expiredSharpManatee1614 posted Sep 09, 2025 11:23 PM
Item 1 of 3
Item 1 of 3
expiredSharpManatee1614 posted Sep 09, 2025 11:23 PM
JBL Bar 500: 5.1-Channel soundbar w/ MultiBeam & Dolby Atmos (Black)
+ Free Shipping$300
$650
53% offAmazon
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So when you were going to watch a real movie that had a 5.1 soundtrack, you just detach the surrounds and put it to the side or behind you. No wires, no having to be wired to the subwoofer like all the other advertised wireless ones, etc.
This and all the other bars that advertise 5.1, 7.1 and even 9.1 but its all on one bar, i LOL. marketing gimmicks to lure you to buy it. Even more is when they add the atmos tag.
Have common sense, you cant have true 5.1 surround sound when all the speakers are in the front sound stage. When you go to the movie theater and you watch action movies you think all the speakers are in the front of you and the sound is magically transported and you are hearing it to the side and behind you?
If you think you are buying 5.1 and are getting surround sound with this, nope. All fake marketing. I rather have higher quality 2.1 sound system with bigger higher quality speakers than 5 small speakers just to market them as 5.1
People paying tons for sonos etc, also, mehhhhhh. Get an AV receiver.
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Also, like someone else said, they've been owned by samsung since 2017
don't have this but just wanna say I have the bar 9.1 before this and although the sound is phenomenal, there are serious usability issues with device handshakes. ours will randomly go into standby during sessions of PS5, Hulu, etc. replaced all our cords to HDMI 2.1 and fiber optic and it still has issues. research and you'll find this is a common issue that plagues, as it seems, their entire Bar lineup.
Perhaps with the older model series like the 9.1s but I can honestly say that I've had a BAR 1000 for almost 2 years now and have had zero handshake issues.
Quote from Shake-N-Bake
Buying a JBL soundbar in 2025 is like buying a Philips or Westinghouse TV in 2025. There's just no good reason to. You can get better Sonos and Samsung soundbars for this price.
I did my homework and I went with the JBL 1000 over the others for 1 primary reason: It has detachable and rechargeable satellites that don't take up a lot of space and don't require permanent placement. I have a small living room so it's easy to set up the satellites behind my couch when I actually want or need surround sound without having to run any power or speaker wire. That's something neither Samsung nor Sonos offered.
Can you point me to a resource that states that issue was resolved?
Pretty common in the sound bar world. If you want real surround with satellite speakers you need to jump to their Bar 900/1000 system
Bass is way too much. Especially effects and stuff playing over dialog. They do some signal processing that makes the sound dynamic, so you will often go from a quiet scene to a "too f-g loud! where's the remote!" 40 times in a movie. There's a way to turn this off with a key combo on the remote but it a huge pain because it's works only half the time and resets every time you turn off the speakers. It sounds great for just music listening though. Still, there's no way to turn off the sub entirely (for night watching) so you have to unplug it.
The app is useless. There are remote key settings simply not put in the app. why? After a year they have yet to update the app with any of the sound processing functions you need the remote to do.
The 7 version suffers the same issues, but has rechargable detachable speakers (they are pretty weak though). Definitely look out for a deal on that one if you are unconcerned with the above.
Sound bars are 🚮. Absolutely better than TV speakers, easy to set up, and can be mounted more aesthetically pleasing.
But if you want a better option, get a cheap digital amp (ideally with a sub out) and two reference speakers from your manufacturer of choice. If you wait for a speaker deal, which happens often, you'll come in well below this price point (or similar if you add a base sub). And have better sounding audio. As great as sound bars have come, there's still size-based physical limitations. And you'll have non-disposable components if you decide to upgrade later.
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Sound bars are 🚮. Absolutely better than TV speakers, easy to set up, and can be mounted more aesthetically pleasing.
But if you want a better option, get a cheap digital amp (ideally with a sub out) and two reference speakers from your manufacturer of choice. If you wait for a speaker deal, which happens often, you'll come in well below this price point (or similar if you add a base sub). And have better sounding audio. As great as sound bars have come, there's still size-based physical limitations. And you'll have non-disposable components if you decide to upgrade later.
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