Yamaha SR-C30A

The titchy SR-C30A is nice at making your horrible TV audio system sound significantly better. If the slightly fractured relationship between the soundbar and the subwoofer may very well be counselled, it might be approaching ‘preferrred’. 

Introduction

Yamaha, it’s secure to say, has loads of earlier the place soundbars are involved – actually, you can argue that the corporate originated the entire idea within the first place.

And it’s true to say Yamaha is aware of precisely what’s what with regards to usefully compact soundbars, too – its dinky little SR-C20A is a superb mixture of biggish sound from just a little chassis at an equally little worth.

So my hopes are excessive for the SR-C30A, no two methods about it. It takes the confirmed SR-C20A recipe and provides a wi-fi subwoofer for a little bit of the cinematic rumble and thump all of us worth in our film and/or gaming sound, with out letting the asking worth get out of hand. All it has to do is sound nice, and it’s job achieved…

The Yamaha SR-C30A is on sale and within the UK it sells for a aggressive £299. In America, it’s priced much more aggressively: it’s yours for $279. Australian clients, in the meantime, whereas need to fork out not more than AU$399 to safe one.

Soundbars at this type of cash aren’t particularly skinny on the bottom – even soundbars with an accompanying subwoofer aren’t exhausting to return by. However a soundbar so small it may be used beneath the titchiest TV or gaming monitor, with a wi-fi sub thrown in? These are tougher to return by…

Design

• Compact dimensions
• Shelf- or wall-mount

It’s necessary to calibrate your expectations the place the design and end of such an reasonably priced system is anxious – even when it wears a Yamaha badge. There’s completely nothing mistaken with the way in which the SR-C30A is put collectively, and the supplies from which it’s made are completely match for objective too… however luxurious prices a good bit greater than this.

The wi-fi subwoofer is sort of solely chipboard, but it surely’s correctly screwed collectively and easily completed. The entrance panel, which has a plastic-trimmed bass reflex port in direction of the underside, is roofed in acoustic fabric, and there’s extra of that materials masking the side-firing bass driver. At 335 x 160 x 364mm (HxWxD) it’s moderately compact – and this, together with the wi-fi facet of its specification, means it’s comfortable sufficient just about anyplace in your listening room. So long as it has entry to mains energy, in fact.

The soundbar itself, in the meantime, is a dinky 64 x 600 x 94mm (HxWxD) – which suggests it would sit fortunately beneath even the smallest TV with out wanting in any means imposing. At simply 1.3kg it’s no hassle to maneuver from one room to a different, both – and due to some keyhole fixings on the rear panel, it may be wall-mounted virtually as simply as it may possibly sit on a shelf. It’s constructed from an strange (however completely serviceable) grade of plastic, and options extra of the identical acoustic fabric throughout the entrance and high surfaces. Tactile it isn’t, but it surely – just like the subwoofer – is correctly made and completed.

Options

• HDMI ARC, digital optical and Bluetooth 5.0 connections
• 90 watts of energy
• A number of management choices

It is a 2.1-channel system, as each its dimension and its asking worth in all probability makes clear – none of your fancy-pants spatial audio right here. The SR-C30A is ready to cope with just about any audio data that’s incoming – however what you’ll hear is a stereo-plus-subwoofer rendition of it.

The soundbar options a few 46mm full-range drivers, every in receipt of 20 watts of Class D energy. The subwoofer, in the meantime, has a side-firing 130mm bass driver (with bass reflex reinforcement), which will get 50 watts. The connection between the 2 is wi-fi, and it occurs mechanically the second each parts are powered up – and there’s just a little pairing button on the again of the subwoofer in case it doesn’t.

The again of the soundbar options all of the bodily inputs. There’s an HDMI ARC socket, a few digital optical inputs (one labelled optical, the opposite ‘TV’ in case you’re not utilizing the HDMI enter) and a 3.5mm analogue socket. There’s additionally a USB slot, however that is only for servicing functions. Wi-fi connectivity is taken care of by Bluetooth 5.0, with SBC and AAC codec compatibility.

Management of the system could be achieved in one in all a number of methods. There are a number of touch-controls on the highest of the soundbar itself (quantity up/down, enter choice and energy on/off) – these are above just a little row of LED tell-tales that allow you to know what’s what as regards enter and quantity stage. 

The Yamaha can also be equipped with a full-function distant management handset – it’s about as prosaic and bodily unspectacular because the system it accompanies, but it surely covers each eventuality, embody a devoted subwoofer quantity management, together with Clear Voice and Bass extension choices (the primary pushes the midrange ahead within the title of readability, the second does the identical with low frequencies within the title of cinematic pleasure).

You can too entry the SR-C30A’s EQ presets (Stereo, Normal, 3D film and Recreation), mute the system, and dim or flip off utterly these little LEDs. 

The Yamaha may also be operated utilizing the Sound Bar Distant management app (for iOS and Android). It duplicates all of the capabilities of the bodily distant management, suits all of them on one web page, and is simplicity itself to make use of. 

Sound High quality

• Daring, direct and detailed sound
• Good low-end management and drive
• Handover between sub and soundbar is slightly too obvious

Sure, the SR-C30A’s subwoofer is small and its soundbar is smaller nonetheless – however this method nonetheless sounds greater, beefier and altogether extra convincing than any variety of mainstream TVs or gaming displays I may point out. It will not be excellent (what’s?), but it surely’s a particular improve on the audio system fitted to nearly all of reasonably priced televisions.

It’s the directness and positivity of the soundbar’s efficiency that’s initially most placing. It might not have a devoted tweeter anyplace, but it surely creates convincing, fairly substantial excessive frequencies regardless – and they’re loaded with element in addition to with physique. 

And it’s an identical story the place midrange response is anxious: the Yamaha sounds assertive and upfront, however by no means will get carried away with itself – and, once more, element ranges are gratifyingly excessive. Dialogue is distinct, characterful, loaded with data concerning tone and timbre, and tasks nicely forward of the opposite parts of a soundtrack – even when the soundtrack in query is within the technique of kicking proper off.

On the backside of the frequency vary, too, the place the subwoofer does its factor, there’s well-controlled presence and loads of wonderful element accessible too. The sub proves punchy sufficient to deal with the full-on motion stuff, however controls its output sufficiently nicely to make the assault and decay of particular person occasions obvious the place much less succesful designs simply drone. This helps no finish the place rhythmic expression is anxious too, when your soundtrack will get music-heavy (otherwise you simply determine you need to stream so music).

The soundstage the SR-C30A creates isn’t something particular when it comes to outright scale, but it surely’s well-organised sufficient to maintain all the pieces in its lane and stop even probably the most complicated moments in a soundtrack getting muddled. And there’s enough dynamic headroom accessible (regardless of the unpromising energy ranking) to let the space between whispered exposition and large, costly explosion appear pretty vital.

The connection between the soundbar and the subwoofer isn’t all sweetness and light-weight, although. The subwoofer appears to have been charged with coping with slightly extra of the frequency vary than is frequent in merchandise like this – the soundbar by itself is undeniably light-weight and considerably missing in presence, so the subwoofer has to care for extra of the frequency vary than is probably preferrred. 

So the crossover between the 2 is excessive sufficient up the frequency vary to place it in fairly a delicate space so far as human listening to is anxious – and it’s not an particularly easy handover. The distinction in tonality between the 2 units is made fairly obvious. Twiddling with the subwoofer’s quantity relative to that of the soundbar helps just a little, however it may possibly’t get rid of the issue.

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