Instead of your movie nights being hampered by muffled voices or tinny action scenes, this simple addition will make your living room feel a movie theater – and it's on sale with $100 off right now.
The Yamaha True X Bar 40A soundbar is discounted by $100 for a limited time. I tested this model only two weeks ago and was floored by its deep, booming, and immersive sound at such an affordable price.
Yamaha has been in the audio game for a long time – more than 70 years to be exact – so I wasn't too surprised that it delivered nice-sounding results. But I wasn't expecting it to be one of the best soundbars you can get at this price point, especially now with $100 off.
This Yamaha soundbar will transform your movie nights
To take movie nights at home to the next level – with crashing booms, tense dialogue, and clear sequences that make you feel like you're in the theater – what you're looking for is a subwoofer, and 'up-firing' speakers for brilliant surround sound.
Woofers are the speakers dedicated to delivering strong bass, adding impact and depth to every movie, and up-firing speakers send soundwaves above and around your head, creating the feeling that the sound is coming from different directions, much like you experience in a movie theater.
But standalone subwoofers and surround sound speakers can cost $100s each, and only tend to work alongside soundbars that also cost many more $100s. So instead, the affordable solution is to find a soundbar with subwoofers and up-firing speakers built-in.
For the price, the Yamaha True X Bar 40A produces detailed, impactful, and colorful sound. It can play Dolby Atmos titles – which is not standard at this price point – so you can enjoy theater-level surround sound streamed straight from your TV stand.
There's a Movie sound preset, and everything I watched with it turned on had stunning clarity, and the bass delivered forceful impacts and scene-setting depth. And if clear, well-balanced audio wasn't enough to transform your movie nights, the Yamaha True X Bar 40A can also go incredibly loud.
It's compact, too, so if you're looking for small space ideas, you don't have to worry about the Yamaha True X Bar 40A dominating your cozy living room.
It isn't just movies and TV shows where this soundbar shines. I also listened to music spanning different genres and decades, and the Yamaha made all of it sound fantastic.
Room-filling sound with strong bass is perfect for your music room, and if you're planning on building out your perfect setup, you can always add additional speakers at a later date, like the Yamaha True X Sub 100A subwoofer and the Yamaha True X Speaker 1A surround speakers.
I say this as there are countless soundbars out there, from the $1,000+ Sonos Arc Ultra to the budget-friendly Fire TV Soundbar Plus, so knowing the right specs to look for helps narrow down the options, but at this price point, with this performance, the Yamaha deal is not to be missed.
The Yamaha True X Bar 40A is discounted to $399.95 at Yamaha.
More to Shop
It's not a bad idea to shop around if you're upgrading something as major as your home entertainment. Luckily, I've tested the best-selling soundbars from the biggest brands, so you don't have to.
All prices were correct at the time of publication.
For $100 more, you can add an external subwoofer to the True X Bar 40A's soundbar, creating the even more powerful Yamaha True X Bar 50A. It's perfect if you enjoy feeling the rumbles beneath you when watching movies.
Read more in my full Yamaha True X Bar 50A review.
If you'd rather not splash out a few hundred dollars, the Fire TV Soundbar Plus is on offer for just $174.99 – I'm using it at the moment and, even at this entry-level price, it has solid bass and surround sound.
Read more in my full Fire TV Soundbar Plus review.
To create the ultimate movie theater experience, get yourself a full set of a soundbar, subwoofer, and two surround speakers. The Samsung HW-QS750F is the best we've tested, with deep and awe-inspiring sound coming from every direction.
Read more in my full Samsung HW-QS750F review.
I'd be remiss not to mention the number one soundbar we've tested at Homes & Gardens. It's hard to believe that a single device could produce such beautiful, room-filling sound that makes it feel as if there are speakers all around you, but this does.
Read more in my five-star Sonos Arc Ultra review.
It may be expensive, but the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar produced some of the most realistic and inspiring surround sound I've ever heard come out of a single speaker.
Read more in my full Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar review.
The Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 8 is another stand-out pick, with beautifully-balanced sound where every sound is clear, even the subtler moments like footsteps and background noises.
Read more in my full Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 8 review.
Next, find out whether you should buy a soundbar before Black Friday or wait until the big sales.
