The Yamaha True X Bar 40A offers immersive Dolby Atmos sound and impressive frequency reaction for less than $500. We also love the sleek, textured design, as well as the port selection. Don’t expect bass without a subwoofer.
Overall Solid Frequency Reaction
Good dive
Useful features like AirPlay 2
Affordable
The bass is a bit thin and a subwoofer.
Best systems for the value of sound bar, subwoofer and surround speakers
In recent years, Dolby Atmos has become much more common. It is now featured not only in the most productive and expensive soundbar systems, but also in a variety of more affordable features. Although the first very affordable Dolby Atmos soundbars have started to appear, there is still room on the market for suitable mid-diversity features – features for those who need their soundbar a little more than what ultra-budget models can offer. offer.
That’s precisely where the Yamaha True X Bar 40A sound bar comes into play. It’s a little more expensive than the cheapest Dolby Atmos soundbars on the market, which are designed to offer a little more power and audio prowess without breaking the budget. Yamaha has also built this sound bar to offer deeper bass and offer built-in subwoofers in a slim package.
Can the Yamaha True X Bar 40A Sound Bar deliver on those promises and be one of the most productive sound bars out there? I’ve been there for a while to find out.
The Yamaha True The soundbar only comes in black and doesn’t seem to be available in Australia, despite the availability of the True X Bar 50A.
The Yamaha True X Bar 40A is rarely as necessarily compact as the Sonos Beam, but it’s still small compared to many other options. The soundbar measures 40 inches wide, 4. 4 inches deep, and 2. 5 inches high. It’s a bit deeper than some other options, but I was able to comfortably fit it between the legs of a 65-inch TV.
The True X Bar 40A is also a relatively modern sound bar. It has excellent fabric that covers most of the frame with sound ports on each side. At the top, locate a variety of buttons for manual control, adding volume buttons, a microphone mute button, an input selector, and a power button. On the front, there are LED lighting fixtures to indicate which inputs you are using or are connected to.
This Yamaha soundbar also comes with a remote control, but given the HDMI CEC support, you may not use it much. The remote comes with the controls you’d expect, adding separate buttons for volume and what’s known as a subwoofer or bass control. There are also surround speaker controls and the ability to replace sound modes, mute volume, or replace inputs. The remote looks a little cheap, but it gets the job done.
The soundbar on its own doesn’t come with surround speakers, but you can use surround speakers with it. The soundbar supports the Yamaha True X Speaker 1A as an envelope, and we used them in our setup for some of our tests. The True X Speaker 1A is incredibly small and compact, measuring just 3. 5 x 4. 1 x 3. 5 inches. These speakers are actually designed to be portable and have a built-in battery; You can keep them on and in a position to use them with the soundbar if you want.
Installing those speakers with the soundbar was simple. You’ll simply put them into surround pairing mode and press the surround settings button on the remote. The soundbar deserves to recognize surround speakers through itself. Finally, the soundbar is compatible with the Yamaha True X Sub 100A subwoofer, but we didn’t have one available to test.
The True There’s also an HDMI input, so you can use the soundbar to output an HDMI signal and take advantage of all the ports on your TV. Unfortunately, this HDMI pass-through port only supports 4K 60Hz, so you may not be able to use the soundbar on the same port you need to get the higher upgrade. rates in.
Like other modern soundbars, the Yamaha True X Bar 40A also has several wireless connection options. The soundbar supports Bluetooth and can be connected to Wi-Fi for Apple’s Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, and AirPlay 2. This allows you to use the soundbar as a component of a multi-room setup in the Apple ecosystem.
The soundbar can accept HDMI CEC commands, so unless you need to access soundbar-specific messages for things like surround speakers, you can use your TV remote or a streaming device instead of the soundbar’s remote.
Finally, the True X Bar 40A can be controlled with the Yamaha Sound Bar Connect app. The app is relatively simple, but it allows you to control the volume of all connected surround speakers, choose sound modes, and configure Alexa, which can also connect to the sound bar. If you’re like me, configure whatever settings you want, adding the volume of the surround speakers, and then largely avoid using the app or compromised soundbar remote.
Under the hood, the True X Bar 40A offers dedicated speakers for the left and right channels, as well as two dedicated height speakers and two three-inch woofers for bass. With wraparound speakers, you also get additional rear channels. However, you want to buy those surround speakers separately at $150 each.
The Yamaha True This is true no matter what I looked at or heard. In an immersive movie with a lot of sound effects like “Deadpool 2,” the soundbar was able to produce decent bass for things like gunshots and provided a more immersive listening experience than I expected. ‘He waited.
The soundbar was capable of delivering decent bass for a soundbar in this price range, but don’t expect it to offer subwoofer-like bass performance as Yamaha might have you believe. To be clear, the bass is rarely very bad, but a subwoofer (sold separately for $249) would actually help boost the bass and give more intensity to things like explosions and gunshots in movies, not to mention kick drums and the bass in music. Listening to a track like AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” the kick drum was a little weaker than I would have liked. Playing with the bass extension setting may help a little. Beyond this setting, you can also spice up the low frequencies using the app, this may not magically help the soundbar produce frequencies it is not physically capable of producing.
The True a slight cut in some midrange frequencies, but it was not an exaggeration. If this cut makes you feel like the discussion is hard to hear (I don’t), the Clear Voice button will liven up the vocal frequencies a bit. further. However, I didn’t like the effect of the Clear Voice setting on non-voice audio.
The high-end headlines presented through the True X Bar 40A were also good. You may not get the same clarity you get with more expensive systems, but that’s to be expected. You’ll still be able to hear the main points of percussion in music and sound effects in videos and TV shows. A little more clarity in those higher frequencies would have been nice, but it didn’t really make them sound too clipped.
Of course, one of the great benefits of this soundbar is the fact that it offers Dolthrough Atmos at a lower price. I was pleasantly surprised by the Atmos functionality presented through this soundbar. As mentioned, this made “Deadpool 2,” a movie with a lot of sound effects, a little more exciting; In fact, the soundbar didn’t provide a cinematic experience. The height channels were a little more effective than I expected, but basically in the smaller room of the two I tested the soundbar in. In the larger area (my living room, as opposed to the guest bedroom), the Atmos effect was especially reduced and it became clear that the soundbar was better suited to smaller areas.
The surround speakers contributed to the immersion, but basically charging the rear channels instead of raising anything to the height of the sound. Still, when the surround speakers were turned off, I was amazed at the effect the soundbar alone was capable of producing. given its price. And despite their very small size, the surround speakers still sounded like they were compatible with the soundbar, offering enough intensity to turn up the dive without feeling thin or mismatched.
For the right person, the Yamaha True X Bar 40A has a lot to offer. It gives a forged frequency reaction and the Atmos effect helps with immersion. This sound bar is best suited for those who have a more comfortable living room or plan to use it in a smaller space. If you have a larger space, even if the sound is still loud enough, don’t expect the soundbar to produce the same immersion point.
Of course, the question remains whether you deserve to buy the soundbar on its own, with a subwoofer, with surround speakers, or both. I didn’t have a subwoofer to compare to the soundbar and I felt the bass was a bit weak. However, I recommend those who can spend the extra money, as it will add a lot more intensity to your sound system. Upon checking, I found that the surround speakers added a deeper dive point to the overall audio quality, even the soundbar wasn’t bad on its own for being immersive. If you only need to buy the subwoofer or the surround speakers, I recommend that you go for the subwoofer.
If you had to spend extra money for the subwoofer and surround speakers at around $1,000, it’s probably worth looking into Samsung’s range of sound bars. In fact, at the time of writing this article, you may be getting the Samsung HW-Q990C soundbar. with subwoofer and surround speakers for around $1,000 (was $1,900), which is an incredible value for what could be the most productive soundbar formula of 2023 (it’s been updated for 2024 and the new edition is fully priced ). If you need a subwoofer and surround speakers in one package and are willing to spend more than $500, you’re better off looking at the Vizio M series. But if you’re looking for an Atmos-compatible sound bar for $500 or less, the Yamaha True X Bar 40A is the way to get by those with a smaller room and prioritize the correct frequency reaction over a higher dip point.
Yes, there are better features than the Yamaha True X 40A. But at this price, the True X 40A is a complete option with extra features and perfect overall audio quality, and you probably won’t regret buying it.
Christian de Looper is a freelancer who has covered all aspects of customer generation, adding mobile generation, audio, home theater, computing, gaming, and even cars. In Tom’s Guide, Christian covers the TV and home theater generation and has reviewed dozens of TVs. soundbars and A/V receivers, adding those of Samsung, Hisense, TCL and Vizio.
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