Yamaha YAS-209 Review: An Excellent, Affordable Alexa Soundbar
Our Verdict
Get the Yamaha YAS-209 if you're looking for a midpriced soundbar that handles movies and Goggle box well, excels at music and brings Alexa to your living room.
For
- Clear and resonant dialog
- Excellent for music
- Alexa inside
Against
- Lacks low-frequency effects when movies are playing
- Only one HDMI input
Tom'southward Guide Verdict
Get the Yamaha YAS-209 if yous're looking for a midpriced soundbar that handles movies and Tv well, excels at music and brings Alexa to your living room.
Pros
- +
Clear and resonant dialog
- +
First-class for music
- +
Alexa inside
Cons
- -
Lacks low-frequency furnishings when movies are playing
- -
Only i HDMI input
The Yamaha YAS-209 tin count itself amongst the very all-time soundbars, and for good reason. It's one of two systems launched in 2019 aimed at delivering great features at an affordable price, and dissimilar the other — the YAS-109 — the YAS-209 includes a wireless subwoofer to heave low stop.
Combined with Alexa integration, this is a smart and versatile combo arrangement that sounds rich and, even with all these qualities, manages to stay relatively affordable. Our full Yamaha YAS-209 review continues below.
Design
The 36.6 x 4.3 ten two.5-inch YAS-209 is a slim soundbar, but information technology doesn't sound thin, thank you in part to its very large 16.v 10 16 x 7.v-inch wireless subwoofer. While many soundbars effort to find ways to compress the sub, this 1 will definitely take upward some space in your room. The principal unit includes four 1.75-inch drivers and ii i-inch tweeters, while the sub houses a 6.5-inch woofer.
The YAS-209 has one HDMI output and one HDMI input, along with optical digital audio and Bluetooth. To use Alexa — likewise as stream from Spotify or Amazon Music — y'all'll need to connect to the internet via Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
The bass on Billie Eilish'due south "Bad Guy" rattled the flooring, and her vocals were still articulate.
The top of the soundbar features LED indicators for the selected input and audio modes; those LEDs as well show the book level when you change information technology. You tin can control power, select the input and activate (or mute) Alexa through touch-sensitive buttons. Yous can as well modify the settings through the included remote or the free Yamaha Sound Bar app.
Alexa
Alexa was responsive to my requests — it changed the volume and input on the soundbar and handled typical requests of the assistant equally well, such as providing the weather and turning on a Wemo switch. Alexa works even when the soundbar is powered off. Still, it couldn't practice everything I wanted it to; for instance, it couldn't turn the soundbar on or off.
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Brand certain you update the firmware on the soundbar to version 2.07 when you install it; version ii.06 included a bug that caused Alexa responses to exist very loud when video is played. Version 2.07 fixes that.
Performance
The YAS-209 delivered very skillful sound when I watched TV shows and movies. Dialog has excellent resonance, thanks to the subwoofer, and it produces a wide audio when using the 3D Environs style. Information technology isn't quite as encompassing as the Sonos Axle, but it delivers ameliorate bass — though, considering it has a separate subwoofer, I would have liked it to deliver more than low end.
During Avengers: Endgame, the YAS-209 made the quiet dialog scenes piece of cake to understand. Simply in the big battle between the Avengers and Thanos, I expected to feel more flooring rattling from the depression-frequency effects. The witty dialog of the diverse Spider-men, women and pigs of Spider-Human: Into the Spider-Verse was resonant and piece of cake to hear above the bass-heavy soundtrack.
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I was more impressed by the way the YAS-209 handled a variety of music in Stereo mode. The bass on Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy" rattled the floor, and her vocals were all the same clear. The finger-picked acoustic guitar on Fleetwood Mac's "Never Going Back Again" was well-baked and full.
Setup
Connecting the YAS-209 to my TV using an HDMI cable was straightforward. To enable Alexa and music streaming, you need to download the gratuitous Yamaha Audio Bar app (previously Yamaha soundbars used its HT Controller app), and it walks you through the process of connecting to your network. The YAS-209 can connect to only 2.four-GHz wireless networks, or you lot can utilise a wired Ethernet cable.
The YAS-209 offers several modes to adjust the sound to your liking, including Movie, Music, Sports, Goggle box Program and Game. You can switch to Stereo mode for listening to two-channel sources. In add-on, yous can enable 3D Environment for a wider audio, Clear Voice to heave dialog and Bass Extension for deeper depression-cease sounds. Y'all can also set the subwoofer level.
Bottom Line
Amid the options for a smart soundbar in the $300 to $400 range, Yamaha'due south YAS-209 rises toward the top with skilful overall sound — especially for music — and responsive vocalisation controls. The Sonos Beam has a wider sound and also offers Google Assistant, merely costs more than. The less expensive Polk Command Bar can't lucifer the YAS-209 in sound quality or Alexa performance. Of the current choices, the YAS-209 hits an attractive eye ground.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/yamaha-yas-209
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