Yamaha goes premium with new Wi-Fi sound bar

The Yamaha YSP-2700 is a high-end sound bar that offers three HDMI inputs and multiroom music capabilities.

Ty Pendlebury Editor

Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.

Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials

Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.

See full bio

Ty Pendlebury

July 6, 2016 4:25 p.m. PT

2 min read

Until recently there were only a couple of sound bars that peeked "Kilroy was here"-style over the $1,000 mark, but now we have two just from Yamaha alone. The company is following up its gargantuan YSP-5600 sound bar with a sleeker, less-costly option in the YSP-2700.

The YSP-2700 is a "7.1-channel" sound bar -- with a wireless sub -- that uses Yamaha's Digital Sound Projector technology to simulate surround sound. The Yamaha uses a series of 16 drivers across the front of the unit to beam sounds around the room. In the past we've found the technology works better than competitors' in providing an enveloping soundstage, even if it's not very successful at producing rear effects.

Like models such as the Zvox's SB500 and Definitive Technology's W Studio series, the 37-inch-wide Yamaha YSP-2700 takes cues from the computer industry by shunning a plastic housing in favor of a solid block of aluminum.

As expected for a $1,199 (AU$1,499; not yet announced for the UK) sound bar, the connectivity includes three HDMI inputs and one output that offer 4K pass-through compatibility. The sound bar will also decode both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio for users who want to be able to decode all manner of Blu-ray soundtracks.

The Yamaha includes Bluetooth streaming both from a phone and even more handily to a set of Bluetooth headphones.

As with most new products under the Yamaha banner, the YSP-2700 includes Yamaha's multiroom Wi-Fi system called MusicCast. It offers streaming of a number of services including Pandora, Spotify and Rhapsody plus hi-res music from a networked device.

The YSP-2700 will be available in the US in September, while availability in the UK and Australia have yet to be announced.