Yamaha’s New $3,499 Sound Bar Promises Audio So Immersive You’ll Forget You’re Still Sitting on an IKEA Couch

If you’ve ever watched a Christopher Nolan movie at home and thought, “Wow, I wish I could hear the dialogue less clearly but in three dimensions,” Yamaha has just the sound bar for you.

Meet the True X Surround 90A, Yamaha’s latest attempt to prove that your living room needs more audio channels than the average IMAX theater. Retailing at a casual $3,499.95, this flagship beast claims to bring “a new level of immersive audio realism”—a phrase that here roughly translates to: “Alexa, crank the bass until the neighbors file a noise complaint.”

The Sound Bar Arms Race Continues

Remember when a sound bar was a sleek upgrade from your TV’s tinny speakers? Well, those days are gone. The 90A isn’t just a sound bar—it’s a lifestyle choice. It comes with a wireless subwoofer, two rechargeable portable surround speakers, twelve amplifiers, and enough Yamaha-branded audio mumbo-jumbo to make your dad say, “Back in my day, we had stereo and it was fine.”

Not content with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, Yamaha decided to add AURO-3D to the mix—because clearly your ears have been slumming it in mere three-dimensional sound. AURO-3D, for those not fluent in audiophile acronym soup, is a format that “up-mixes stereo content into rich, 3D sound fields.” Translation: Your Spotify lo-fi playlist now has vertical presence.

AI Audio Optimization That Thinks for You—Because You Can’t Be Trusted

Yamaha didn’t stop at overengineering the hardware. No, they infused it with Surround:AI™, an “intelligent” mode that analyzes your audio five times per second to decide what you should be hearing. It dynamically adjusts dialogue, ambient sounds, and effects in real time—because clearly what you wanted to hear during Oppenheimer was the faint sound of rain 600 feet away, not the actual plot.

Rechargeable Bluetooth Speakers… That Charge on Cradles… That Are Still Somehow “Portable”

In a bold attempt to redefine the word “wireless,” Yamaha’s surround speakers come with wall brackets and charging cradles, making them only slightly less complicated than setting up a Tesla home charger. But hey—they also double as standalone Bluetooth speakers, so when you're done recreating a battlefield in your living room, you can take the chaos to your patio.

Made With Science

The 90A also comes with a Symmetrical Flare Port subwoofer, developed using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)—a scientific term Yamaha included just to justify why the bass sounds twenty decibels less farty than their last model.

Streaming So Smart, It Might Leave You

Of course, no modern audio product is complete without an app that does everything—except maybe pair on the first try. With MusicCast, the 90A connects to Spotify, AirPlay, Bluetooth, TIDAL, Qobuz, Deezer, SiriusXM, and presumably your neighbor’s WiFi if you hold it just right. You can even sync it with other Yamaha devices to create a whole-home audio experience—ideal for when you want your dog to panic from Dune 3 in every room.

So, is the True X Surround 90A worth $3,499.95? Absolutely—if you’ve already bought everything else on your midlife crisis shopping list. If not, maybe stick with your old sound bar and just pretend that low-budget indie drama is a sonic masterpiece.

Either way, Yamaha’s message is loud and clear (unlike most movie dialogue): You can always hear more, if you’re willing to spend more.