Yamaha revs YSP-30D surround sound bar

Ever since the original YSP-1 we’ve been mightily impressed by Yamaha’s ear tricking surround sound boxes. Latest to conjure up 5.1 audio from a single sound bar is the YSP-30D.Sitting neatly in the middle of Yamaha’s new line up – between the budget YSP-500 and pricier YSP-40D, the one-box now adds a DAB radio and iPod compatibility for total audio takeover.iPod comes courtesy of the optional YDS-10 dock, or you can just plug in any player via the line-in jack.The secret to the surround sound experience are the 21 on-board sound beams which direct audio around the room. Cunningly, Yamaha’s Intellibeam Automated System Calibration system will automatically adjust them to your room’s layout, ensuring a perfect set-up with no fuss.Several pre-set modes can be used to tweak the audio. We especially like TV Equal Volume mode, which balances out the levels to prevent that annoying volume jump during the ad break.There’s still no official release date but we’ve been tipped to expected them within the next few weeks.EssentialsYamaha YSP-30DPrice: £800On sale: TBAContact: YamahaRelated stories:Reviewed: Yamaha YSP-900Denon X-Space: surround sound in a barPhilips SoundBar has us surrounded

Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home