Yamaha YAS-109 Soundbar without Subwoofer- TV Speaker with Integrated Alexa Voice Control and 3D Surround Sound, in Black

I ordered from TVA Tech at Amazon and the soundbar arrived in Guernsey a day or so later I have had other Yamaha bars going back 10 years - the most recent a YSP 600, i got the 109 as I already have a Yamaha subwoofer and the 109 has a RCA socket The YAP took about 30 mins to unpack and after removing the old bar, connect and get started. I was a bit concerned as there is only one tv input jack (optical) and one HDMI in. Set up so far excellent and sound very good - I like the separate Subwoofer control Then I hit a problem - could'nt get it to speak to my wifi (got the firmware update using a USB) but could not get it to lock onto my wifi By late afternoon after a couple of hours I gave up. The unit worked fine but no Alexa & no access to my mobile music I emailed TVA Tech and got a quick reply and a few hints (there are several Yamaha apps but even the correct one took me in circles) Ken at TVA got in touch with Yamaha customer services overnight and this morning i got email details Phoned yamaha and a fellow named Steve was very helpful Setting up was not without its problems (I live in an isolate cottage and never needed a secure wifi and the Yamaha App was resistant to no password) But got on line Thanks to Ken and Steve Alexa works well on it but needs to learn my accent! My living room is quite low with beams and lots of furniture and about 30ft long and the YAS is at one end and facing the narrow bit but the 3D fills the spaces I tested it with Tom Petty American Girl at max volume and 50% bass - pleased my neighbours are few Tried Clear Sound on muddy noir film and it does bring forward vocal so I look forward to using it on mumbling dramaa Great sounds, simple to use (eventually) recommended Peter Pannett Guernsey

This soundbar gives good, crisp sound but does not scrimp on bass either, the various template settings for TV shows, sport, games etc. do enhance the sound. Certainly dialogue is much clearer with the clear voice function. I went from a 6 speaker setup to just this sound bar and I am not disappointed, the only thing to criticise is that the 3D surround sound is not great so if that is important to you you may want to use a multi speaker solution.

Am using this with an LG C9 55” TV and it is a great combination. The soundbar does actually sit in front of the LG (which has a low stand) without blocking any of the screen or as importantly the remote operation, thanks to the LG’s type of remote operation which does not need line of sight. It also looks good with the TV’s size and in fact seems to disappear in front of the TV. Sound of the soundbar is very good. Please don’t expect any kind of surround sound effect though and you won’t be disappointed. If you want that you will need to buy an actual surround speaker system or at least something like the Sennheiser Ambeo or perhaps Sonos Arc, but they are in a different price league. What you will get though is a much bigger and richer sound than you will get from the TV speakers (which on the LG are decent enough on their own). The 3D sound effect, isn’t, but is a bit better than the standard surround effect when watching movies etc. When watching TV though it is probably better to select the ‘TV’ option as otherwise it can sound a little like people are talking in a cave. Music on this sounds very good through Bluetooth (which functions very well, no probs connecting etc.), though again it is best to come away from the 3D surround effect and use standard surround or just stereo for the better sound. To me, and I’m fussy, it is up there with at least a medium tier Bluetooth speaker system costing a few hundred £. The scale of the sound should be no problem for most people; you wouldn’t need to get a separate sub woofer if you didn’t want to. In the end I did (the FSW050 as can be seen in the picture) to allow the flexibility to have that low movie rumble when I really want it. The subwoofer bundle that you can get with this soundbar I didn’t think would have worked space wise with my set up. If it would work with yours then I would say go for the option with the sub woofer if you can. I also trialled the Bose TV Speaker and was able to test that and this Yamaha, back to back. No real competition to be fair and so I sent the Bose back and kept this. The Bose wasn’t bad but this was clearly the winner and the Bose sounded a little like the bass was disconnected from the rest of the sound. I wasn’t able to test the Sonos Beam in situ, but realised it wouldn’t have sat in front of my TV without blocking some of the screen, so had no regrets. Overall then very pleased with this, but if buying again would be tempted to get the bundled sub woofer with it.

Best value for money! Yamaha indeed have made a top quality product for a fair price. Easy connectivity,6 sound modes available (movie, TV,music, sports,game, stereo) plus Clear Voice and Surround sound!. I connected mine with a HDMI cable,using HDMI ARC option,connected my TV and my PS4 to the Sound bar. The sound switches automatically depending if you're using the PS4 or the TV. Also,if the TV is off,so is the soundbar. When you turn on the TV,the soundbar automatically turns on with it! Really easy to use. And on the plus side(not really keen on it) it comes with Alexa integrated in it!

Initially pleased with the sound despite set up being more fiddly than necessary I am now returning this sound bar because it will no longer connect via ARC making the bar essentially useless. Very disappointed.

Sound quality is good, but I'm disappointed in the Alexa integration. Surely changing source and switching on the amplifier (when it's already "on" in the sense of listening to Alexa) should be part of the most basic Alexa features? As a result, I have to usually have use the tiny remote which often gets swallowed up by the couch. Another gripe is that I can toggle features on and off on the remote (eg clear voice), but the LED indicators on the soundbar as so small I have no idea whether I've switched it on or off.