JBL Authentics 200 - Retro Style Smart Home Speaker with Built in Wi-Fi Bluetooth and Voice Assistants Alexa

Let me help other buyers avoid the headaches I went through. Here’s how I ended up choosing this speaker. I wanted something for casual listening. My first pick was the B&W Zeppelin Pro. The sound just wasn’t there — none of the expected B&W signature was present. Their earbuds and headphones are phenomenal and need no break-in, but this speaker didn’t come close. The app was also a mess, and getting it connected was a nightmare. I was willing to tolerate all of that because the design is gorgeous, until the seams split in under a week. That was the end of that. Next came a pair of Klipsch Three Plus. Beautiful to look at, but the bass gets in the way of enjoying your music no matter how you adjust it. At low volumes, the experience falls apart completely. And the app? The worst part. It took anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes just to connect both speakers. My frustration had reached its limit. Then the JBL Authentics 500 came onto my radar — and what a game changer. This 3.1 system delivers far more than you’d expect from a Wi-Fi speaker. The 6.5-inch woofer manages bass with surprising control, even at a hefty 270 watts. It fills a midsize room easily yet still sounds great at low volumes. It’s a large unit with a retro design that feels solid and intentionally built. I’ve tested it with a wide variety of music, and it handles everything well. Google and Alexa integration are nice bonuses, even if I don’t use them yet. Dolby Atmos music isn’t for me — spatial audio still hasn’t matured — but that doesn’t take away from the speaker’s performance, especially if you do not use it. Most importantly, the JBL didn’t fail where the others did: the app. Not a single connectivity issue. Finally, I can just enjoy my music without fighting the software. Unless there is a serious issue, this will be a long-term go-to for casual listening (not as casual as expected, soundstage is impressive) Wireless speakers are here to stay, and the JBL Authentics 500 is a standout winner. Read more

Perfect for what I was wanting for sound quality. I had hoped it would reside in the kitchen, wishful thinking. I bought the JBL L200 Studio Masters in the 70’s and was seeking a speaker that took up less space, yet had the clarity and bass that I’m accustomed to. The Retro appeal and WiFi components appeared an attractive addition to my space. This unit possesses the Bass, Volume and clarity that does not disappoint. Yes, the Authentics line up appears pricey, so to were the Studio speakers at that time. JBL has earned my confidence in their Quality and Value for the money. I don’t plan on getting 50 years of enjoyment from this speaker, you may. Buy it on sale and make some space, it’s larger than an average toaster oven. Read more

To give a bit of background I am an audiophile (a lover of music) and take my music quite seriously. I run some serious hardware from meze elite epoque headphones to legacy signature speakers. I say all this to give a bit of credit to my background on sound and knowing where a good set of transducers can take you. I recently changed my bedroom audio setup to move my floor standing speakers (old wharfedale diamond 9.5's) to acomidate my tv. This had the drawback of removing them from my echo and I needed a solution to provide the room with "good enough" audio that the little echo just could not muster. So I started my search for a new all in one voice assistant but did not want a second set of tower speakers in the room so I looked at the usual suspects. The echo studio, sonos, etc but none of them had what I was looking for when it came to sound quality. Enter the jbl 500 it was not on my radar at all but I stumbled across it in my searching. It had mixed reviews with an emphasis on the size of the speaker. Now for me coming from a set of tower speakers size was not the limiting factor. So I ordered one and had it at my door in no time at all. This guy was well packed and had a good presentation my only complaint is that the bass driver is exposed and you have to be cognizant not to put a finger through it as you lift it out of the box. This speaker has a good amount of weight for its size and feels well built. Physical setup is a breeze with one power cable and you are done. After that you need the app which is not the best but definitely not the worst I have used. In the app you will connect it to your wifi and then setup your voice assistants. This guy supports both google and alexa with the former being very easy to setup and the latter being a oddity. The google setup punched right in like any other google home device and setup was a breeze. The alexa app on the other hand just opened to a spinning circle with no errors. After contacting tech support I tried everything under the sun to get it to take and somewhere along the line fixed it. I am not sure if it was a wifi bug or just needed to run in for some time but after I tried the next day everything popped right in no problem. Now on to the sound... good golly this was not what I was expecting! This guy goes to show what modern tech has brought to the table vs my older diamond speakers. I started it on some tash music because I was not expecting much from this guy but what came belting out from this box was clean powerful sound. My first stop was "the used - in love and death" and there it was a musical tonality that I would described as playful or V shaped. The bass was plentiful but not overwhelming, solidly in the fun category but not drifting into bloated or slow territory. In short it sounded good, darn good... better than it had rights to sound given its size. So intrigued I switched from background music to my analytical music section to see if this was some kind of fluke. I popped on one of my favorites the live copy of "Fink - troubles what you are in" and gave this speaker my full attention. This speaker did not shirk from my critical ear as the acoustic guitar was crisp and you could distinctly pick out the difference between the sounds of his palm on the wood vs the cajon. I was gobsmacked, baffled, dare I say impressed. I tossed the kitchen sink of all the greats (steely dan, daftpunk, pinkfloyd, etc) at this box and it continued to impress. I was left wondering if I toss the diamonds in favor of picking up another one of these it is THAT GOOD. The fact that a single six inch driver could come even close to the range that four drivers of the same size is witchcraft. I love the sound profile that this uses with the heavy V shape. To me this is one of my favorites as it sets the toes a tapping and head a bobbing more than that holy grale flat profile. I would compare this to the fiio FH9 as something that I turn on and go "that sounds right" no tweaking or changes it just sounds like my ideal of what I want from music. If you made it this far into the review I commend you! If you just scrolled to the end for the TLDR buy it you wont be dissapointed. Read more