JBL Bar 5.1 Review and Specs

The JBL Bar 5.1 Soundbar is the first model to feature battery powered wireless surround speakers. Want to see the JBL Bar 5.1 review as well as JBL Bar 5.1 specs? You are at the right place.

JBL Bar 5.1 review

Features

The JBL bar 5.1 transforms from a soundboard into a true wireless 5. 1 home theater system for an epic Movie and music–listening experience. The sound bar features two detachable battery–powered wireless surround speakers with 10–hours of playtime, 510W of total system power, a 10” wireless subwoofer, three HDMI inputs to connect 4K devices. With Dolby digital, Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS, your movies, music and video games will never sound more incredible. If you connect a Blu-ray player that transfers the track to DTS HD MA or Dolby Atmos, there is no problem, because these streams contain DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1.

Design and build

Its first strong point is connected with a real wireless subwoofer (up to 300 W) and a 25-cm speaker. The second plus of JBL Bar 5.1 is based on its removable surround speakers, working wirelessly for 10 hours. The soundbar is equipped with three pairs of 6 x 5.7 cm bass midrange speakers and three 3.2 cm tweeters distributed across the three front channels (left, right and center). Each channel is amplified by a special power module with a total peak power of 300 watts. This corresponds to a peak of 50 watts per channel or continuous power of 20 watts, good enough for this type of speaker.

Connectivity

JBL Bar 5.1 has three HDMI 2.0 inputs with support for HDCP 2.2 (UHD Blu-ray). In addition to HDMI and optical inputs, there is a USB-A port compatible with USB drives (FAT16 / 32).

Setup

When the speakers are connected to the soundbar (by magnetizing), the metal pins are used to properly stack them. White LEDs light up. When the battery is turned on, the surround speakers automatically go into standby mode 10 minutes after the panel is turned off (manual shutdown is possible). After turning on the JBL Bar 5.1, be sure to turn on the surround speakers again by pressing the sync button. Each surround speaker has a rubber base that allows them to be placed on most surfaces. Each of them includes a pair of mid-range speakers and a soft dome-shaped tweeter, as well as amplification and, consequently, a battery.

Pros and Cons