As with any crowded market, manufacturers are trying all sorts of tricks to make their soundbars stand out. For just a few hundred pounds, you can have it all these days: a mile-long bar, a massive subwoofer, and every 3D sound technology invented to date. However, sound quality is often secondary. If you can sell a cheap soundbar before anyone has heard it, you probably won’t get many returns – unless it sounds absolutely atrocious.
So it’s almost a relief when we get an affordable product like the SR-C20A and find that it’s free of bells and whistles, almost basic. This indicates that Yamaha has focused on creating a compact soundbar with great sound that will improve the sound of your TV without much fuss. At just 60 cm wide and 6.4 cm tall, the SR-C20A will easily fit under any TV or, as Yamaha suggests, under a computer monitor for a more immersive gaming experience.
[content-egg-block template=offers_logo hide=price]The SR-C20A promises volume and depth that belies its size, thanks to its dual 46mm full-range drivers and integrated 75mm subwoofer with dual passive radiators. Although there’s no attempt to replicate treble channels here, Yamaha’s Virtual Surround Technology is used to create a room-filling sound that you might not immediately suspect from a soundbar of this size.
Things are also kept simple on the back of the device. Between the keyholes for wall mounting are two optical inputs, an analog 3.5 mm input and an HDMI ARC output – there is also a USB jack, but only for updates. And if you only want to connect your new soundbar to the mains, Bluetooth 5.0 is on board for wireless streaming.
The SR-C20A delivers that rich Yamaha tone and immediately promises a performance that is hard to turn down. The midrange in particular is full-bodied and clear. The SR-C20A’s woofer makes its presence felt with a solid foundation, even if it doesn’t exactly make the walls of the room shake. Detail is very good for a soundbar at this price point, and overall clarity is good.
Yamaha is smart enough to know why people buy products like these, and has managed to deliver a clear and focused presentation that surpasses that of a standard flat-panel TV. The SR-C20A’s dimensions mean that the sound is sometimes a little closed in – when scenes are particularly busy and at higher volumes – but never to the extent that it becomes untidy or unintelligible.