if you ever plan on replacing the subwoofer good luck since it only connects via Bluetooth.