At 23 inches wide, the C20 is the smallest sound bar I’ve seen from Yamaha. It still sounds pretty good, though, and it sounds better than the even smaller Roku Streambar because the bass is stronger and the highs are smoother. The Yamaha doesn’t have streaming like the Roku, but it has more ways to connect.
The problem is that for what you get, the Yamaha C20 is just too expensive. If you don’t care about size, you can get a lot of great-sounding TVs for the same amount of money, starting with the Vizio V21. For more people to be interested in the C20, the price needs to go down.
Specifications
- Speakers: 2 x 1.8″ / 46mm; 1 x 3″ / 7.5cm subwoofer cone
- Dimensions: 23.5 x 2.5 x 4″ / 600 x 64 x 94mm
- Weight: 3.9lbs/1.8kg
- Connectivity: HDMI ARC, Optical (x2), 3.5mm jack, Bluetooth 5.0
- Frequency response: 65Hz – 22kHz
Where to get Yamaha SR-C20A?
The Yamaha SR-C20A has a lot of the look of a soundbar. It has that speaker mesh all over it, a small touchscreen panel, and matte plastic on the back and bottom (with some lights to notify source and volume change). It really is that easy, and the control panel and display may be too easy. So, it would be just as comfortable under a TV as it would be on a desk.
The SR-C20A is only 60cm wide and 6.4cm tall, so it can easily fit under any TV (a 32-inch TV is about 70cm wide) or, as Yamaha suggests for more immersive gaming, a computer monitor. Not that it matters that it sounds so small.
It’s great because it’s small, which is different from its bigger TV-focused cousins. I don’t think this hurts the sound quality (more on that below), and I think it makes it even better for a gaming setup. The slightly smaller Razer Leviathan V2 is good for people with less desk space who want RGB on their desktop devices. The C20A, on the other hand, is plain and simple.
In short, this small soundbar has Yamaha’s full and rich sound right up front and centre. For such a small bar, the richness is great, the detail is great, and the power is also great. As a desktop gaming setup companion and all-in-one solution, it might be the best thing out there.
The sound is fuller and more well-rounded than that of the Panasonic SoundSlayer, which is another soundbar. Even though the SoundSlayer is impressive and packs a punch that such a small box shouldn’t be able to, the SR-C20A is better in every way and beats it. It has more bass, which makes a huge difference.