JBL - Bar 500

Don't get the JBL Bar 500, dialogue sux. Back to subtitles..

You can sign up at Polk and get 10% off your first purchase. It’s on sale now for $359 before the discount. I just ordered one. It seems like a solid choice to start out. I considered those three from Costco as well as a JBL Bar 500.

What’s wild is JBL and Polk both appear to fall under Samsung (parent company). It’s wild how many of the audio brands fall under them now. I ordered the Signa S4 as well and strongly considered the JBL Bar 500. The 10” sub at least at a friend’s house overwhelmed the sound from the bar. How do you like the 5.9” Signa S4 sub?

JBL bar 500 is a solid choice

I went with jbl SB590. Didn’t want to have a separate speakers setup .

Q990c Q800c are really good, don’t even use any of the voice enhancements. My folks both wear hearing aids with the 800c and both say it’s really clear, nice bass too. I also own JBL Bar 500, not as good as the Samsungs, but drop the bass and raise the mids it’s not half bad.

MK1 500 here. Yes, kill the bass a bit, or at least make sure it’s not over shadowing the bar. Lift the midrange in the equaliser till it sounds better. If you’ve run calibration try a reset and then don’t run it, see how that sounds. Mine always needs a good tweak after running it.

Couldn't disagree more. My Sonos Arc Ultra is crystal clear while the JBL 500O had before is a muddy mess.

I went with the JBL bar too after considering those options as it has a sub.

JBL Bar 500: 5.1-Channel soundbar with MultiBeam™ and Dolby Atmos®. $399 on Amazon now or you can wait until Black Friday for a deeper discount, if possible. I got this over a year ago and it's still performing perfectly. [https://a.co/d/9vyVwUh](https://a.co/d/9vyVwUh)

If you play 4K blurays you will need DTS too. Some soundbars have sound projection systems to simulate rear speakers. It’s not as good but can be quite interesting. It won’t work well in every room. If you have carpeted walls for exemple it’s not good. My JBL Bar 300 does have it and it’s quite surprisingly efficient. Bar 500 has it too and a subwoofer.

Sonos is not a reliable brand. This should be your first concern. They still have hardware and software issues. Sonos sound is clearly over hyped thanks to the brand paying influencers on social networks to make people believe they have the best sound. In reality it’s just good/average and a bit dull. We replaced a Beam by a JBL Bar 300 and it is incredibly better. Check the Bar 500 if you want a sub. There are other good brands too.

I have a JBL Bar 300. It has no rears and no sub. Sound is very good. There is a sound projection system which use lateral speakers in the bar to project sound in a way which can simulate rear speakers. More or less. It depends on the bar calibration and on your room layout and walls but the effect is quite nice. In my gaming room it does create a sound bubble. You are not in the center, more at the back edge but it’s already quite good. The Bar 500 is the same with a dedicated subwoofer.

I have the JBL Bar 500 and I think it's pretty good for the price. $400 when on sale at Amazon or JBL web store. Unfortunately, Best Buy has it at $500 at the moment. Dialogue is crisp and sound effects are good (Interstellar and Prometheus spaceship rumble, Prey when hatchet is thunking into trees, Furiosa engine shaking, Blade Runner 2049 and Pacific Rim raining and other scenes). The soundbar is miles better than the default LG C4 tv speakers. The JBL Bar 500 was easy to setup, just HDMI 2.1 cable to C4 eARC. And HDMI from Panasonic UB820 to C4. Went with inexpensive 2-pack HDMI 2.1 Highwings cables from Amazon. Note the JBL Bar 500 has no detachable rear speakers. It simulates surround sound. I went with this soundbar as I'm downsizing. JBL has other (more expensive) models with detachable rear speakers.