The present review is aimed to compare two soundbars - Yamaha YAS-209 vs JBL Bar 2.1 that are meant to satisfy the needs of cinema and music lovers. Based on our rating, YAS-209 has a total rating of 8.2 out of 10 versus 6 for Bar 2.1. The competitors' control buttons are different: power, source, demo, volume down, volume up, microphone mute and power, volume down, volume up, source, respectively.
Both soundbars have active amplification type. Soundbars have the same number of channels on 2.1. The output power is different and equal to 200 (overall) W for the YAS-209 versus 300 (overall) W for the Bar 2.1. Competitors do not have a built-in subwoofer. Rivals have wireless connection to separate subwoofer. The Yamaha YAS-209 got our rating of 6 out of 10, and the JBL Bar 2.1 7 for its audio features and specs.
Spotify support is available on the YAS-209.
These models have the ability to connect to the Internet via WI-FI. Rivals from our review have Bluetooth support. Each soundbar has 1/1 HDMI inputs/outputs. The HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC) feature supports both devices. Both soundbars have a USB connector. For connectivity, each of the soundbars received a rating of 8/10. App control is available for the YAS-209. A built-in microphone is present in each model. Soundbars do not have Multi-room support.
None of soundbars equipped with Dolby Atmos multichannel audio decoder. The soundbars do not support the surround sound technology DTS:X. For multichannel surround Yamaha YAS-209 got a rating of 8, and JBL Bar 2.1 4 out of 10.