YAMAHA YAS-209

We had a moment during the unboxing of Yamaha’s YAS-209, turning the soundbar around between our hands, feeling its weight, seeing how the blue-black fabric wraps right around to meet the sturdy base at the back, leaving a top lozenge of surface, lightly textured and studded with nine indicator lights at the front, next to touch icons. We liked it immediately, and even more so when we placed it in front of our TV and found it so very low, 62mm, that we could actually use our TV remote without having to aim it down from a raised position, arm up like a Roman emperor thumbs-downing his displeasure towards the TV’s half-hidden IR sensor. Here we had clearance. A good start.

We had a different sort of moment, though, when we examined the Quick Start Guide for the YAS-209 (yes, we do read the instructions), and saw the YAS-209 declared to be a “Front Surround System”. Sounds tautological, doesn’t it? And it is. Front systems that try to be surround systems so often become a cropper that such claims generate a noticeable chill in the listening room, and a silence into which such a Front Surround System is invited to ‘prove it’.

EQUIPMENT

The YAS-209