YAMAHAAudio YAS-209BL Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer, Bluetooth, and Alexa Voice Control Built-In,Black,36 x 2.5 x 4.25 inches

I've now had this sound bar for just under four years. It is still performing wonderfully, still sounds great, and still works just as well as the day I took it out of the box. The sound quality is surprisingly good for the price you pay. Is it perfect? No? Will it hold up to a unit that's 4x the price? Not even kinda. But is it better than the speakers on your standard consumer-grade flat-screen TV? You better believe it. Better by a mile. It has several different sound modes depending on what you're watching, easily connects to your Bluetooth devices to play music, and offers very simple connection to your TV. The remote is crap, but you likely won't need it anyway. Most TVs now come with programmable remotes that you can use to control the basic functions of the soundbar. I use the Yamaha Soundbar app to control the more detailed features as it's easier and more clear visually. It gets plenty loud and does not distort or crack in higher volumes. I have noticed that when watching OTA broadcast TV (read: not through a cable box or streaming device), TV shows that feature live music performances are particularly challenging for this soundbar. The vocals during songs are always totally buried. However, watching music videos, streaming music, or watching concert videos seems to be fine. It's a strange issue, but there's no doubt it exists. And I've tried multiple modes with no success. But it's a minor issue comparatively. I'm very happy with this unit and will continue to use it until one of us stops working.

I purchased this soundbar to accompany a cheaper TV i put in a home gym. The size of it is perfect for the space I had to put it in and for mounting under the TV. Setting it up was a breeze. Download the app to make it simple. The first one I got, the subwoofer woukd not connect through Bluetooth. I contacted Amazon and they got a replacement out to me next day. Went to set it up and boom, Bluetooth setup was complete. The speaker has some weight to it, so I believe the build quality is good. The sound that comes out of it is really nice for the price. If you're looking for earth shattering, look elsewhere. But if you want some decent sound with some options to adjust output, look no further. The built in Alexa is also a nice feature. Very happy with this purchase

I am working on transforming part of my basement into a semi-finished space for a small exercise room. Sound off of a TV's built in speakers isn't going to cut it, so I needed a better solution.I wouldn't consider myself an audiophile, but I do appreciate good sound. I have a bunch of conventional receiver/speaker setups throughout the house - several 2.0 systems and a 5.1 in the living room.In this basement application, I wanted something simpler and cheaper. I compared this Yamaha setup to a similar Polk and Klipsch sound bar/sub combination. I have had positive experiences with all three brands, but ended up choosing the Yamaha mainly due to the killer price.The subwoofer was a little bigger than I expected for a 6.5" unit, but not big enough to be an issue in my intended location. One oddity with the bar itself - the mounting holes aren't 16" on center even though they easily could have been. I mounted it to a cedar plank wall and fortunately I still had the back side open and was able to add a couple 2x4s between studs to provide a more solid mounting point. On sheetrock, I think you'd be okay with good sized anchors since it isn't terribly heavy but it would still be better if Yamaha had gone with a standard 16" spacing to allow for hitting studs.The unit powered up right away and was relatively easy to add to my wireless network. It is 2.4 GHz only, like many smart home devices but this is okay for me. 2.4 GHz could have interference issues in a dense apartment building, however. The app is okay - it seems they should have fit more controls on one page, but I don't anticipate using it much.I immediately queued up some songs on Spotify to try it out. It played over the network without an issue. Rating the sound quality depends on what you're comparing it to. If I compare it to the RCF Monitors in my garage or my Yamaha driven Polk 5.1 setup in the living room it's not even close, but I wasn't expecting it to be given the huge difference in price. Compare it to a solid set of 2.1 computer speakers at a similar price point, though, and it'll absolutely blow them away. I unfortunately can't compare to other sound bars since I have limited experience with them.For this application, it's plenty. Music does sound good - the bass is solid for a 6.5" subwoofer, and the mids/highs are better than expected for such a compact unit. I've been using it while I continue remodeling the basement and I'm happy with the sound quality. I leave it set on stereo as other modes seem somewhat artificial to me.I did run into an issue with Bluetooth - I could not get it to appear as an option no matter how hard I tried. I performed a factory reset and that fixed the issue. Otherwise, it's been working very reliably.Bottom line: If you're looking for a secondary system in a basement or bedroom, this should suit your needs very well. For a small to medium sized living room, it would be acceptable and a whole lot better than TV speakers if you aren't willing to invest in a 5.1 or 7.1 system. For the price, it's tough to go wrong.