Selecting a soundbar is a difficult job nowadays, with a apparently unending selection on offer. Manufacturers need a distinctive promoting point to stand out, and the JBL Bar 5.1 no doubt has that.
The soundbar has two audio system that magnetically attach to either end of a important bar, meaning which you could have a single unit, or that you may disconnect the audio system, and put them behind your couch to create a very wi-fi 5.1 encompass sound device.
It additionally comes with a subwoofer that’s the extra traditional ‘wireless’ set up in that It’s nonetheless wired to a power supply, but connects to the soundbar wirelessly. The satellite audio system have a battery life that should closing about 10 hours, and that recharge when plugged into the soundbar.
It Is a captivating proposition, and person who no doubt makes the JBL Bar 5.1 stand out. The Actual query is, by using making the system halfway between a soundbar and a surround sound gadget, do you get the perfect of both worlds, or a tool that’s not in reality either?

Design

The JBL Bar 5.1 is extraordinarily cheap searching for a fabricated from its value. It Is mostly plastic in its design, and while it feels robust, the buttons and reveal are not as slick as you can in finding on opponents like the Bose SoundTouch 300.
The Principle physique of the soundbar is wrapped in a superb perforated mesh, and disguises a small display that sits underneath it, just to the suitable of a small JBL emblem.
On top are four guide buttons for power, extent and input source. Around The again are numerous completely different inputs, three HDMI ports, one USB, one AUX, and one optical.
The satellite tv for pc speakers plug into the ends of the soundbar with great ease, making a strong magnetic connection, and practice the identical design language as the remainder of the unit. When they’re plugged in the entire unit looks convincingly like a standard soundbar.
The soundbar stands at Fifty Eight mm tall, which means it’s going to easily fit in entrance of most TVs, despite the fact that It Can Be evidently designed to be attached to a wall underneath a display. Integrated in the box is the whole lot you will have to want to fasten the JBL Bar 5.1 to the wall.
There are even brackets to glue the satellite audio system to the wall, but as these being detachable is the unit’s major selling level, we won’t imagine why you would wish to.
When linked as one unit, the JBL Bar 5.1 sits at 1148 mm, which is broad for a soundbar, so in case you are considering of making the purchase, It’s certainly worth ensuring you may have obtained the distance for it.
The subwoofer is 440 x 305 x 305 mm and has the uniform ‘black field’ look that we’ve come to predict from subwoofers. On the again, simply above the power input is a single button for wirelessly syncing up the subwoofer to the soundbar.

Features

Without Doubt, the largest function of the JBL Bar 5.1 is its wi-fi surround sound capabilities. It Is remarkably simple to arrange the machine– you unplug the satellite tv for pc speakers, situation them where they are going to sit down on your room, plug a small black microphone into The Principle soundbar, and then run auto-calibration, on the way to fill your room with quick bursts of loud and unsightly white noise for a quick period.
The cable is masses lengthy enough for most dwelling rooms
We didn’t understand what to anticipate with one of these low-fi option to surround sound, but we were pleasantly stunned. We examined its capabilities with motion pictures well-known for flexing a encompass sound machine’s muscle tissues – specifically Mad Max: Fury Road, Superstar Wars: The Force Awakens, and John Wick.
With Mad Max, you need to hear with good readability the completely different whispered voices and soundtrack components that are meant to draw you into Max’s insanity. The balance was once very satisfying, and used to be immediately immersive, precisely as a just right surround sound gadget will have to be.
The sound high quality favors trebles and bass (and we are going to get into this in more element later) which meant the echoing chamber of Rey’s divulge in Superstar Wars felt expansive but now not relatively actual which was a shame.
For the final movie and TV observing experience, the sound stage has certainly been optimized to convey out voices, and this is welcome in big action sequences where which you could enormously hear talk over heavy scoring and even gunfire in the case of John Wick.
The audio system uncoupled from The Primary unit
The JBL Bar 5.1 can also be paired to a device over Bluetooth for wireless music playing. A button on the far off lets you easily swap backwards and forwards between a wired and Bluetooth connection.
For us, this option proved a little bit redundant, and the bar’s ‘sensible’ switching every time we used our phone throughout a film supposed that the sound ceaselessly reduce out to desire the cellphone, even when there wasn’t the rest enjoying on the telephone.

Performance

The JBL Bar 5.1 is clearly designed for one particular target market: film enthusiasts. The bass capabilities and sharp trebles imply that you get both pleasing room-rattling sound, and crystal clear speak.
This potential is also its weak spot although, because it signifies that it has weak mids, and the ‘hole’ that some methods get between mids and bass may be very existing when looking to take heed to track on the soundbar.
What this indirectly method is that you just get loud, clear, bassy musical reproduction that lacks heat. We tried paying attention to numerous different tracks. We found the Bar was once very in a position coping with bass heavy alt-pop like Maggie Rogers’ Alaska, however fell quick on tracks that depend on heat mids like James Taylor’s achingly beautiful which you could Shut Your Eyes.
The 4 manual buttons on prime of the bar
If audio quality is necessary to you, you’d probably be better off going for a gadget just like the Samsung HW-MS650. That Does Not have the surround sound Features of the Bar 5.1 but does have an outstanding dynamic range.
If on the other hand, you are in search of an alternative to a wired-in encompass sound system because you haven’t bought the gap, or would rather the adaptability of not all the time having satellite tv for pc speakers sat at the back of you, the JBL Bar 5.1 is an extraordinarily tempting possibility.

We favored

The JBL Bar 5.1 is quite easy to set up. It Is so simple as plug in and go, which without a doubt cannot be said for most surround sound systems. The wireless speakers (both sub and satellite tv for pc) seamlessly synced with The Principle soundbar, and calibrating the machine used to be as simple as urgent a single button.
The speakers are ready to provide room-shaking extent without ever shedding clarity, and the dedicated driver for voice implies that communicate is rarely overpowered, one thing of a holy grail when it comes to TV audio. No Doubt, the very best thing about the Bar 5.1 is the flexibility to immerse yourself in the audio world of a film with the aid of merely popping a couple of rechargeable audio system behind your couch.

We disliked

The gamut of musical reproduction is underwhelming, with vulnerable mids and an glaring ‘gap’ between what mids there are and the bass being produced by using the subwoofer. It Is Also now not the most horny design, taking a look considerably cheaper than you would expect for the cost tag.

Final verdict

The JBL Bar 5.1 is a tough instrument to present a definitive verdict on. On the one hand, we’re loathe to suggest a tool that handles track the best way that it does, however at the comparable time, we were so impressed with the ease of turning a soundbar into an absolutely wireless surround sound system that we now have to recommend it.
If You Are the type of one who needs to immerse your self on this planet of a movie with the minimal of fuss, wires, and setup, the JBL Bar 5.1 is precisely what you’re on the lookout for. It does an out of this world job of bringing out dialogue, and throughout every movie we tried, we had been deeply impressed with the encompass sound capabilities.
If however, you are the kind of particular person who’s going to make use of your soundbar as The Main sound gadget to your living room, this isn’t the tool for you.