JBL JBL Bar 3.1

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Overall

#211 in

Soundbars

according to Reddit Icon Reddit

Sentiment score60% positive
3
1
1
Last updated: May 16, 2026

Reddit Reviews

Reddit IconJealous-Pear4108
12 days ago

I recently bought my first ever OLED tv a couple months ago and I love this thing so much. My only issue is that my current soundbar and sub paired with it is not very good and the voices sound muffly no matter what i do to change the settings. I have a JBL 3.1 4k soundbar. I know 4k has nothing to do with sound but that’s the name on the box here down under. I was doing some research on the LG s95tr sound system and it seemed pretty neat being that the jump from 3.1 to 9.1.5 would be good. Better surround and what not. But just curious if that would be a good choice or is there something better than that. Money is not an issue. I just what something that works the best

Reddit Iconprime-mimister
10 months ago

Bose Smart 600 + BM700. The subwoofer is just madly powerful and honestly sits alone in my opinion. It plays very deep, possibly deeper than any other soundbar subwoofer right now, and has absolutely plenty of power so having enough bass shouldn't possibly be an issue. And the bar although small, is incredibly clean and detailed at any volume like you wouldn't believe. It's got a good amount of power in it too so it most likely won't seem like it's falling behind the subwoofer, unless of course you want it to, then just turn up the subwoofer, or buy a 2nd subwoofer if you're a true bass head. The new MK2 JBL soundbars might be a good one to look into as well. Different subwoofer than previously so hopefully they made improvements. JBL will provide you a lot of bass for the price, good but not excellent soundbar quality. But the subwoofer might not sound incredible either. The first generation JBL Bar 3.1 had a loud & clean subwoofer. The JBL Bar 500 I tried had a slightly different subwoofer that I somehow ended up thinking sounded noticeably worse than the Bar 3.1. Hopefully they improved the subwoofer this time.

9 months ago

1000% the Bose setup. I had the Q800B myself before (not quite the 990 but it's the same subwoofer design), it was pretty good. I had the Bose Smart 600 + BM700 later, the BM700 absolutely blows the Samsung subwoofer away. It plays a little deeper than the Samsung, I bet it's louder at max volume too. And you can always add a 2nd subwoofer if you want to later on which you can't do with Samsung or JBL. As for the JBL, it's definitely a strong and loud ass subwoofer, but i guarantee it doesn't play as deep as the BM700. I've had many soundbar setups ranging from the JBL Bar 3.1, Bar 500, Sonos Arc + Sub Mini, Samsung Q800B, Sony S2000 + SW5 (garbage), & a few others. My 2 favorite subwoofers were definitely the BM700 & the Sonos Sub Mini, followed by the Samsung but pretty far behind. If you're after bass, I think Bose is quite possibly king, but there's one I do think could be a contender for that title too, but it's a little more expensive... The Sennheiser Ambeo Plus is a fantastic sounding system, I've only heard demos in stores but the demos are madly impressive. I have read about the Ambeo having a few minor bugs though so maybe consider trying it out with a way to return it easily. But the reason I bring them up is that they let you pair up to 4 Ambeo 8" subwoofers!! Yes FOUR subwoofers! I'd be putting one in each corner of the room if that was my setup. It's a really tough call for me to decide if the 4 Ambeo subwoofers can be louder than the 2 BM700's, but I kinda lean towards the 4 Ambeo subwoofers cause it's more cone area (32" with 4 Ambeo's vs 20" with 2 BM700"s). 2 BM700's will play a little deeper, but I think 4 Ambeo subs will be a little louder. But it's a tough choice for me cause it's also 2 ported subs vs 4 sealed subs..... Either way you'll have ridiculous amounts of bass!

Reddit IconSnortingElk
6 months ago

I've listened to the new 500 MK2's many times now and it seems like an improvement. Of course this is at numerous different box stores where there are many different factors impacting the sound. I had an old JBL Bar 3.1 system for almost the last 10 yrs and it was decent for what it was. I got it super cheap so my expectations weren't much. Their soundbar has significantly improved from that era. I'm kinda torn on rTings. I am a paying subscriber and their glowing reviews of the 800F swayed me into buying it, lol. I ended up finding a great deal on a Sonos Ultra Arc and Costco Gen 2 sub. After listening to just about every soundbar and sub combo, I kept coming back to the Sonos system for the overall music, movies, TV dialogue sound. Very happy with it.

Reddit IconZoso03
4 months ago

Soundbars have their place. I happily used a $10 one I found in a thrift shop and a $170 JBL 3.0 I use in the bedroom. It's the best in between between real speakers and TV Speakers. When looking for speakers $200 will keep you firmly in the difficult to upgrade area. Basically getting an AVR and a pair of speakers will cost you at least $200 used but only if you're luckey but it sets you up for upgrades. You want better speakers then you change them and keep the AVR, or you want more options you can upgrade the AVR. I would stay away from Powered Speakers for this reason. I started with $50 speakers and $300 AVR, Upgraded the Speakers to a $1200 set, and got a $100 Desktop amp and used the speakers for my computer and then moved that setup to another room when i got a better set of speakers and amp for my computer for $200

Reddit Icongidi103
5 months ago

There is a jbl 3.1 at 240. Specially made for costco. We have a open hall and the subwoofer is good.

Reddit IconIdliketobut
6 months ago

You will almost never use the surround sound after 1 year. Thats if you even ever set it up to be surround sound in the first place. I removed ours the other month after 14 years (hasnt been turned on in probably 7) and replaced it with a $150 3.1 JBL soundbar from The Warehouse

5 months ago

The Warehouse had a JBL 3.1 soundbar for $150 a couple months ago, they are pretty good

5 months ago

We got a JBL 3.1 Soundbar from The Warehouse a couple months ago for $150. Sounds perfectly fine to me, comparable to the Bose on my parents have

End of reviews

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