Audio MusicCast 20 Wireless Speaker, Black

The Yamaha Music Cast system is fantastic! These small speakers sound great and are soooo easy to set up. I now have a few in various rooms and have whole-house wireless music without drilling and running wires through attics and under the home. Did I mention they are soooo easy to set up? No, these are not massive, large speakers that will fill a huge room with driving bass by using just one speaker. They are what they are -- excellent smaller speakers well under $500 that sound great and are perfect for a typical-sized room in a house. They are good looking, discrete, and are easily tucked away within room decor. I put two on opposite corners of rooms and the rooms sound wonderful. I added a subwoofer in the larger living room next to my entertainment center. It's like I now live inside a big speaker shaped like a house, and the music comes from everywhere when I walk from room to room. It is exactly what I wanted and am very pleased. I have always found Yamaha audio equipment to be top notch. I also found the Music Cast app so easy to install on my phone and use. Don't know why some other people have said it is difficult to use. They must work for the competition and are planting negative reviews. I can easily use the app to control the volume speaker-by-speaker, use EQ settings speaker-by-speaker, set up presets with all speakers and levels already set up and accessible by choosing the correct preset number, or I can use presets to have certain speakers off when I want to listen in only one room downstairs and not bother other people upstairs, I can turn on and off the AV receiver and all speakers with the press of one button, can access Pandora and Spotify (those are the ones I use) without turning on my Smart TV or Blu-ray, can skip songs, make playlists, give thumbs up and down to songs, etc., etc, all from the app on my phone. I also have had no problems at all with music cutting in and out like some people have commented. That must be due to them having a poor wifi signal problem. I have a Netgear Orbi wifi system with satellites in two places throughout my two-story home. My wifi signal is fine and the speakers have not cut in and out or lost signal at all. Ever. Not even once. Remember, if you start adding six or more speakers, plus a wireless AV receiver, and have your cell phone set on wifi to control the app and the speakers, you have just added eight or more devices onto your wifi system, in addition to all the other devices that were already using your wifi. So, make sure you have a good wifi signal and all will be fine. So far, I am VERY happy with these Yamaha speakers and their Music Cast system.

Great speakers once you get them connected, the problem is that was a huge headache for me (at first). So much so, that I spent 3 days tinkering with these and my wireless network settings to no avail, only to box everything up in frustration with the intent on sending it all back. Fortunately, once I cooled off and waited for the holiday weekday to pass I called Yamaha, and thankfully they got me working. Initially, I could only get one speaker to add to my wireless network, but the second speaker simply would not add. I thought maybe it was a bad speaker, so I exchanged it at the store, but sure enough the new speaker also would not connect. After 3 days of trying, I finally called Yamaha, and they said it was common, and that a better method was available (though not in any manuals or guides). SO, if you are pulling your hair out trying to get your receiver and two speakers to connect for rear surround sound, here is the EASY way (using a receiver and two speakers): 1) HARD WIRE the receiver over ethernet and add it to the Yamaha Music Cast app. 2) Temporarily HARD WIRE the first speaker via ethernet as well, then add the device in the music cast app (give it a specific name like “Surround Left”) 3) Click on the SPEAKER in the music cast app, and go to information > network settings (then notate the IP address) 4) Open a browser on your PC, and go directly to the IP address of the speaker 5) Click on network settings 6) Click on "wired" and it should let you change it to "wireless" 7) Enter the SSID, security type, and password of your wireless network, then click OK 8) Disconnect the ethernet cable, & reboot the speaker (it should connect on its own over wireless now) 9) Now REMOVE the speaker from the music cast app altogether 10) Since the speaker is still connected to your wireless network, you should be able to reconnect it back into the music cast app by holding down “connect” on the top of the speaker for 5 seconds. 11) Repeat steps 2-10 with the second speaker 12) Once the receiver and two speakers are showing up in the app, CLOSE the music cast app completely (swipe up on an iOS device) 13) Re-open the app, click on the receiver, choose "music cast surround speakers" and now add the two speakers. 14) Once you see the “successful” message you should be set with wireless surround. Why these speakers have so much trouble being added wirelessly, or why Yamaha does not add the above steps in their manual is beyond me, but now that everything is connected properly they work great! ALSO: While the advertisement of the Yamaha Receiver and these speakers say they only work in 5.1 setups, the receiver DOES allow adding two extra "front presence" (i.e. height) speakers, making it 5.1.2 ....... (which is basically like 7.1), FYI ****** 8/6/19 UPDATE ***** I noticed after a while the speakers began going "in and out" occasionally. To fix this (which may have been overkill, but it worked for me) I moved everything wireless in my house to my 2.4Ghz "N" network, and reserved my 5Ghz "AC" network for nothing but these speakers. I also put a network extender in the room where these speakers are, so that the signal was uninterrupted through walls. Once I did those two things they've never once sounded choppy. Hope this helps others =)

The build quality of this speaker is great, very nicely designed, the sound is just fine but isn't worth it if you don't want to use it as wireless surround speaker. Connection is relatively easy: 1. Get musiccast controller app 2. Add your receiver first 3. Then add wireless speakers( I had issue connecting to virtual network it creates during the setup but it solved by restarting my phone and the speaker once) And that's it, just don't forget to turn surround speakers on in your receiver settings. Just 2 points: 1. If you you want to use them as surround speakers they can not be used as separate stereo speakers. ( you need to release speakers from your receiver within the app and then set them up as a stereo pair) 2. These speakers cant be used as zone 2 (basically zone 2 speakers must be wired) I'm happy with my purchase as there’s no alternative for wireless surround speakers as far as I know and I hate wires.

I heavily invested in Yamaha MusicCast not long after it was launched. I purchased the RX-V681 receiver, six wired speakers, two WX-010's and two WX-030's. I mostly listen to SiriusXM and music I've purchased. I emailed Yamaha a couple of times asking them to include Amazon Music as a source, because I have Prime. They always said "we're working on it." Well, last fall they made it available, but only for their latest equipment. So I spent over a thousand dollars on Yamaha products, and none of them got the firmware update that added Amazon Music. I seriously considered ditching everything and switching to a competitor's system after that. Instead, I finally decided to buy an Echo smart speaker. I have the two previous generation Echo Dots, but based on my experience with them I've never been a fan of Alexa. (My favorite thing about her is reading the 1 star reviews written by frustrated users, which is always good for a laugh.) Even though the speaker sounded good, I ended up returning it. Using a Kindle Fire with the smart speaker didn't work well, but the bigger problem is Amazon's music service, which constantly disconnects and has major issues with volume level. But as a classical music lover, it seemed like I was cheating myself by paying for Prime and not using the music service. Even though the selections on their stations aren't that great, a lot of albums stream with Prime, e.g. many of the Naxos recordings. So, even though it's substantially more expensive, I decided to purchase the WX-021. The unit is larger than I thought it would be, measuring about 6 by 7.5 inches. Sound quality is good, and there is a basic equalizer built into the app. Although I've had some issues in the past with music being interrupted, either Yamaha or Sirius (or both) seem to have worked out the problem. The speaker holds the most recently played Sirius channel in memory, so if you listen to the same channel a lot you can just use the power button to turn it on and off. This unit also allows you to save three favorites and access them by touching buttons on top of the speaker. The MusicCast app actually works really well when you need it, and the WX-021 includes Amazon Music as a source, even allowing you to search for recordings included with Prime. Unfortunately, none of my other MusicCast equipment has this capability, but it's possible to link the WX-021 to other units through the app. Another caveat is that even when using Amazon Music within the MusicCast app, the service still stops unexpectedly. I know this is an Amazon issue, because I sometimes listen to Sirius all day without stopping. The only other downside to MusicCast is that Sirus on demand is not included. The speaker has to be wirelessly connected to a phone or tablet running the Sirius app for that to work.

I bought 2 of these and a new Yamaha receiver solely for the idea of having wireless rear speakers. It was a waste of money and time. They do work ok, and sound ok, but lost configuration data constantly with no indication other than the lack of sound. The fix for that if you have already made the mistake of buying: Power off, Hold volume up and volume down for 5 seconds, Hold power off connect for 3 seconds, Reset up in app. After the 20th time you start asking if this movie is worth the hassle - shortly after that you stop asking and just have some expensive clutter.

Almost not worth the setup hassle. This could be simplified without the app. When I bought the sound bar from a home theater store they were not in a hurry to recommend the speakers for the rear channels. I NOW UNDERSTAND WHY! They do not have the implied ease of connectivity via proprietary wireless or just blue tooth!!! They require WiFi or simply will not work. The sound bar works fine and sounds fine. The Bluetooth alone will drive you nuts because every time you connect the app WITHOUT using the WiFi support it will want to pull a Bluetooth signal from a more pure source, like your phone! Yamaha skip the app! Use a simple onboard pairing button and your own proprietary remote control supplied with the sound bar! Why create conflicting controllers that fight with each other???!!! As others have said, once you get past the hours of frustration the ‘room-filling surround sound ‘ does sound like what you want. The difficult process should be streamlined without the app. The app took its time delivering firmware to the speakers before they were functional. The setup literature makes no mention of requiring both Bluetooth connectivity and WIFi. This is why the Audio on this product is better, but the overall satisfaction mediocre. The design needs work.

First one I bought one and I started playing it and it sounded good so a week later about another one part of my stereo and they sound really great. I’m a longtime Yamaha fan. They sound really great.

Bought into the whole Musiccast setup because I've owned Yamaha receivers before, but Musiccast has two limitations: 1) You cannot add more than one (1) pair of Musiccast speakers as surround for 7.1 sound. For example, I did not see anywhere in the documentation for WX-021 speakers that the Musiccast App limits you to a setup of one (1) pair of surrounds and (1) subwoofer. Imagine you have a Yamaha 7.1 RX-A1080 like me, and want to include rear back (presence) surrounds - No! The Musiccast will not allow you to add a second pair of WX-021s, because the App does not allow it. Nice job, Yamaha. 2) Ok, can't use the second pair of WX-021s I ordered, so I sent them back, and ordered wired SVS Prime Elevation speakers. Hooked them up wirelessly using a Dynasty ProAudio Wireless Transmitter/Receiver, along with my sub. I hooked up the line inputs of Dynasty ProAudio Transmitter to the Surround Back outputs of my Yamaha receiver - no signal (sub connection works great). In YPAO, the rear surround back speakers are grayed out or "Not Available". Regardless of what Power Amp Design I choose for my receiver, the rear surround back speakers will not play at all. Ok, how about a "System Reset" of the receiver? I did that, connected my receiver to my home network, but did not pair the WX-021s to the receiver. I check the configuration menu on the receiver, and Bingo!, the rear surround back speakers are recognized. I think I'm out of the woods, using the "System Reset" to make the connection, so I proceed to pair the WX-021s to the receiver using the Musiccast App. As I watch the Speaker Configuration screen from the receiver as I complete the pairing of the WX-021s, the rear surround back speakers suddenly disappear from the screen? Yup, even the menu selection under "Speaker" is grayed-out again. So apparently is you want to use your Yamaha Musiccast-capable receiver and the two Musiccast WX-021s as surround speakers, you'll be limited to 5.1, which is pretty lame when part of the draw of Musiccast is the wireless speakers. In addition, the kicker is Musiccast will not allow wired speakers to be operated in the rear back surround as part of the 7.1 configuration. As a work-around, I connected the Prime Elevation rear back surrounds to the Pre-outs on Zone 2 of my Yamaha receiver. Although the YPAO will not include it in its automated setup, I can manually adjust the delay within the on-screen menu. So if you simply want 5.1 surround sound setup, Musiccast will accommodate you. Otherwise, look at other options for a 7.1 surround sound setup.

The Best one from Yamaha

Surround speaker, unobtrusive!

I bought the soundbar yas 408, a month back and was very impressed with the sound quality. However I was missing the wow factor. Now added the two music cast speakers and I am pleasantly surprised with the amazing surround sound experience. The only downside is that these are very expensive. I suggest all owners of the music cast sound bars to invest in the surround speakers to enjoy the high quality immersive experience