The audio quality of this sound bar is excellent, even though it can’t get extremely loud. This is a great way to improve your home theatre experience, as it will give you more sound space and will enhance the overall quality of your movie experience. This isn’t the best option for audiophiles who are not willing to spend a little more money, but it is adequate in smaller living rooms and apartment settings where the proximity of your neighbors would inevitably limit your sound system.
Yamaha YAS-109 review: Design
The YAS-109 is a sleek and unobtrusive addition to any entertainment center or living room. It blends in well with the dark colors of our TVs, and its cloth-covered speaker array attaches easily to the chassis.
The Yamaha R-Type remote is simple to use, but it doesn’t offer a lot of control options. The sound quality is good, but the volume can be adjusted with the TV remote.
We found that the LED feedback array on the TV remote made a noticeable difference in sound quality, even in a dark movie theater setting. The sound bar is not particularly premium-feeling, but it slides out of the way and lets its sound quality speak for itself.
Features
The Yamaha SR-B20A is a more recent model that is less expensive than the older YAS-109. It has a more contemporary sound and we found it to be better quality overall. If you give us something like the Klipsch Cinema 400, we’d be happy listeners even though we genuinely don’t care about features like built-in streaming apps or voice assistants in our sound bars.
We wondered why so many features that are standard on the YAS-109 were removed this year in favor of the similarly priced SR-B20A. Additionally, you will learn our article on Yamaha YAS-109 review. It’s a nice thing that you have such functions if you’re so inclined, but we didn’t find ourselves using the YAS-109’s Alexa functionality or WiFi/Spotify Connect capabilities on a regular basis. Nevertheless, they don’t clutter or compromise the bar.
We are unsure of the justification for choosing the more recent Yamaha SR-B20 over the earlier YAS-109, which has all of the same sound settings and modes as the latter plus all of the other features mentioned below. They are well-implemented functions, but the YAS-109, which is happy to serve as a supporting actor next to your TV, never once insisted on being connected to the internet or utilized with Alexa. At this price point, a bar would benefit greatly from having an extra HDMI input. ..
Yamaha YAS-109 review: Connectivity
When it comes to the sort and quantity of connection ports we receive with low-cost sound bars, things typically tend to be light. And because home theatre setups today have greater requirements, we are constantly looking for additional connections. As for the YAS-109, we would describe it as being in the middle because we wouldn’t say we are either delighted or disappointed with the options we receive. ..
The Yamaha YAS-107 sound bar features a variety of ports, including a subwoofer port. This port is unusual because more expensive sound bars without this feature have been seen, but Yamaha seems to have decided that it was necessary in case you wanted to use a specialized subwoofer with this particular model. The following ports are an Ethernet port for networking the sound bar, a digital optical input for older devices without an HDMI port, a USB port that is regrettably only used for updating, and two HDMI ports—one input port and one output port. ..
The Roku Premiere is a 4K Ultra HD streaming media player that supports both HDMI ports and Dolby Vision and HDR10. It also has built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, which allows you to connect to the internet and control your devices wirelessly. ..
Setup
The Yamaha YAS-109 sound bar is simple to set up, as long as you have a phone and an HDMI cable. The bar usually defaults to the HDMI ARC port, so connect to it from the equivalent port on the back of the device after setting it up, and you should be ready to listen. The bar’s power and volume should be managed automatically by your TV remote as well (though you may need to turn on CEC in your TV settings). It’s easy and reasonably painless to connect Alexa. To link the bar with your network, just download the Yamaha Sound Bar Controller app and follow the on-screen directions. From there, you can ask Alexa pretty much anything you want. ..
Yamaha YAS-109 review: Control Options
The sound bar is a basic device that does the job well. It’s made of plastic and has small, round buttons with enough space between them. There are no real surprises here, and this price range is typical for this type of product.
The Vizio M-Series 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV has a few shortcomings. First, it doesn’t have any backlighting capabilities, so it’s difficult to see the screen in dimly lit areas. Second, the plastic quality is not very good and the remote feels cheap. Third, the Alexa button is located at the top left of the TV, which makes it difficult to use. Fourth, there are only a few input selection controls and no buttons for changing sound modes or adjusting volume. Fifth, there are two buttons for the subwoofer and main volume, but they’re small and difficult to press. Sixth, there are several sound modes but no way to adjust bass or treble levels. Seventh, there are buttons for information, bass extension, and mute but they’re hard to see and located in obscure places. ..
The Alexa button is a convenient location for the power button on most gadgets. After you get used to it, you won’t have any significant issues.
Sound quality
The bass and low frequencies on this sound bar won’t be as powerful as a true subwoofer, common sense dictates. Without the proper specs, it is just impossible to deliver a deep, resonant bass. Considering their size, the built-in subwoofers on this sound bar provide a respectable depth. Considering the size of the acoustic space and the size of the satellite speakers, they are truly rather astounding. ..
The subwoofer we tested falls short when compared to a speaker with a large cone. With the bass extension option, the music does have some depth, but it doesn’t truly shake the room. The auditory experience’s truly outstanding components are found elsewhere. DTS Virtual produces a powerful surround sound effect. In the past, speakers for surround sound had to be mounted in the ceiling or pointed above. The sound appeared to be higher as a result.
DTS Virtual: A new surround sound experience that gives the impression of height. As a result, other sounds are all around you while the discussion is still focused in front of you. Very astute. Additionally, this sound bar’s 120 watts of overall power produce a powerful sound. You can read our article on the Yamaha YAS-109 review here. ..
Conclusion
The Yamaha YAS-109 is a good choice for music lovers who want a versatile and affordable speaker. Although its sound is boomy, it can reproduce low-bass well, making it an ideal choice for genres like EDM or action movies. However, the Yamaha YAS-109 has some compression artefacts at maximum level, which may not be enough for large or packed rooms.
