Audio SR-C30A Compact Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer and Bluetooth, Black

I needed a soundbar for my new home office, as my monitor does not have built in speakers. Standard speakers would not work for my situation, as desk space is already limited and I opted for a pretty large 32" monitor, hence my exhaustive search for a suitable soundbar to fit in the space underneath the monitor. After much online research, reading reviews, visiting the local big box stores for in-store listening etc, I pulled the trigger on this soundbar/ subwoofer combo. I could not be happier that I did. Now, Yamaha does not need this review or my support- they are doing just fine without me. But I am so impressed by the sound at this price-point that I felt compelled to leave a few words. I am 100% happy I purchased this. I had listened to the similar, smaller SR-C20A (in a store) and was somewhat underwhelmed despite all the positive online reviews. However, I realized that many of the other YouTube and online reviews are comparing that soundbar against others which are similarly priced (and so they probably sound even worse). Therefore, I guessed that getting a similar speaker to the SR C-20A by the same manufacturer, but with a SUBWOOFER would make a huge difference, and I was right. The sound of the SR-C30A is full, balanced, and does not perceptively distort at louder levels (and the system does get loud). Music is detailed and rich with good depth, and the sub provides as much bass as you could need, and realistically ask from this type of system. The soundbar with the sub disconnected sounds thin and uninspired, but with the sub connected is amazing (and I only have it turned up to a very low level to add a bit of depth). The biggest downside is that (at least at the time of my purchase) there was quite a leap up in price from the SR-C20a to the SR-C30a with the subwoofer. However, I feel that having a good sub is essential for any quality music or movie listening, and I could not be happier that I shelled out the extra cash for the SR-C30A. The only other faults I can find are that the "remote control experience" feels very basic, and that there is no adjustable equalizer (both of which I expected and neither of which I can complain about for a system of this price). I would easily buy this soundbar system again if I needed to, and recommend it to others who are in the need for one. I am completely satisfied with my purchase.

I wanted to upgrade the sound from my 4K TV without spending more than $300 (the cost of the TV itself lol) so I went looking for recommendations for the best bang for my buck. I saw that this model was the new budget pick recommendation for a TV soundbar from the Wirecutter, and that a very similar model from Yamaha was recommended by Consumer Reports for the price point, so I decided to try these speakers out, and I’m not disappointed! The volume is quite decent and the sound production is much more more clear than anything that comes from my TV. Despite the smaller size, there is some noticeable stereo separation. Also, the soundbar/ subwoofer combo is unexpectedly good at delivering a range of subtle smaller bass to bigger bass noises. For example, you can perceive a satisfying but subtle oomph from a door closing in a TV show, but the bass also will gradually ramp up appropriately for car noises or dramatic battle scenes or bass-ey music. There also doesn’t seem to be much volume based distortion. The packaging was a little unusual to open, but set up was pretty easy and fast. I connected the soundbar with a HDMI ACR cord so I could control the volume from the TV remote. The subwoofer automatically wirelessly connects to the soundbar too after powering everything on. Both speakers are very convenient sizes and not ugly, so I’m sure they would easily fit into many media spaces. Overall I’m quite satisfied.

I ordered this sound bar specifically for its small size to fit between the legs of my 42 inch TCL TV. As a sound bar for movies, I give the SR-C30A 5 stars. Dialogue is great on the bar speaker and the sub is phenomenal for the price. You hear this sub with your ears and bones. It is tight, punchy, responsive, and produces immersive base. This is a 5 star sub matched to a 3 star sound bar. I would not recommend purchasing the sound bar without the subwoofer. The remote is simple to use, Bluetooth works well, and the sub connects quickly. There is no on-off switch for the sub so it must have an automatic stand by mode. There is an app that is basically a copy of the remote. The sound bar can get very loud without distortion. My main complaint is that when listening to music (especially guitar or piano) the lack of a solid midrange is noticeable. There is an obvious 'quality' frequency gap between the sub and bar speakers. When the sub is not involved, there is no immersive feeling due to the size of the sound bar. Turning clear voice on and switching to 'standard' on the remote settings helped. If you listen to bass heavy music, you will not have this problem. This sound bar is also highly sensitive to the original quality of the audio recording. 'Bootleg' live recordings lack depth. The system does a good job of sounding rich at low volume levels for high quality audio. I frequently use the 3.5mm input jack with a portable mp3 player when not using my computer -to- TV -to- sound bar connection. This makes for a quick and energy efficient listening experience. The quality is virtually indistinguishable from an optical input. My solution to the lack of midrange for music was to add a splitter and a self powered monitor speaker. There is no delay using the splitter and I have tested two separate self powered speakers. Now the system is nearly perfect for my needs at a fairly low cost for the quality of sound, small size, and convenience. The system is used in a 15 x 16 foot bedroom. I have been tinkering with car, home, and instrument audio builds for over 25 years.

This was a premium upgrade to a cheaper soundbar I picked up during pandemic work from home. That got me by just fine, but was low quality. This gives an exceptional experience for gaming and watching movies, but also has a clear voice feature to help with video meetings. I’m using the optical cable for sound and have the subwoofer in a convenient location since it’s wireless. It was an easy setup with no need for additional configuration after connection. Not only is the speaker itself sleek, but the I appreciated the remote’s design and functionality a lot. I don’t really need it often but it made picking the right levels easier. It even has an option to turn off the LED lights if you want. My home office is 11’x10’ and this more than fills the space with quality sound.

It hooked up pretty easy. Bluetooth was also pretty easy to set up. The subwoofer is just ok. I would expect more bass out of it. The sound bar is pretty good but for the price point, I would expect better quality sound. I don’t know why my honest reviews of this product keep getting flagged, but let’s try this again…

This review starts with my original impressions. Please scroll down to the bottom for my 1 yr update. This soundbar was recommended by "The Wirecutter" (which does exhaustive product testing) as their best "budget pick" soundbar. I'll be honest; $199 did not seem like a "budget pick" price (not for my wallet, at least), but once I researched more and found that the really highly recommended soundbars often go for $400 or more, I figured I'd give this Yamaha a try. I'm glad I did. Volume-wise, this is enough to FILL our combined living room / dining room / kitchen space with blockbuster-movie-worthy sound (w/ the volume set to about 50%). At that level, you're getting clear dialogue, but are still getting a noticeable helping of rumble from explosions, soundtracks, etc. Also worth noting is that this soundbar has a remarkably balanced sound profile; the highs, lows, and mids do NOT overpower one another. That's good, because there's not much adjustability... except for the separate control for subwoofer volume, which a couple members of the household do adjust, depending on the experience they're looking for (casual background viewing, or "let's all watch this new movie" viewing). Three other small features of note... 1) This soundbar's volume - if connected via HDMI-ARC - CAN BE controlled by the TV remote (in our case, Hisense), and 2) This soundbar also turns on automatically when the TV is turned on, and 3) Unlike another soundbar I've had in the past, this soundbar does NOT turn off until the TV is turned off, even if left idle, with no sound for a while (e.g. when a movie is paused, or while a streaming service menu w/ no volume is displayed on the screen). I am 100% satisfied with my purchase, given the $199 price. If you can get this for that price or cheaper, AND you are not an audiophile, AND your room is not the size of a small gymnasium... I absolutely recommend this. ------------------------ 1 Year Update! Unfortunately, I had to bump my score down from five stars to three. Reason: After about six months, the soundbar started cutting out, with the sound reverting back to the TV speakers. To start working again, it required a reset. Eventually, even that stopped having any positive effect. We were CONVINCED that the problem was the HDMI ARC port on our few-years-old Hisense TV, and we were due for a TV/upgrade/update anyway, so we snagged a Black Friday deal on Toshiba TV. I set the Toshiba TV up thinking that the Yamaha soundbar would now work perfectly with the new TV, but... NOTHING. Was the problem the soundbar the whole time? To test, I connected an ancient Panasonic soundbar to the new Toshiba TV, and the old soundbar worked perfectly. For good measure, I took the Yamaha sondbar and subwoofer downstairs and hooked it up to an old Visio TV, and... nothing. So, sadly, while it was great for a while, I can't recommend this soundbar anymore, as I didn't even get one year out of it. Wirecutter's new budget pick is a less expensive TCL soundbar, which I'm about to set up to replace the Yamaha, which is now an expensive doorstop.

This is an excellent soundbar and a significant upgrade from my Vizio TV speakers. However, my Altec PC speakers provide similar performance. I highly recommend purchasing the subwoofer with this soundbar - it’s definitely worth the extra cost. The soundbar works best in small rooms but isn’t powerful enough to match the performance of an amplifier with large box speakers in a bigger space. One area for improvement would be the ability to retain the current settings after being turned off, as it resets to a default configuration when powered down. Additionally, while I don’t see the purpose of the blinking subwoofer light during shutdown, it’s not an issue. I would also like to see an optional hard wire subwoofer connection in case the Bluetooth stops working.

Purchased this Yamaha soundbar/sub to replace a Polk Magnifi Max that broke. The Polk Magnifi was louder, the soundbar was at least 3x as heavy and the sub was 2x the size of the Yamaha sub, BUT the Yamaha audio clarity is far superior than that of the much more expensive Polk setup. And the Yamaha subwoofer fit nicely underneath our couch to minize clutter. The unit arrived well packaged and was easy to setup. Just plug it in (via hdmi arc) and the subwoofer is already paired to the soundbar. Great product highly recommend as an "entry level" soundbar with great sound clarity.

excelente equipo! sonido de lo mejor si lo colocas de la forma correcta es tal cual en el cine

Perfect size and sound quality for me. Bought the soundbar with subwoofer on sale and extremely happy with them. Like the preset sound options., especially 3D Movie, that gives surprisingly good surround sound. Standard is great for low volume. Vocal clarity is important to me, rarely needed to use that added feature except for the odd movie at low volume. Sound output seems to be directional - great if you’re a gamer or in close proximity to the speakers, not sure what the sound would be like in a large room. Given today’s technology available, I am disappointed by the remote control but like the app they offer. I have an old LG TV (pre smart TV and HDMI ARC). I fiddled too much with the hook up but managed to land on a connection via Apple TV that uses the Apple remote’s volume control for speaker and on/off buttons for TV and box. Still have to use the Yamaha remote or app for speaker shutoff but that’s fine. Would I buy this at full price of CA$400? Probably not. Sound is very much subjective. For me, at the sale price and given Yamaha’s solid brand reputation, this was a great purchase.

Je suis vraiment content de mon achat. Pour le prix bonne qualité et son clair pour les vocal et le sub est juste assez pour amener de belle basse profonde.

muy practico y facil de instalar

Los bajos son buenos, solo hay que equilibrar bien los bajos y los medios, para poder disfrutar! Lo que no me gustó es la conexión del subwoofer, ocasionalmente se desconecta del la barra! Esto puede ser por la ubicación!