JBL Bar 5 1 - Soundbar with Built-in Virtual Surround 4K and 10 Wireless Subwoofer JBL2GBAR51IMBLKAM Black

Firstly this sound bar is a killer soundbar at the price point (usually around $349 on sale in Amazon). It’s hard to find a good 5.1 soundbar with good subwoofer at this price. I got this on prime early access deal (2nd prime day) for $288, and it was a no brainer at this price! Without prime sale, it’s usually around 299-349, still a great price. Now let’s talk sound quality: I watched Andrew Robinson’s review about this sound bar (please watch it, it’s the only good technical review available from a proven audiophile YouTuber). He praised it well and recommended it and called it the budget sound bar king, even better than the klipsch 600. I was waiting for prime day sale to buy it… Once I got it in, set up was simple. For all iOS users, download the “JBL Bar set up” app, to add the sound bar to Wi-Fi. It’s very simple that way! Subwoofer was pre paired (it should be from factory, don’t know why some people are saying it was not paired!! But it’s easy to pair). Connected the tv input (Sony x900f for me) and it was up and running. Next make sure to do the calibration, it steps up the sound quality considerably. I made sure “smart mode” was “on”, this mode applies JBL sound processing and smartly and effectively turns any stereo input to 5.1 I was surprised! The smart mode actually sounds very good, it widens the sound stage, and you actually feel the surround sound effect. For my room, I actually get the bouncing effect from the side firing tweeters pretty well, nevertheless, sound stage is pretty wide, and you won’t feel like listening to a 2.1 channel sound. Bass was adequate, I tried between 3 and 4, ended up at 3 since it’s pretty balanced there. The sound bar has 5 front firing full range drivers, no tweeter pairs, but I was surprised: there was good and clear treble in the sound and midrange was also very manageable (clear). Dialogues are nice and clear and clearly seems like it comes from the center driver (mimicking the center channel), even at Smart mode ON. People complain that there are no adjustment options, to be honest you don’t need any! Bass can be adjusted from 1-5, and that’s all you need. The eq settings are nicely tuned from factory and to be very honest, I don’t feel like I have to make any changes. I do own a full Sonos Arc set up (5.2.2) and feel like this JBL bar is pretty good at what it does: providing simple 5.1 sound at a reasonable price without offering gimmick features. I also heard people complaining about longevity, so I also got the 3 year plan from Amazon for $33, totally worth it! Peace of mind. Recommend everyone getting it cause you never know when electronics fail. $33 is a bargain. I ordered the soundbar 600 before, returned it cause it clearly sounded a 2.1 sound bar even with surround option “on” and loudness was not adequate. This JBL, which is cheaper, sounds day and night better and I love it! It’s nice and loud, sound stage is wide, and everything is perfectly pre tuned from factory. To sum up, don’t read the negatives, no one can guarantee you anything when it comes to electronics. The sound bar is actually very good, and you won’t be disappointed. But do recommend the 3 year plan ($33), for peace of mind. Even with the added pan, total price is very good and lower than other gimmick sound bars… great job JBL, and thanks Andrew Robinson for an honest video! Check his review out, you will get the real picture… Read more

At $400, or less if you get it on sale, this sound bar will not disappoint anyone but the most extreme of audio enthusiasts. If you want a plug-and-play solution that sounds better than any TV speaker out there, this will do the trick. Virtual Dolby Atmos significantly adds to the viewing experience, especially with the addition of the virtual vertical channel. It's not as good as true Dolby Atmos, but at this price point it's great - especially for people coming from stock TV speakers. JBL sound quality is excellent as usual. The ONLY real flaw this sound bar has is that the central channel is a little weak compared to the side speakers and bass, and there's no equalizer/sound profiles, so if you find that commentary is too quiet, there's nothing you can really do. With that being said - the average consumer will find this perfectly acceptable - only people expecting home theater-quality sound from a $400 all-in-one product will be materially upset by this. Can't recommend enough - this product has totally changed my TV experience. Read more

Not bad for the price. I had the older gen sonos playbar and sub. The playbar stopped working, which turned the sub into a $700 paperweight. Sonos has no repair program, and I"m not about to drop 1k for their newest sound bar. So i got this. How does it compare? Well... it kind of doesn't to be honest, but for the price its pretty freaking good! Pros: - You get a sound bar and a sub for $300! - It has bluetooth! (Sonos didn't). It also works with airplay through iPhone or Android. - Has a smart audio adjustment to tailor it to your room, which works great. Separation between voices and background music is pretty good, allowing you hear speech over explosions or music when watching movies. - 5 levels of bass - Doesn't need WiFi to work! (looking at you sonos) Cons: - Sound EQ could be better, the smart thing works okay but you have no control over it. But again, I had a working Sonos system right before this one so its not a fair comparison at all. If you are on a budget, you cannot do much better than this JBL for the price. Its seriously that good. Read more

I made the mistake I have a Sharp HDMI 65 inch Aquas TV 11 years old so I saw HDMI figured that was the connector we needed and it came with one. Well if your TV doesn't have and HDMI ARC port you probably need an optical connector. I learned the hard way tried frustrated for over 3 hours to figure out how to connect it and support had closed as it was a Sunday. I googled, I U-tubed, I tried it all. I finally gave up and tried connecting to my 32 inch newer Kitchen Viesio TV hmm 5 minutes were were done...... It had a clear HDMI ARC port so easy connect. I was like wow do I have to BUY a NEW TV ??? I don't need a sound bar in my kitchen. I called support the following day and a very nice fellow Paul tried for 90 minutes everything he could think of and nothing worked. Then he asked if I could locate an optical port, yes I did. So no optical connector though so I needed to get one. Paul shipped me one free and said once it arrives he will help connect it and be sure it was working. My conformation said 4- 7 business day on the free cord. I am not a patient woman.I went on Amazon had one next day for 10.00. Connected it myself in 3 minutes and we are Good to go. You just need the right stuff just know your TV and check before you buy what you need to be compatible. Lesson learned. Great sound Bar very pleased and most awesome JBL customer service on the planet. I will have an extra optical cord and I truly appreciated the gesture as well as the support. I definitely recommend this sound bar. Truly is a 10 minute out of the box if you know what connector you need. Enjoying so many movies with a whole different experience and love playing music now on Saturday cleaning day! Read more