Yamaha MusicCast BAR 40

£439 FROM Yamaha, yamaha.com

6 Sporting Yamaha’s signature highquality build and sleek design, the MusicCast BAR 40 features HDMI in-andout with ARC support. As well as optical audio in, a 3.5mm analogue port and an Ethernet connection, there’s also Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and AirPlay, Spotify and Alexa support. Inside, two front-firing speakers contain a 4.6cm woofer and 2.5cm tweeter each and have 50W power per side. There’s DTS Virtual: X support which creates the illusion of surround from a stereo source, and DTS Digital Surround though no Dolby

Atmos. You do get MusicCast, Yamaha’s multi-room tech that lets you stream between compatible Yamaha devices.

There’s plenty for movie buffs like clear dialogue modes but also balanced music playback too. The optional subwoofer extends the bottom end, though it needs placing carefully for optimum effect. It’s quite an expensive extra too.

VERDICT

Suits music and movies Good connectivity No Dolby Atmos Sub is an extra £429