JBL - 3.1-Channel Soundbar System with 10" Wireless Subwoofer and Digital Amplifier - Black

After looking over many reviews, I decided on this JBL 3.1 sound bar. I also own a Vizio Soundbar with a sub too. That one is great and the reviews on this 3.1 from JBL were very good. Pros: Almost everything (see below) Cons: Power management (see below) Setup- Super easy. You have HDMI, Optical, and a 3.5mm jack. The sub pairs with the sound-bar with no effort or thought. If the LED is solid blue, your connected. It did this upon applying power. Surround Sound- I am not sure yet what I think of the surround sound. You can tell its trying to spread the sound but it’s not the best at doing it. The non-surround sound sounds great. Inputs- I have used the HDMI, the optical, and the Bluetooth. Any music sounds amazing from this product. The subwoofer is so amazing with all music. I am guessing that is why JBL used a 10 inch and not the 6.5 inch like other sound-bars. Bass- You can feel the bass in you and easily rattle a very decent sized room with little effort. If you like action movies with lots of bass, you will not be let down one bit. This sound-bar easily trumps my Vizio without trying. The bass is very deep and encompassing. JBL really did good on this part. Remote- The remote is the remote. It has all the settings you need. You can even shift the sound to sync what you see on TV with what you hear. That is a nice feature. Volume/Sound- This volume of this JBL will not let you down either. It can go very loud without distortion. I wish it had more mid-range sounds but the sub tries to make up for it. The highs are very clear and crisp and the bass is outright amazing for the cost of this product. Now the Cons: I noticed a very annoying “feature” JBL built into this unit. It takes some searching online to find others with this issue, but its obvious and it will shine if you are one who pauses a show, uses commercial skip/FF through commercials. I noticed when advancing a show where audio is quiet, like fast-forwarding through a commercial, the sound-bar goes into power save mode instantly. This seems CRAZY. Is this a flaw? If you advance through a commercial why would the power bar “go to sleep”? While JBL does build into the sound-bar a 2 hour shut off, this 1 or 2 seconds of no sound is absolutely crazy to put the sound-bar into power save. Sadly, JBL also offers no support for this or they are ignoring it. JBL Support- I have been in 2 online chat sessions about this power save issue and both times they tell me their advanced support will contact me about this. I don’t know if this is a flaw or not. The firmware on the speaker system is the current one for this product (you can check for the current version in the manual). Once I saw this had the most current version, I decided to ask JBL support. JBL support is the worst. I would like to find out if this instant power save is a flaw or a feature. Best-Buy doesn’t let you wait and wait and wait on JBL support to never answer you - in the event I want to exchange this unit. I will give them 2 more days and look to exchange this unit for one that works. Even if it’s not JBL. It would sad to get rid of it because the sound is amazing. Waiting for the sound bar to turn back on when advancing over a commercial is not worth keeping this over. I would recommend this if JBL can fix this or even get back to me confirming this is a defect. So far, they refuse.

I went into the store multiple times to test all the available sound bars. Really disliked how a lot of the Samsung models could be turned to the max and left me feeling like it wasn’t too loud while i was 3 ft away. Then i got to this JBL and felt like I couldn’t hit the max even from 15 feet away. Simply awesome and the bass? It left me feeling like i was sitting in the movie theater, total emersion into every type of film. What I love about the bass is that it’s controllable. You’re not going to want the same level of bass in an action movie as you would a drama and this system allows you to turn the bass up or down whereas many other systems might not. Even if they do, this subwoofer is massive and it sounds every bit of it, much more substantial than the other models on display. Plus, fact that it doesn’t need to be wired to the sound bar or tv means you can hide it behind or next to a chair or couch. When watching a movie like Jurassic World and being able to turn the bass up a decent amount while maintaining perfect vocal quality with zero muffled or drowning out is something you will love compared to other systems! The system also allows you to play music through your phone, Bluetooth or AUX cord and the Loud but rich sound quality is perfect, whether your getting ready to go out of having a party at the house. It's only been a few months but having a mid level-priced sound system that can easily compare to the big boy high-priced models and that while listening to songs or just action movie previews, literally gives me slight goose bumps and puts a smile on my face without realizing is amazing, and will really leave you with a feeling that you got your money’s worth.

I purchased the JBL Bar 3.1 about a week ago to replace another soundbar that was lacking in clarity with voices. Even with the 'clear voice' feature turned on, it added overly crisp, tinny highs but completely lacked midrange while over emphasizing bass frequencies. I just wasn't happy. Note that I have a dedicated den / home theater room with a 5.2.4 channel set up, but this soundbar is for upstairs, to enjoy TV and movies while being near the kitchen and living room areas. I found the Bar 3.1 on sale and decided to give it a shot after reading overall very positive reviews and listening to it at Best Buy. The difference between the JBL and my previous soundbar is night and day. Having the dedicated center channel to focus on the voices makes such a difference vs. a 2 channel system when needs to reproduce all the movie's sound plus the vocal channel. The overall audio experience is very well rounded now and my girlfriend agrees. The bass is tight and full and the highs are crisp, clear, and not tinny. Some reviews mention a lack of midrange presence and to some degree, the mids are not as pronounced as the bass and highs, but they are definitely represented quite adequately in my opinion. Far better than many other soundbars I have listened to, anyway. The bass is so powerful, that I keep it around 9 out of 30 which sounds rich but not too boomy. I recommend 'Movie' mode as the best all around listening mode choice. It provides a rich soundstage and well-balanced listening experience for both film and TV viewing. Regarding the 'JBL Surround' mode, I leave it turned off, as I believe it adds a hollowness to the sound and reduces the overall clarity of the listening experience. I've experimented with it on and off and prefer the clean, crisp, full sound without it. It's a 3.1 channel system after all, not a 5.1 channel one. Nonetheless, 'Movie' mode provides quite the ambience and presence to make movies sound great! Set up could not be easier. It recognized my ARC connection through HDMI to the TV, responds to my TV's remote, and it also switches inputs automatically when I switch the TV input to the Blu ray player. The subwoofer paired automatically too, right after I turned the system on! I highly recommend this soundbar for anyone looking for an affordable, easy to use, high quality upgrade to their TV speakers, or existing audio setup that they want to replace. At its current selling price, they will probably sell through inventory quickly.

Best sound out of every soundbar ive had/ used. Granted it is the most expensive one ive bought, i have decent other ones, a sony hw-m435 and LG. Its the only sound bar that when turned on and not using ANY tv speaker ,it doesn't change audio to sound ,sounding like its coming from bottom of tv where bar is. The audio sounds like its coming from the tv! And with surround function it gets even wider. Great sub to. Its in a pretty big room in basement prob 12x25-30 and still shakes downstairs. Impressed. Can just imagine how there 5to1 system sounds.

This soundbar sounds great!! The highs are clear and crisp and the subwoofer really fills the room. I have mine in my game room that's 20X20 and it sounds great in the entire room. I really like bass and man this delivers!!! If bass is important to you then this is the soundbar for you. The only negative for me is the design of the soundbar could have been better.

I never owned a sound bar before and when I saw this one on sale I did some comparison and found that this was the best deal. It arrived today and was really easy to set up to both my iPhone and my smart TV and three different devices via HDMI. The sound quality is amazing and I definitely recommend!

I USED TO HAVE TWO BIG PRO SPEAKERS WITH AMPLIFIER AND I WAS UNDECIDED AND WITH FEAR TO DON'T BE SATISFY WITH THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY THAT EVERYTHING IS SMALL, BUT LET ME TELL YOU IS CLEAR SOUND, POWERFUL AND SATISFY MY EXPECTATION IN 300% I VERY RECOMMENDED IS AFFORDABLE AND GREAT EQUIPMENT

Easy setup. The sub easily connected wirelessly to the soundbar via bluetooth. The JBL 10" sub was what I expected. Deep bass! Think I rattled my upstairs neighbors pictures off the wall.