In some cases, the bigger the speaker the more sound you get from it. But Yamaha is doing the reverse with its SR-C30A soundbar. It is one of the more compact soundbars I have utilized and accompanying it is a subwoofer that can essentially fit under your couch and of course I had to see if this holds true. Is the size of the SR-C30A most suitable for the smallest spaces?
Style
Don’t let the box of the SR-C30A fool you as its houses very compact components inside. The soundbar itself weights just under 3lbs and has a width of under 24” and a height of just 2.5”. Its all black with a woven fabric that covers a large amount of the device. On the subwoofer side you are getting a length of 13” but a height of just 6”. It is mostly compromised of a hard black plastic exterior with just a bit of the same fabric covering a portion of the side. There isn’t anything eye popping about either device but that does help them blend into whatever spaces you have planned. There are LED lights in the front that illuminate when making changes to the controls on the soundbar. Interestingly enough there is options on the app to change from low to high but doesn’t seem to do anything.
Yamaha SR-C30A comes with two power plugs, power brick, and optical cable. No HDMI.
Setup / Features
Getting the C30A up and running wasn’t hard but a bit irritating. I couldn’t really get it going with HDMI but had no issues with optical. Sound popped up right away. Getting it synced with the included wireless subwoofer didn’t take long either. All the controls can either be done via the remote that has just about every button possible or you can utilize the app that gives you a better view of your setup. Also, the remote needs to be pointed directly at it to get full use of it where the app I can essentially be in another room.
There are various sound profiles you can try such as Stereo, Standard, 3D Movie, and Game. There is also the ability to up the Bass and make the voices clearer as well. All these options can work to your liking depending on listening preferences.
Sound
Hiding inside this compact soundbar is two 1.8” drivers while the Subwoofer has a 5 1/8”. Being so small there isn’t separate components for tweeters and radiators and such. There isn’t any support for Dolby Atmos or DTS:X either. This soundbar does provide full clear sound though no matter what you are watching. I have used it on my TV app YouTube TV but also watched various shows and movies across apps such as Netflix, Disney+, VUDU, etc.
Movies like BumbleBee can get hard hitting with bass thumping thanks to the subwoofer which I have sitting under my couch and you can definitely feel the rumble Putting it in 3D movie does help give you more of that virtual surround presence as well. The Sub is really the key in this setup though. Without it everything feels flat and far less punchy.
Verdict
The C30A for its size provides a great deal of nice audio if it’s accompanied with its included subwoofer. Even though it doesn’t support higher codecs such as Dolby Atmos / DTS:X you can get some great entertainment from it while watching movies and other content. But if you are used to those formats that missing extra “kick” is noticeable. In any event though this speaker is well suited for small spaces and heck you could probably utilize it as a desktop speaker if you desire as well. Its pricing of $279.99 is a nice, sweet spot taking it under the $300 range. There are soundbars in that price range that give you more support, but they are nowhere as compact.
