JBL Bar 9.1 820W 5.1.4-Channel Soundbar System, channels, Bluetooth Wi Fi Streaming, Subwoofer Wireless, HDMI
The JBL Bar 9.1 sound bar brings the audio experience of a theatre into your home with two detachable surround speakers plus the added power of Dolby Atmos and DTS: X 3D sound. With 820 watts of total system power, you can enjoy every Oscar-worthy performance with powerful, crystal clear sound. Crank up the 10-inch subwoofer for powerful bass or turn it down and relax with Chromecast and AirPlay music streaming. Immerse yourself in the latest blockbuster or relive your favourite movie or sports scenes. The most incredible home theatre sound experience is here. Place the two detachable surround speakers anywhere in your room for an incredible audio experience. After 10 hours of playback, simply connect them to the sound bar to recharge.
The JBL Bar 9.1 sound bar brings the audio experience of a theatre into your home with two detachable surround speakers plus the added power of Dolby Atmos and DTS: X 3D sound. With 820 watts of total system power, you can enjoy every Oscar-worthy performance with powerful, crystal clear sound. Crank up the 10-inch subwoofer for powerful bass or turn it down and relax with Chromecast and AirPlay music streaming. Immerse yourself in the latest blockbuster or relive your favourite movie or sports scenes. The most incredible home theatre sound experience is here. Place the two detachable surround speakers anywhere in your room for an incredible audio experience. After 10 hours of playback, simply connect them to the sound bar to recharge.
The JBL Bar 9.1 sound bar brings the audio experience of a theatre into your home with two detachable surround speakers plus the added power of Dolby Atmos and DTS: X 3D sound. With 820 watts of total system power, you can enjoy every Oscar-worthy performance with powerful, crystal clear sound. Crank up the 10-inch subwoofer for powerful bass or turn it down and relax with Chromecast and AirPlay music streaming. Immerse yourself in the latest blockbuster or relive your favourite movie or sports scenes. The most incredible home theatre sound experience is here. Place the two detachable surround speakers anywhere in your room for an incredible audio experience. After 10 hours of playback, simply connect them to the sound bar to recharge.
The JBL Bar 9.1 sound bar brings the audio experience of a theatre into your home with two detachable surround speakers plus the added power of Dolby Atmos and DTS: X 3D sound. With 820 watts of total system power, you can enjoy every Oscar-worthy performance with powerful, crystal clear sound. Crank up the 10-inch subwoofer for powerful bass or turn it down and relax with Chromecast and AirPlay music streaming. Immerse yourself in the latest blockbuster or relive your favourite movie or sports scenes. The most incredible home theatre sound experience is here. Place the two detachable surround speakers anywhere in your room for an incredible audio experience. After 10 hours of playback, simply connect them to the sound bar to recharge.
in 3 offers
The lowest price for JBL Bar 9.1 820W 5.1.4-Channel Soundbar System, channels, Bluetooth Wi Fi Streaming, Subwoofer Wireless, HDMI right now is $1,220.61 at eBay.com.au, compared across 3 retailers.
The all-time low was $717.00 on 13 Feb 2026 — today's price is 70% above the lowest ever. It has been notably cheaper before — worth setting a price alert.
Prices last updated 5 July 2026.
Last updated at 05/07/2026 03:49:40
JBL Bar 9.1 Channel Soundbar System - Black
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JBL Bar 9.1 Channel 3D Surround Sound Soundbar with Wireless Detachable Rear Speakers, Black - 5.1.4-Channel, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, and Chromecast,
Delivery between 9–13 July $15.52
JBL Bar 9.1 Channel 3D Surround Sound Soundbar with Wireless Detachable Rear Speakers, Black - 5.1.4-Channel, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, and Chromecast, 82
Free delivery between 14–17 July
originally posted on bestbuy.com
I absolutely love this sound bar system. The rechargeable and completely wireless satellite speakers are effortless. when attached to the bar they work in unison and the sound is quite impressive. I found that sports and regular tv shows sound better with the satellites attached, while movies or tv shows with dolby atmos or surround effects is much better when they are removed. the sub produces some clear deep bass, my setting is 3 for most stuff. Bluetooth to my phone is so easy, and music sounds awesome through this system. I plugged into my Samsung OLED TV through eARC and it works well, only once in a while do I have to power cycle to get them to connect. Usually my fault for trying to navigate the TV menu before they finish connecting. The Atmos surround is ... MoreI absolutely love this sound bar system. The rechargeable and completely wireless satellite speakers are effortless. when attached to the bar they work in unison and the sound is quite impressive. I found that sports and regular tv shows sound better with the satellites attached, while movies or tv shows with dolby atmos or surround effects is much better when they are removed. the sub produces some clear deep bass, my setting is 3 for most stuff. Bluetooth to my phone is so easy, and music sounds awesome through this system. I plugged into my Samsung OLED TV through eARC and it works well, only once in a while do I have to power cycle to get them to connect. Usually my fault for trying to navigate the TV menu before they finish connecting. The Atmos surround is awesome, while watching the tomorrow war, the sound effects from the ceiling made it feel like we were there, my son even looked up thinking a helicopter is in the room, he's a toddler... Anyway, after reading many reviews including rtings dot com, I bought this setup. I compared to the Sonos, Bose, Samsung and Klipsch systems and feel this was the best overall for my needs. 80% tv/ movies; 20% music.
originally posted on bestbuy.com
Let me start by saying I purchased and returned a few systems to land on this jbl. I bought the Sonos system with surrounds and Gen 3 sub. The nakamichi 7.1.2 and the jbl 9.1. I returned both the sinks and the nakamichi. The nakamichi had good bass but the sound bar was not good or muffled sounding. The Sonos was a great system but after having the bass the jbl delivered I was just underwhelmed. The Dino’s had great sound a bit the jbl just sounded better to me. More of a warm sound than the Sonos and for half the price it’s a no brained. The jbl is not without its flaws and there are some things to know. When you buy it charge the satellite speakers for 3 hours before doing anything. This will save you a ton of headache. Also the satellites will only charge when ... MoreLet me start by saying I purchased and returned a few systems to land on this jbl. I bought the Sonos system with surrounds and Gen 3 sub. The nakamichi 7.1.2 and the jbl 9.1. I returned both the sinks and the nakamichi. The nakamichi had good bass but the sound bar was not good or muffled sounding. The Sonos was a great system but after having the bass the jbl delivered I was just underwhelmed. The Dino’s had great sound a bit the jbl just sounded better to me. More of a warm sound than the Sonos and for half the price it’s a no brained. The jbl is not without its flaws and there are some things to know. When you buy it charge the satellite speakers for 3 hours before doing anything. This will save you a ton of headache. Also the satellites will only charge when the bar is in standby mode aka off. Which is a little annoying but they last 8-10 hours so realistically it’s no big deal as long as you remember to charge them after using them. They have a micro usb slot so you can always keep them on power if you plug them in (does not come with micro usb cords). There isn’t a lot of eq adjustments it what I’ve found best is turning bass down to 1-2 and turning the volume up gets a great mix. Watching action movies with atmos with this thing is AMAZING. This thing absolutely shakes my house and gives that movie theater experience. The surround speakers are fantastic. My dogs are always looking around wondering what is making sounds behind us. Playing games on the ps5 with this system is also unreal. Playing the new dead space is fantastic, the beginning scene where the space ship wrecks absolutely shook my house and I can hear the monsters all around me. I like this system so much I bought a second one for my video game room so I don’t have to take my ps5 to the living room to use it. I’m blown away by this system. Buy it.
originally posted on bestbuy.com
This is the 3rd soundbar that I’ve tried and my goal is to find one without any quirks, or without any quirks that I would consider to be a deal breaker. The Sonos Arc had no visual volume level indication at all if you didn’t use the App and that’s not a good solution. The rear channels on the Bose 900 were just plain bad using the older rear speakers and the new rear speakers cost as much as the soundbar itself.SETUPThis was slightly frustrating as the quick start guide was the only thing included in the box and it was largely just pictured. There was enough there to get it set up and do the calibration, but there were some missing functions. Fortunately, the manual is online and very well laid out, with actual descriptions of the settings. This would have ... MoreThis is the 3rd soundbar that I’ve tried and my goal is to find one without any quirks, or without any quirks that I would consider to be a deal breaker. The Sonos Arc had no visual volume level indication at all if you didn’t use the App and that’s not a good solution. The rear channels on the Bose 900 were just plain bad using the older rear speakers and the new rear speakers cost as much as the soundbar itself.SETUPThis was slightly frustrating as the quick start guide was the only thing included in the box and it was largely just pictured. There was enough there to get it set up and do the calibration, but there were some missing functions. Fortunately, the manual is online and very well laid out, with actual descriptions of the settings. This would have been much easier to manage had JBL created an app for the soundbar.You basically plug the sound bar into power and the Arc port, attach the rear channel speakers to the bar for charging, plug the subwoofer in, and power the whole thing on. After the speakers are charged you run the room calibration (twice), and it should be set up.The frustration comes with the fact that disabling the AI mode isn’t mentioned in the quick start and the remote use other buttons to turn some of these hidden functions on and off (why not just add 3 or 4 extra buttons to the remote).BUILD QUALITYFrom what I can tell the build quality is great and the included Subwoofer might be the best of any that are included with the soundbar. I have no complaints regarding this aspect of the soundbar at all.OUT-OF-THE-BOX PERFORMANCESo, setting up the soundbar and running the calibration didn’t deliver the results I was expecting and it wasn’t until after updating the firmware, that the setup started to perform closer to what I had expected. Of course, there were issues with things like Echoing and Excessive Bass from the default levels. This most certainly did not match the finely tuned box experience that the Bose Delivered.PERFORMANCE & ADJUSTMENTSWhat I found was balance was way off regarding bass, height, and rear channels. So I made the following changes.BASS – Set to 2 (It isn’t perfect at this level, but it works well for movies and 3 can be acceptable as well).Rear – I set these to Mid because Low wasn’t strong enough and High was too much for something right beside your head.ATMOS – This was creating an Echo, so I had to set this to High as there was way too much body and not enough height effects.The result is a soundbar that certainly exceeds the quality of the stand-alone Sonos Arc or Bose 900. I am comparing it to the standalone products of the competitors because the price of the JBL was similar to the price of those stand-alone bars.SURROUND SOUNDThe sound certainly fills the room and I can very much hear the sound hitting the ceiling and bouncing back down. I test the system using the Dolby Sound Demo on YouTube and it was absolutely capable of true Atmos positional audio.One of my other tests was Mad Max Fury Road and sure enough, the cars coming from behind you and into the scene on the TV came straight overhead with thundering engine sounds that faded as they disappeared further into the scene.The second of my tests was Deadpool. While Deadpool was sitting on the overpass, you could hear the cars driving by him on the left side of the room, coming from in front of you to passing right by the left side of your head. Deadpool also had several other examples of positional audio.Anyway, the point is that people are claiming that the soundbar isn’t delivering true positional audio and is either doing something wrong, or they have something wrong with their hearing, as this thing is as good as any soundbar on the market that’s under $1000.COMPARED TO THE SONOS ARCThe Arc sounds nice, but it is not any better sounding than this when both are properly configured. Also, this bar comes with a remote control, rear speakers, and a Subwoofer, and the soundbar itself has a very nice LCD panel that shows you the soundbar codec, the status of the different components, and best of all it shows you volume levels… You don’t get any of that with the Arc and the JBL was only $100 more. So, this is clearly the better option. Another area where the JBL is better is the fact that it doesn’t require any additional hardware to calibrate it, just the speakers themselves… The Arc makes you pull your phone out of its case and walk around your room with it upside down. Also, the Sonos doesn’t have a true rear implementation, so it uses a virtual setup with its multi-room sound setup and that’s not ideal either.COMPARED TO THE BOSE 900The Bose has the distinction of being the readiest to use right out of the box and honestly once you do the room calibration you rarely have to touch that soundbar at all. With that said, the mids aren’t as meaty as the Sonos or JBL, even with a subwoofer, but it does have the best sound stage of the three. If there’s one deal breaker with the Bose it is the rear channel speakers, as they will cost you an extra $700 and they just aren’t very good. The App on the Bose is solid and straightforward, without anything being hidden or tucked away into some confusing menu. With that said, once you get through the calibration and tweaking the JBL comes with everything you need for a true Atmos experience and the mids are better than the Bose, so you get an overall better experience. However, the Bose with the 500 Subwoofer is only $1099 and that makes it fairly close in sound quality if you’re not concerned with the lack of a rear channel. Overall, the JBL has a slight edge here, but only if you’re okay with tweaking and finetuning the gear for your room.QUIRKSSo, there are a few quirks with the bar and I’m not sure I would say if any of them are a deal breaker yet or not.1st. why do I have to hold down HDMI to kick off the calibration or hold down mute and then press the up arrow to disable the AI Sound enhancement feature? Why couldn’t add 2 or 3 extra buttons to the remote?2nd. There’s no app to manage the sound bar or settings, this means you’re forced to use their remote to make any changes to the sound profile, so you can’t really drop down to a single remote.3rd. AI Sound cannot be permanently disabled as it will be enabled again as soon as you power the speaker off or put it to sleep.4th. Airplay / Home Kit is no longer supported, but they didn’t bother to take the old instructions out of the manual or remove the claims of support from the marketing material. Sorry, but using Google Home is not a good solution for people who don’t have Google devices in their houses.OVERALLOverall, this is a fantastic setup for the money and even though it isn’t a perfect solution, it is a top-notch surround sound implementation. It has a true 9.1 Atmos surround, brilliant display, truly wireless speakers, and a fantastic subwoofer. I wish there was an app or a better remote control, but I cannot complain about the setup itself.
| Power supply | 100 - 240VAC, ~ 50/60Hz |
| Battery charge time | 3 hours |
JBL Bar 9.1 Channel Soundbar System - Black
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a small commission for purchases made through this link at no extra cost to you. This helps support our site. Thank you!
JBL Bar 9.1 Channel 3D Surround Sound Soundbar with Wireless Detachable Rear Speakers, Black - 5.1.4-Channel, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, and Chromecast,
Delivery between 9–13 July $15.52
JBL Bar 9.1 Channel 3D Surround Sound Soundbar with Wireless Detachable Rear Speakers, Black - 5.1.4-Channel, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, and Chromecast, 82
Free delivery between 14–17 July
I absolutely love this sound bar system. The rechargeable and completely wireless satellite speakers are effortless. when attached to the bar they work in unison and the sound is quite impressive. I found that sports and regular tv shows sound better with the satellites attached, while movies or tv shows with dolby atmos or surround effects is much better when they are removed. the sub produces some clear deep bass, my setting is 3 for most stuff. Bluetooth to my phone is so easy, and music sounds awesome through this system. I plugged into my Samsung OLED TV through eARC and it works well, only once in a while do I have to power cycle to get them to connect. Usually my fault for trying to navigate the TV menu before they finish connecting. The Atmos surround is ... MoreI absolutely love this sound bar system. The rechargeable and completely wireless satellite speakers are effortless. when attached to the bar they work in unison and the sound is quite impressive. I found that sports and regular tv shows sound better with the satellites attached, while movies or tv shows with dolby atmos or surround effects is much better when they are removed. the sub produces some clear deep bass, my setting is 3 for most stuff. Bluetooth to my phone is so easy, and music sounds awesome through this system. I plugged into my Samsung OLED TV through eARC and it works well, only once in a while do I have to power cycle to get them to connect. Usually my fault for trying to navigate the TV menu before they finish connecting. The Atmos surround is awesome, while watching the tomorrow war, the sound effects from the ceiling made it feel like we were there, my son even looked up thinking a helicopter is in the room, he's a toddler... Anyway, after reading many reviews including rtings dot com, I bought this setup. I compared to the Sonos, Bose, Samsung and Klipsch systems and feel this was the best overall for my needs. 80% tv/ movies; 20% music.
Let me start by saying I purchased and returned a few systems to land on this jbl. I bought the Sonos system with surrounds and Gen 3 sub. The nakamichi 7.1.2 and the jbl 9.1. I returned both the sinks and the nakamichi. The nakamichi had good bass but the sound bar was not good or muffled sounding. The Sonos was a great system but after having the bass the jbl delivered I was just underwhelmed. The Dino’s had great sound a bit the jbl just sounded better to me. More of a warm sound than the Sonos and for half the price it’s a no brained. The jbl is not without its flaws and there are some things to know. When you buy it charge the satellite speakers for 3 hours before doing anything. This will save you a ton of headache. Also the satellites will only charge when ... MoreLet me start by saying I purchased and returned a few systems to land on this jbl. I bought the Sonos system with surrounds and Gen 3 sub. The nakamichi 7.1.2 and the jbl 9.1. I returned both the sinks and the nakamichi. The nakamichi had good bass but the sound bar was not good or muffled sounding. The Sonos was a great system but after having the bass the jbl delivered I was just underwhelmed. The Dino’s had great sound a bit the jbl just sounded better to me. More of a warm sound than the Sonos and for half the price it’s a no brained. The jbl is not without its flaws and there are some things to know. When you buy it charge the satellite speakers for 3 hours before doing anything. This will save you a ton of headache. Also the satellites will only charge when the bar is in standby mode aka off. Which is a little annoying but they last 8-10 hours so realistically it’s no big deal as long as you remember to charge them after using them. They have a micro usb slot so you can always keep them on power if you plug them in (does not come with micro usb cords). There isn’t a lot of eq adjustments it what I’ve found best is turning bass down to 1-2 and turning the volume up gets a great mix. Watching action movies with atmos with this thing is AMAZING. This thing absolutely shakes my house and gives that movie theater experience. The surround speakers are fantastic. My dogs are always looking around wondering what is making sounds behind us. Playing games on the ps5 with this system is also unreal. Playing the new dead space is fantastic, the beginning scene where the space ship wrecks absolutely shook my house and I can hear the monsters all around me. I like this system so much I bought a second one for my video game room so I don’t have to take my ps5 to the living room to use it. I’m blown away by this system. Buy it.
This is the 3rd soundbar that I’ve tried and my goal is to find one without any quirks, or without any quirks that I would consider to be a deal breaker. The Sonos Arc had no visual volume level indication at all if you didn’t use the App and that’s not a good solution. The rear channels on the Bose 900 were just plain bad using the older rear speakers and the new rear speakers cost as much as the soundbar itself.SETUPThis was slightly frustrating as the quick start guide was the only thing included in the box and it was largely just pictured. There was enough there to get it set up and do the calibration, but there were some missing functions. Fortunately, the manual is online and very well laid out, with actual descriptions of the settings. This would have ... MoreThis is the 3rd soundbar that I’ve tried and my goal is to find one without any quirks, or without any quirks that I would consider to be a deal breaker. The Sonos Arc had no visual volume level indication at all if you didn’t use the App and that’s not a good solution. The rear channels on the Bose 900 were just plain bad using the older rear speakers and the new rear speakers cost as much as the soundbar itself.SETUPThis was slightly frustrating as the quick start guide was the only thing included in the box and it was largely just pictured. There was enough there to get it set up and do the calibration, but there were some missing functions. Fortunately, the manual is online and very well laid out, with actual descriptions of the settings. This would have been much easier to manage had JBL created an app for the soundbar.You basically plug the sound bar into power and the Arc port, attach the rear channel speakers to the bar for charging, plug the subwoofer in, and power the whole thing on. After the speakers are charged you run the room calibration (twice), and it should be set up.The frustration comes with the fact that disabling the AI mode isn’t mentioned in the quick start and the remote use other buttons to turn some of these hidden functions on and off (why not just add 3 or 4 extra buttons to the remote).BUILD QUALITYFrom what I can tell the build quality is great and the included Subwoofer might be the best of any that are included with the soundbar. I have no complaints regarding this aspect of the soundbar at all.OUT-OF-THE-BOX PERFORMANCESo, setting up the soundbar and running the calibration didn’t deliver the results I was expecting and it wasn’t until after updating the firmware, that the setup started to perform closer to what I had expected. Of course, there were issues with things like Echoing and Excessive Bass from the default levels. This most certainly did not match the finely tuned box experience that the Bose Delivered.PERFORMANCE & ADJUSTMENTSWhat I found was balance was way off regarding bass, height, and rear channels. So I made the following changes.BASS – Set to 2 (It isn’t perfect at this level, but it works well for movies and 3 can be acceptable as well).Rear – I set these to Mid because Low wasn’t strong enough and High was too much for something right beside your head.ATMOS – This was creating an Echo, so I had to set this to High as there was way too much body and not enough height effects.The result is a soundbar that certainly exceeds the quality of the stand-alone Sonos Arc or Bose 900. I am comparing it to the standalone products of the competitors because the price of the JBL was similar to the price of those stand-alone bars.SURROUND SOUNDThe sound certainly fills the room and I can very much hear the sound hitting the ceiling and bouncing back down. I test the system using the Dolby Sound Demo on YouTube and it was absolutely capable of true Atmos positional audio.One of my other tests was Mad Max Fury Road and sure enough, the cars coming from behind you and into the scene on the TV came straight overhead with thundering engine sounds that faded as they disappeared further into the scene.The second of my tests was Deadpool. While Deadpool was sitting on the overpass, you could hear the cars driving by him on the left side of the room, coming from in front of you to passing right by the left side of your head. Deadpool also had several other examples of positional audio.Anyway, the point is that people are claiming that the soundbar isn’t delivering true positional audio and is either doing something wrong, or they have something wrong with their hearing, as this thing is as good as any soundbar on the market that’s under $1000.COMPARED TO THE SONOS ARCThe Arc sounds nice, but it is not any better sounding than this when both are properly configured. Also, this bar comes with a remote control, rear speakers, and a Subwoofer, and the soundbar itself has a very nice LCD panel that shows you the soundbar codec, the status of the different components, and best of all it shows you volume levels… You don’t get any of that with the Arc and the JBL was only $100 more. So, this is clearly the better option. Another area where the JBL is better is the fact that it doesn’t require any additional hardware to calibrate it, just the speakers themselves… The Arc makes you pull your phone out of its case and walk around your room with it upside down. Also, the Sonos doesn’t have a true rear implementation, so it uses a virtual setup with its multi-room sound setup and that’s not ideal either.COMPARED TO THE BOSE 900The Bose has the distinction of being the readiest to use right out of the box and honestly once you do the room calibration you rarely have to touch that soundbar at all. With that said, the mids aren’t as meaty as the Sonos or JBL, even with a subwoofer, but it does have the best sound stage of the three. If there’s one deal breaker with the Bose it is the rear channel speakers, as they will cost you an extra $700 and they just aren’t very good. The App on the Bose is solid and straightforward, without anything being hidden or tucked away into some confusing menu. With that said, once you get through the calibration and tweaking the JBL comes with everything you need for a true Atmos experience and the mids are better than the Bose, so you get an overall better experience. However, the Bose with the 500 Subwoofer is only $1099 and that makes it fairly close in sound quality if you’re not concerned with the lack of a rear channel. Overall, the JBL has a slight edge here, but only if you’re okay with tweaking and finetuning the gear for your room.QUIRKSSo, there are a few quirks with the bar and I’m not sure I would say if any of them are a deal breaker yet or not.1st. why do I have to hold down HDMI to kick off the calibration or hold down mute and then press the up arrow to disable the AI Sound enhancement feature? Why couldn’t add 2 or 3 extra buttons to the remote?2nd. There’s no app to manage the sound bar or settings, this means you’re forced to use their remote to make any changes to the sound profile, so you can’t really drop down to a single remote.3rd. AI Sound cannot be permanently disabled as it will be enabled again as soon as you power the speaker off or put it to sleep.4th. Airplay / Home Kit is no longer supported, but they didn’t bother to take the old instructions out of the manual or remove the claims of support from the marketing material. Sorry, but using Google Home is not a good solution for people who don’t have Google devices in their houses.OVERALLOverall, this is a fantastic setup for the money and even though it isn’t a perfect solution, it is a top-notch surround sound implementation. It has a true 9.1 Atmos surround, brilliant display, truly wireless speakers, and a fantastic subwoofer. I wish there was an app or a better remote control, but I cannot complain about the setup itself.
So my biggest grip with soundbar systems is the way most run wires between the surround sound speakers and subwoofers. It usually means having to put the subwoofer next to your couch or run wires all over the place. For me, this has always bothered me because it can lead to an unappealing living room, aesthetically. This is where the JBL 9.1 shines.There is something so awesomely futuristic about how the rear speakers connect wirelessly and also how great the whole setup manages to sound. The included subwoofer is a BEAST of a unit (both in performance and size) that easily outdoes budget systems like the Vizio M-Series (this one replaced an M51A and M512) and the audio sounds clear without any crackling or distortion. Ditto on the surround. I can be sitting ... MoreSo my biggest grip with soundbar systems is the way most run wires between the surround sound speakers and subwoofers. It usually means having to put the subwoofer next to your couch or run wires all over the place. For me, this has always bothered me because it can lead to an unappealing living room, aesthetically. This is where the JBL 9.1 shines.There is something so awesomely futuristic about how the rear speakers connect wirelessly and also how great the whole setup manages to sound. The included subwoofer is a BEAST of a unit (both in performance and size) that easily outdoes budget systems like the Vizio M-Series (this one replaced an M51A and M512) and the audio sounds clear without any crackling or distortion. Ditto on the surround. I can be sitting off-center and with system to the side of me, and I can still make out surround sound portions of audio clearly.All this being said, there are some small nuisances here and there. For example, sometimes audio cuts out ever so briefly and I'm not sure if this is an issue with the bar itself or just interference from the (many) wireless items in my house. Regardless, this doesn't happen often and I can easily go 3-4 hours watching things without it happening. Another thing is that the surrounds don't charge (when connected to the bar) unless if the system is in stand-by. So while you can use them if they're discharged or low on battery while connected to the bar, they won't actually charge unless if the system is off and in stand-by.A way to remedy this is by just having a USB charger (either portable or wall charger) and a couple of 6-10ft microUSB cables to easily plug the surround sound speakers in. Since discharged speakers can be used if plugged in, this will avoid having to remove them from speaker stands (if you plan on doing this) or if you forget to charge them.These small issues aside, this soundbar is easily worth the money if you can find it on sale. At full price...well, if you can afford this system at full price without batting an eye then yes, it still would be too!
The sound is amazing (when it works). The firmware is very buggy (Yes, it's updated). Struggles to connect to AirPlay. Often requires hard resets. Many times, I turn on the TV and the soundbar does not respond requiring me to dig through TV menus to switch between TV speakers and the soundbar until the soundbar responds. I have tried multiple brands of cables, 3 different TVs... it performs poorly no matter what. I am especially sad that 3 months past the warranty period my right wireless speaker no longer charges - which means the AirPlay and Bluetooth will never work again ("Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connection will be off and the soundbar will enter into power saving mode when the detachable surround speakers are out of battery"). $1200 down the drain.My review never ... MoreThe sound is amazing (when it works). The firmware is very buggy (Yes, it's updated). Struggles to connect to AirPlay. Often requires hard resets. Many times, I turn on the TV and the soundbar does not respond requiring me to dig through TV menus to switch between TV speakers and the soundbar until the soundbar responds. I have tried multiple brands of cables, 3 different TVs... it performs poorly no matter what. I am especially sad that 3 months past the warranty period my right wireless speaker no longer charges - which means the AirPlay and Bluetooth will never work again ("Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connection will be off and the soundbar will enter into power saving mode when the detachable surround speakers are out of battery"). $1200 down the drain.My review never went through - i had to choose another Nickname. Since then (6 hours ago), the entire unit longer works. What a pile of garbage.JBL - can you send me a check? I'd like a refund. Ridiculous.
I’ve had mine for a little less than a year so I’ve had plenty of time to discover all that’s good and bad about this soundbar. If I would have written a review within the first 3 months of having it I definitely would have given it 5 stars. I’ll start with the good: there’s only one good thing… the sound quality is very good. Definitely above average in my opinion. This thing can rock our house. And for the first 3-4 months I loved the detachable back speakers. It made a big difference. Now for the bad: Inconsistent function. Starting about month 3 the speaker began to randomly stop working. It would say that it’s connected, it would show volume adjustments on both the tv and soundbar but no sound would come out. Ours is connected via an eARC cable. We paid for the ... MoreI’ve had mine for a little less than a year so I’ve had plenty of time to discover all that’s good and bad about this soundbar. If I would have written a review within the first 3 months of having it I definitely would have given it 5 stars. I’ll start with the good: there’s only one good thing… the sound quality is very good. Definitely above average in my opinion. This thing can rock our house. And for the first 3-4 months I loved the detachable back speakers. It made a big difference. Now for the bad: Inconsistent function. Starting about month 3 the speaker began to randomly stop working. It would say that it’s connected, it would show volume adjustments on both the tv and soundbar but no sound would come out. Ours is connected via an eARC cable. We paid for the total tech membership so we called and they walked through some troubleshooting over the phone which didn’t work and then they sent the geek squad to our house. They couldn’t figure it out. Both the tv and soundbar were up to date and it still wouldn’t work. We tried new cables and a lot of other things with no luck. They told me to call JBL to follow up on a warranty but JBL also wasn’t any help and wanted me to send my soundbar to them. So the total tech membership provided zero benefit to me. I finally figured out that if I unplug the power, plug it back in, switch to tv speakers, then switch back to soundbar that it will work. It takes a minute to reboot so this process takes about 5 minutes. Not the end of the world but very annoying. About the same time I started noticing the battery life on the detachable speakers was declining rapidly. About the 6 month mark they wouldn’t even last a full movie. They were awesome while they lasted but not worth the extra money…. So due to the inconsistency and battery life issues this soundbar is average at best, but do to price I would say it’s worse than other soundbar sim it’s price range. I’m actually a big JBL fan so I’m disappointed to have to write this review. I have a lot of JBL products but that may change going forward. If they could fix these 2 issues this soundbar could quickly go from 1 to 5 stars. But until then, I would say you would be better off spending your money on a different one.
Bought this on sale at JB Hifi four months ago. Its sound quality is great for home use. I’ve replaced my ageing Yamaha home theatre amp and tower speakers setup with this. Far more discreet and clean looking. I love how the surround speakers attach magnetically to the main bar and widen the stereo sound image when you don’t need surround.My now 3 year old is no longer tempted to play with the knobs and buttons of the old amp and poke his fingers into old tower speaker cones.Unless you are listening in surround, it sounds significantly better for music and TV with smart mode ‘off’. Unfortunately it defaults to smart mode ‘on’, so you have to turn it off every time you use the sound bar by holding ‘mute’ for about 5 seconds, then pressing the volume + once.Only ... MoreBought this on sale at JB Hifi four months ago. Its sound quality is great for home use. I’ve replaced my ageing Yamaha home theatre amp and tower speakers setup with this. Far more discreet and clean looking. I love how the surround speakers attach magnetically to the main bar and widen the stereo sound image when you don’t need surround.My now 3 year old is no longer tempted to play with the knobs and buttons of the old amp and poke his fingers into old tower speaker cones.Unless you are listening in surround, it sounds significantly better for music and TV with smart mode ‘off’. Unfortunately it defaults to smart mode ‘on’, so you have to turn it off every time you use the sound bar by holding ‘mute’ for about 5 seconds, then pressing the volume + once.Only other hassle is that it goes silent about 10 sec after turning on so you have to press the TV button at least 5 times for the sound to come back.A couple of times we have had to resort to in plugging and replugging the power to reset it before we got any sound for some reason after streaming music from my phone then going back to TV.Although the volume level hits max at 31, we usually only run it at about between 7 and 14 depending on the content and our use, also considering our neighbours in the apartment.I also usually have the sub level set at 3 when listening in 2.1 and sub level at 2 when in 5.1.4 for movies and atmos otherwise it’s too overpowering for our apartment.
I've had this for about a year now and I am very pleased with the performance. The subwoofer sounds phenomenal and the wireless surround system sounds just a good if setup correctly.There are several specific things about this sound bar that I would like to mention:1) The connectivity for this sound bar is really good, I've never experienced any issues with delay when watching movies, nor have I experienced any issues when adding or switching devices. A+ for connectivity.2) Setup for this thing can be a bit tricky. You have to tune the wireless speakers to the sound bar in order to get the best experience out of the surround sound system. Not difficult, but a little annoying. I suppose that's the price we pay for wireless. The biggest issue I've experienced ... MoreI've had this for about a year now and I am very pleased with the performance. The subwoofer sounds phenomenal and the wireless surround system sounds just a good if setup correctly.There are several specific things about this sound bar that I would like to mention:1) The connectivity for this sound bar is really good, I've never experienced any issues with delay when watching movies, nor have I experienced any issues when adding or switching devices. A+ for connectivity.2) Setup for this thing can be a bit tricky. You have to tune the wireless speakers to the sound bar in order to get the best experience out of the surround sound system. Not difficult, but a little annoying. I suppose that's the price we pay for wireless. The biggest issue I've experienced with this is the charging of the wireless side speakers. The way you have to charge them is incredibly inconvenient and doesn't make a lot of sense. If you do purchase this, I'd recommend watching a youtube on how charge the side speakers. I'd give it a B for setup/user friendliness.At the end of the day, despite the quirks, this is a great product. I'd recommend it to anybody looking for a premium wireless sound bar.
I was scrolling through and saw a review saying that this is an unimpressive and unconvincing atmos system. To be clear i consider myself an avid hone thester enthusiast and went through great pains to find an overall system that i like the sound of and keeps my wife happy with aesthetics. I have been to several commercial theaters with including amc and have watched dozens of movies in that theater and other premium atmos theaters. I have also been in homes with atmos setups into the 5k rangs. I provide that context to the next statement i make isnt ridiculous. The JBL absolutely holds its own, ive had it for two years and it still surprises me with how convincing of a 3D bubble it can make. Several good movies to test Atmos (not necessarily good movies) would be ... MoreI was scrolling through and saw a review saying that this is an unimpressive and unconvincing atmos system. To be clear i consider myself an avid hone thester enthusiast and went through great pains to find an overall system that i like the sound of and keeps my wife happy with aesthetics. I have been to several commercial theaters with including amc and have watched dozens of movies in that theater and other premium atmos theaters. I have also been in homes with atmos setups into the 5k rangs. I provide that context to the next statement i make isnt ridiculous. The JBL absolutely holds its own, ive had it for two years and it still surprises me with how convincing of a 3D bubble it can make. Several good movies to test Atmos (not necessarily good movies) would be spider head with the jbl in my home it doesnt sound like voices are above the tv when the intercom comes up. It sounds like youre in a hospital and there are announcements being made, its spooky natural. The tomorrow war theres some great scenes with helicopters where youre not just getting one dimensional overhead effects but sweeping back right of the room to front left that are again extremely true to life. Its not the be all end all system in truth it is bested by some other more expensive systems but for $1000 this is a absolutely amaxing system. No ugly receivers, no wires, no permanent satellites, absolutely servicable audio quality, very rich punchy powerful bass, and very good atmos performance. Its actually very strange to even see that gripe because this bars most staunch critics will even give credit to the outstanding atmos performance so i felt compelled to speak up. This system isnt without its flaws, in my opinion not having an eq option at this price is a little ridiculous, i am fortunate enough that the room calibration and limited bass controls are enough to put the sound where i personally like amd overall i think most would be impressed with its a little ridiculous the option isnt there, there should be audio profiles and there should be an app. Its incredibly annoying the bar has to be shut off to charge speakers because sometimes the bar wont shut off with the tv leaving you with dead surrounds which is obnoxious. Small quality of life things that im sure will be addressed in the next iteration but overall an absolute winner.
I can't say enough good things about this soundbar. Seriously, I have had several sounders and surround sound systems. This is the one that dropped my jaw. This is the one that I "demo" to friends and family and when I do I watch them smile as they hear sounds behind and above them. They ask me how much and where can they get it.It easy super easy to setup and the detachable speakers give unparelled flexibility. I added some speaker stands that I break out when its movie time and then I put them up when it's just regular tv time.Yes you can leave the speaker off and make the dedicated rears but you will need to buy basic power cords for them.Let's talk bass...WOW! This thing booms harder and louder than most theater systems. With the Bass module about 5 feet ... MoreI can't say enough good things about this soundbar. Seriously, I have had several sounders and surround sound systems. This is the one that dropped my jaw. This is the one that I "demo" to friends and family and when I do I watch them smile as they hear sounds behind and above them. They ask me how much and where can they get it.It easy super easy to setup and the detachable speakers give unparelled flexibility. I added some speaker stands that I break out when its movie time and then I put them up when it's just regular tv time.Yes you can leave the speaker off and make the dedicated rears but you will need to buy basic power cords for them.Let's talk bass...WOW! This thing booms harder and louder than most theater systems. With the Bass module about 5 feet behind our couch we literally FEEL every explosion, drum beat etc... I have NEVER felt such solid and resounding deep bass hits as I do with this and I don't mean muddy bass, I am talking about rich, powerful CLEAN bass notes.This soundbar elevates everything that runs through it. If you have been looking for the ease of soundbar with the excellence for true wireless surround sound (with ATMOS) look no further than this one.I can't recommend hitting the "Buy Now" button fast enough. This is the one.
| Power supply | 100 - 240VAC, ~ 50/60Hz |
| Battery charge time | 3 hours |
