THE RISE AND RISE OF THE SOUNDBAR

From humble beginnings, Yamaha has taken the ‘bar from TV audio substitute to sonic sensation.

When LCD and plasma TVs exploded in popularity during the early noughties, no one was thinking too much about sound quality. The sheer novelty of a thin flatscreen was more than enough to persuade us all to upgrade our bulky TV sets.

But soon, we began to notice that they sounded pretty weedy. The sound emanating from these slick new screens simply wasn’t as good as that from old-school tube TVs. Seems this new technology just didn’t have the space to incorporate decent sized audio speakers.

Salvation came in the shape of the soundbar.

The first were simply exterior sound systems for sonically enfeebled TVs. But they quickly developed into some far more exciting, becoming premium audio systems for the home.

The turning point came in 2004, when Yamaha unveiled its first Digital Sound Projector, the YSP-1. While everyone loved the surround sound experience offered by home cinema, not everyone wanted to live with all the loudspeakers. The YSP-1 had an answer.

Using multiple small-diameter speakers arranged in an array, it could directionally aim sound by shifting the timing control of each speaker. The resulting sonic beams could be reflected off a wall and directed toward the listening position to produce a genuinely immersive experience.

Since then, Yamaha has further refined its YSP technology, and introduced a range of easy-to-live-with soundbars using DTS Virtual:X technology.

Today, Yamaha soundbars haven’t just replaced TV audio systems, they’ve taken them to another level entirely.

Using multiple small-diameter speakers arranged in an array, it could directionally aim sound by shifting the timing control of each speaker.