Yamaha YAS-207

Let’s give credit where it’s due to Yamaha. While a large slice of its home theatre market is geared towards AV receivers and speaker packages, it has also long sympathised with those people who don’t have the space for full surround sound systems.

By creating YSP (Yamaha Sound Projection) technology – designed to emulate a surround-sound experience from a single soundbar – for its YSP soundbar range, the company offers a reasonable compromise between performance and practicality. The technology has been created so people can enjoy all the height and surround sound effects, but with just a soundbar.

While the bar has optical and 3.5mm inputs, we choose to go through the HDMI sockets, which enable 4K and HDR passthrough.

The 207 doesn’t make soundtracks appear as if they’re being blasted down from your ceiling or from behind your sofa, but as far as ‘virtual’ surround sound experiences from single speakers go, the YAS-207 is hugely effective, and proves more spacious and more enveloping than its rivals.

We play Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk on Ultra HD Blu-ray and, watching the NFL half-time show, there is a definite sense that it’s live – the crowd has an obvious presence and the soundbar ably communicates the echo around the stadium.

There’s plenty of space to occupy in the soundfield, and the Yamaha manages to fill it with subtle, layered detail.

But it doesn’t get bogged down with details so much that it forgets to liven up. There’s plenty of dynamism and crispness to the musical performance.

Its aptitude is confirmed by playing the psychedelic rolling rhythms of Travis Scott’s Butterfly Effect over Bluetooth, although the higher frequencies aren’t the last word in refinement.

The main unit is slim and svelte, although the external subwoofer is harder to house and less inconspicuous.

The YAS-207 is a natural entertainer, excelling in some areas of sonic performance that others cannot. And that makes it quite special.