JBL Bar 500MK2 5.1 Channel Soundbar

What This Is

A 5.1 soundbar system: one bar, one wireless subwoofer, Dolby Atmos decoding and automatic room correction.

Sound Before Picture

The usual order of spending on a media room is backwards. People buy the largest screen in the budget and run it on the speakers built into the panel, which are physically incapable of producing bass because there is no cabinet volume behind them. A soundbar and a real subwoofer change the experience of a room far more than the same money spent on screen size. If you only fix one thing, fix this one.

The Subwoofer Is The Upgrade

Everything people mean by "it sounds like a cinema" is below 80 Hz. A ten-inch driver in its own cabinet is what produces that, and no bar of any price does it alone. Put the sub in a corner to start, then try two or three other positions and pick by ear: subwoofer placement changes bass response in a room more than any setting on the unit.

Dialogue Is The Real Problem It Solves

Modern film mixes are made for cinemas with dedicated center channels, and TV speakers bury speech under effects. A bar with a true center channel and dialogue processing is the fix. If the main complaint in your house is that nobody can hear what anyone said, this feature is the one to look for.

Where Atmos Bars Fall Short

Height channels in a bar bounce sound off your ceiling to simulate overhead effects. It works, mildly. Rear effects are convincingly placed but never truly located behind you. Going from this to genuine rear speakers is a real step; going from TV speakers to this is a much bigger one.