BAR 1300X

Get the 1300x if it's an option. People that are saying it isn't immersive are just lying to you. The Atmos can be better in some situations in my opinion, but watching movies like John Wick and horror movies or anything in that realm is very realistic, especially in a smaller room. My room is a 15x25, and I feel no loss in audio loudness and definitely not bass if you set it up the right way. Use proper speaker stands and set them up correctly. It’s almost perfect in my opinion. I wouldn't recommend it over a true home theater, but for a soundbar, it's one of the best in my opinion.

Personally, I own a JBL Bar 1300X and it's without a doubt the best money I've spent in a while until I finally get the couple thousand I need to get an actual home theater, but honestly, if you’re going to spend near 2k, I would recommend spending the little bit of extra money and getting the brand-new Nakamichi Shockwave for 2500. You get 11.2.6 and from what I've heard, they are without a doubt the soundbar kings unless, of course, you own a Samsung tv then the 990D and others are worth it because it can use the tv speakers as well, but I would look into Nakamichi before getting a Samsung or JBL.

Ya I demoed The JBL 700 and 1300x and they were both excellent for music as well as movies. Bought the 700. I also listened to the Yamaha favorite, good for movies but fell down on music. My opinion.

I just returned the Q990D because it was good for movies but not music. I wanted the JBL 1300x , but apparently it’s good for music but not movies. What’s my best option for both? And I’d prefer it to come with rear speakers and a sub

What do you suggest? I’d prefer something with a sub and rears. I think the 1300x is what I’m leaning towards

Only concern is clarity on dialogue and too much bass

My first soundbar ever was the LG SP8YA w/ sub and rear speaker kit. Since I was coming from built in tv speakers, I was unbelievably happy. Then I heard a Q990D at a friend's house, and immediately went to reddit where I saw basically everyone recommend it. Tried it off of Amazon for almost a month. It was definitely much better than the LG, but I couldn't help but feel the bass was lacking. Then I got a JBL Bar 1300X from Best buy to test side by side. The bass had me giggling like a little kid. I could not believe a soundbar based system was shaking my entire apartment like that. Unfortunately, I thought the rears flat out sucked, and the soundbar itself just felt small/tinny. Not that big of a soundstage. I returned *both.* I now have a Sonos Arc ultra w/ rears and dual subs. Its not even a comparison for me. Dual Subs give as much or more impact than the JBL in a much cleaner, higher quality way. The rears literally blow anything else I've ever heard away, and I don't even have the era 300s yet. And the soundbar itself is everything I wanted the Samsung to be. No I don't think it's 3x the system... So the q990f is a better value. But now that I know Sonos, id rather build a used system second hand (arc, sub 3 or sub mini, and era 100s for example for around 1k) or spend the extra money and just know I have way better sound. AND FOR MUSIC? Sonos gets even further ahead.

I'll share with you what I shared to someone else with the exact same problem. I had an LG SP8YA w/ sub and surrounds to start. Hot garbage. Sub virtually did nothing (literally.) I got to hear a friend's sound system once, no idea what components he had, and it made me want so much more for myself. I played around with some stuff from Onn and Vizio, but all garbage as well. Because of this subreddit I upgraded to the Q990D. Huge improvement over the LG. I think if *all* you care about is value, and you're coming from TV speakers or a really basic soundbar, it's a freaking sweet deal and system. But I still just wasnt happy with the bass, or how the system *felt * I returned it and tried the JBL 1300X. HO. LY. CRAP. The subwoofer was absolutely unbelievable... That 12 inch downward firing driver had me giggling like I was a kid again. But everything else about it was meh. Surrounds barely did anything for me no matter what I tweaked, and the bar didn't sound as good as the Q990D either, which I already didn't love. Then, because of a reallyyyyy annoying mishap with a Best buy store, the manager helped me out and I ended up getting a 2nd Gen Sonos Beam, w/ a sub mini for literally a couple hundred bucks. I got some cheap random Sonos/IKEA surrounds off Offerup, a PAIR for $90. It...... *DESTROYED* everything is heard. The subwoofer was absolutely phenomenal, the surrounds were ACTUAL speakers so just so much more capable than all the little surround satellites kits come with, and even though the bar was small, it sounded much bigger, but more importantly, FELT great. Really really rich and warm sound profile that I loved. I bought a pair of era 100s to replace my cheap rears to add rear virtual Atmos since the beam 2 has virtual Atmos up front, and LOVED that system. Blew everyone that came over away. Since then I've moved that system to my inlaws, and myself have an arc ultra w/ dual gen 3 subs, era 300s, and used a 3rd party app to add era 100s as FRONT surrounds. The system literally makes people who come over say they would never go to a movie theater again lol my first Sonos setup already blew everything else out of the water, but my current setup makes the Q990 series sound like a toy. If you're a bass head, I recommend Sonos first overall. If money is no object, and for some reason you're opposed to Sonos (like you have a ton of physical blu ray discs so you require DTS), check out the nakamichi dragon, or you can also look at Klipsch. The flexus core 300 bar w/ 2 subs and their surrounds will be much better than the Samsung. If you're coming from TV speakers, but you love bass AND value, so you want the cheapest thing possible with crazy bass, unquestionably the JBL 1300.

I had an LG SP8YA w/ sub and surrounds to start. Hot garbage. Sub virtually did nothing (literally.) I got to hear a friend's sound system once, no idea what components he had, and it made me want so much more for myself. I played around with some stuff from Onn and Vizio, but all garbage as well. Because of this subreddit I upgraded to the Q990D. Huge improvement over the LG. I think if *all* you care about is value, and you're coming from TV speakers or a really basic soundbar, it's a freaking sweet deal and system. But I still just wasnt happy with the bass, or how the system *felt * I returned it and tried the JBL 1300X. HO. LY. CRAP. The subwoofer was absolutely unbelievable... That 12 inch downward firing driver had me giggling like I was a kid again. But everything else about it was meh. Surrounds barely did anything for me no matter what I tweaked, and the bar didn't sound as good as the Q990D either, which I already didn't love. Then, because of a reallyyyyy annoying mishap with a Best buy store, the manager helped me out and I ended up getting a 2nd Gen Sonos Beam, w/ a sub mini for literally a couple hundred bucks. I got some cheap random Sonos/IKEA surrounds off Offerup, a PAIR for $90. It...... *DESTROYED* everything is heard. The subwoofer was absolutely phenomenal, the surrounds were ACTUAL speakers so just so much more capable than all the little surround satellites kits come with, and even though the bar was small, it sounded much bigger, but more importantly, FELT great. Really really rich and warm sound profile that I loved. I bought a pair of era 100s to replace my cheap rears to add rear virtual Atmos since the beam 2 has virtual Atmos up front, and LOVED that system. Blew everyone that came over away. Since then I've moved that system to my inlaws, and myself have an arc ultra w/ dual gen 3 subs, era 300s, and used a 3rd party app to add era 100s as FRONT surrounds. The system literally makes people who come over say they would never go to a movie theater again lol my first Sonos setup already blew everything else out of the water, but my current setup makes the Q990 series sound like a toy. If you're a bass head, I recommend Sonos first overall. If money is no object, and for some reason you're opposed to Sonos (like you have a ton of physical blu ray discs so you require DTS), check out the nakamichi dragon, or you can also look at Klipsch. The flexus core 300 bar w/ 2 subs and their surrounds will be much better than the Samsung. If you're coming from TV speakers, but you love bass AND value, so you want the cheapest thing possible with crazy bass, unquestionably the JBL 1300.

Because of this subreddit I tried a full setup from LG, then a Q990D, and then a JBL 1300X. Each was a progressive step up, but all pale in comparison to Sonos for me. My first Sonos system was the Beam Gen 2 w/ a sub mini and the IKEA symfonisk bookshelf speakers as rears, and even that was better than all the others lol Now I have an arc ultra, dual subs, era 300s as rears, and thanks to a 3rd party app, era 100s as front L/R and the sound absolutely embarrasses anything else that comes from a soundbar. You have the budget to get creative based off what you want and are willing to do. Knowing what I know and actually testing and owning all of these systems, if I was LITERALLY you and didn't want to go over $1500 right now, I would get either a Sonos Arc Ultra and a sub mini, and add the surrounds later... Or I would get the Sonos Arc Ultra and a pair of Era 100s and add the sub later. The second I could afford it, I'd add the missing link. If for some reason you NEVER want to spend over $1500, id unquestionably go used Sonos. Arc ultra for ~$800, sub mini for ~300, and a pair of Era 100s for ~300. $1400 NO TAX and you'd be set with no need to upgrade. If you want to buy from a retailer that has return window and warranty, then Sonos also has an official refurb section. A beam gen 2 is 400 and original arc is 450, sub mini is 400, and era 100 is $180 each. That means an arc, sub mini, and era 100s would be $1210. ($50 less if you go beam gen 2) All from Sonos directly, but if you went with a used arc ultra it'd be more like You'd have enough room to get another pair of Era 100s and the $3 sonosequencr app to use them as fronts, and again... It'll destroy anything else. And since you wouldn't have gone arc ultra this way, it's worth it to be the better dialogue. The arc ultra has much better dialogue but the front era 100s will help the arc sound better in that regard plus give you the enormous soundstage a bar on its own can't. Moral of the story is go with the best Sonos system you're willing to spend on.

The X version using standard subwoofer, not the dual 8 inch one. I believe it won't be that impresive compare to the original 1300MK2 without the X in the name

I’ve got the JBL Bar 1300x. Pretty bass heavy but otherwise phenomenal!! I’d say check out lower end JBL’s on said note

1300x is a monster for both movies and music people are just being picky about the sound quality on the jbl i have amazing experience watching movies plus the detachable speakers is clearly a big win on the jbl! sound is amazing once you calibrate the speaker locations the 12 inch sub is banging in action scenes more than the regular person can ask for in a soundbar i havent experience a full blow home theater yet but this thing delivers for the price i vote jbl been addicted to the sound since i bought my first jbl bluetooth speaker