Customer reviews from jbl.com
JBL - Bar 700: 5.1-Channel soundbar with Detachable Surround Speakers and Dolby Atmos - Black
Average customer rating
4.7
(31 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 31 reviews
5 Stars
26
4 Stars
4
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
0
1 Star
1
100%of customers recommend this product.
(
22 out of
22)
Customer Reviews for JBL - Bar 700: 5.1-Channel soundbar with Detachable Surround Speakers and Dolby Atmos - Black
Customer Rating
5
JBL Bar 700 is a home theatre winner
on February 4, 2023
Posted by: Bharding81
from Rochester Hills, MI
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The JBL Bar 700 is a sleek and user friendly 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos sound bar system. With 620 watts of power, it will satisfy most living spaces and then some. The included 10” subwoofer and detachable wireless surround channels really do a lot to take this sound bar above many other systems on the market at this price point.
The packaging arrive to me in very good condition via shipping with minimal damage to the outer box. The box is a very awkward L shape and somewhat heavy around 50 pounds. When opening the Bar 700, I found that the packing materials were more than adequate at keeping the bar, subwoofer, rear channels, and mounting hardware safe and in place. While opening each part of the system, I couldn’t help but notice the level of quality JBL packed into this system. Each component was wrapped in foam sheets. The black plastic and metal grills of the speakers have a nice cool touch to them that resists finger prints and gives a sense of quality. JBL included the wall mount and necessary hardware to mount the bar to a wall underneath a TV and also the stencil guide to properly space the brackets. This is excellent as many competitors don’t sell and don’t include mounting options for their bars. The bar itself is average in weight at about 8 pounds. The 10 inch subwoofer comes in at about 22 pounds. Each surround channel is about 1.5 pounds. I like the size of the main bar. With the surround channels attached, its about 46” wide. Detached its about 35” wide. This looks terrific under a 65 inch or larger TV. I am using this under a 77” LG OLED TV and it complements it nicely.
What else is included? JBL supplies power cables for both the bar and the subwoofer. They do not supply power cables for the rear surrounds as they are meant to charge when docked to the main bar. However, if you have USB-C cables, you can leave the surrounds detached and power them yourself. It is nice to have this flexibility in the design. You may wonder how the surrounds attach to the main bar. They are magnetically held in place and taking them off or placing them back on the main bar is simple. JBL also supplies end caps for both the bar and the surrounds. This really enhanced the look of the bar when leaving the rears disconnected. JBL also included an HDMI cable, although it is short and won’t work for many larger TV at only 1.2 meters. Luckily I had an extra 6m cord laying around to hook up.
The Bar 700 wouldn’t be worth talking about if it didn’t have sound qualities to back up the aesthetics. Luckily, the 700 delivers in spades! It supports Dolby Atmos with 2 up firing drivers on the main bar. This is accomplished by “bouncing” sound off the ceiling. The effect works great if your room is laid out for it with a lower ceiling and proper seating distance. I am sitting about 11 feet from the bar and my ceiling is 7.5 high. The Atmos effect works perfectly at these distances. The 700 does not support DTS:X 3D audio. You have to move up to the Bar 1000 to gain that support. Atmos being the more supported format, this didn’t really matter to me. The bar also supports PureVoice. The setting is automatically enabled by default and is meant to make speech more audible depending on the content. While watching Avengers: Infinity War, the PureVoice did a great job of making voices audible during busy scenes. Where this bar really shines is when you place the surrounds just behind you. Most bars are simply bars and don’t provide true surround. Being able to gain true surround makes movies so much more immersive. The bank scene from The Matrix was terrific! As countless rounds of ammunition fell to the ground, the Bar 700s rear channels made the falling brass come to life all around me. Meanwhile the 10” rear ported sub pounded the hard bass of the techno soundtrack of the scene. Is this bar loud? Yeah, it plays LOUD if you want it to. Max level of 32 is near blowing you out of your basement. You won’t be popular if you live in an apartment and pump this up. I found low to mid 20 volume gave me the full feel of a movie theatre.
The Bar 700 has a very well balanced sound profile out of the box. It is very full and rich. As most sound bars do, it lacks bass on its own simply do to physics of speakers. But the subwoofer easily provides more than enough bass for average to above average sized listening space. Initially I felt the highs were a bit harsh at higher volume, but once I used the automatic calibration, it toned down the brassiness I was experiencing. The sound can further be tweaked by the user via the JBL One phone app (Android and iOS both supported). The app also supports firmware updates, setup, and access to 3rd party streaming options.
JBL did a nice job of making this bar flexible. The included remote (and batteries), allow you to quickly adjust the level of bass from 5 levels and the volume level of the rears from mute, low, med, and high. These are excellent because not all video content has the same mix of bass and surround. While watching HBO Max, for example, the bass and surrounds levels needed to be higher vs streaming content from Apple TV movies.
With so many smart homes and devices, JBL was smart to include them with the Bar 700. The Bar 700 supports Chromecast, Alexa MRM, and Apple Airplay. Once you connect the Bar to your network, you can group the bar to speakers in your home for a true whole home music experience. You have the option to connect to your home network via Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 6 supported) or Ethernet. Once you’re connected, you can then use your phone to control music you want to stream via whichever service you prefer. I tested out a few tracks via Apple Music. Alternative rock, metal, pop, and hip hop all sounded very good for a sound bar system. It wouldn’t beat out high quality bookshelf or towers, but it easily will trounce the typical virtual assistant speakers many people use around their homes. I can easily recommend using the bar for background music in the home while doing housework and typical cleaning.
I tested most of the features of the bar using a TV that supports eARC. However, the bar also supports regular ARC and allows you to connect a source to the bar first and passthrough video to your TV. There is also an optical audio jack for older televisions. I wish the bar had more HDMI inputs, but I can use a switch to offset this.
Overall I feel that JBL has done a fantastic job with this generation of sound bars. I’d love to hear the Bar 1300 flagship model since the 700 is this good. The 700 provides the best overall value of the bunch IMO. The amount of flexibility for the cost in this 5.1.2 system is truly remarkable. I like the way the bar looks, I like its support for many formats, the remote is easy to use, and it sounds really great! JBL is definitely a brand to consider when shopping for a true home theatre experience.
The packaging arrive to me in very good condition via shipping with minimal damage to the outer box. The box is a very awkward L shape and somewhat heavy around 50 pounds. When opening the Bar 700, I found that the packing materials were more than adequate at keeping the bar, subwoofer, rear channels, and mounting hardware safe and in place. While opening each part of the system, I couldn’t help but notice the level of quality JBL packed into this system. Each component was wrapped in foam sheets. The black plastic and metal grills of the speakers have a nice cool touch to them that resists finger prints and gives a sense of quality. JBL included the wall mount and necessary hardware to mount the bar to a wall underneath a TV and also the stencil guide to properly space the brackets. This is excellent as many competitors don’t sell and don’t include mounting options for their bars. The bar itself is average in weight at about 8 pounds. The 10 inch subwoofer comes in at about 22 pounds. Each surround channel is about 1.5 pounds. I like the size of the main bar. With the surround channels attached, its about 46” wide. Detached its about 35” wide. This looks terrific under a 65 inch or larger TV. I am using this under a 77” LG OLED TV and it complements it nicely.
What else is included? JBL supplies power cables for both the bar and the subwoofer. They do not supply power cables for the rear surrounds as they are meant to charge when docked to the main bar. However, if you have USB-C cables, you can leave the surrounds detached and power them yourself. It is nice to have this flexibility in the design. You may wonder how the surrounds attach to the main bar. They are magnetically held in place and taking them off or placing them back on the main bar is simple. JBL also supplies end caps for both the bar and the surrounds. This really enhanced the look of the bar when leaving the rears disconnected. JBL also included an HDMI cable, although it is short and won’t work for many larger TV at only 1.2 meters. Luckily I had an extra 6m cord laying around to hook up.
The Bar 700 wouldn’t be worth talking about if it didn’t have sound qualities to back up the aesthetics. Luckily, the 700 delivers in spades! It supports Dolby Atmos with 2 up firing drivers on the main bar. This is accomplished by “bouncing” sound off the ceiling. The effect works great if your room is laid out for it with a lower ceiling and proper seating distance. I am sitting about 11 feet from the bar and my ceiling is 7.5 high. The Atmos effect works perfectly at these distances. The 700 does not support DTS:X 3D audio. You have to move up to the Bar 1000 to gain that support. Atmos being the more supported format, this didn’t really matter to me. The bar also supports PureVoice. The setting is automatically enabled by default and is meant to make speech more audible depending on the content. While watching Avengers: Infinity War, the PureVoice did a great job of making voices audible during busy scenes. Where this bar really shines is when you place the surrounds just behind you. Most bars are simply bars and don’t provide true surround. Being able to gain true surround makes movies so much more immersive. The bank scene from The Matrix was terrific! As countless rounds of ammunition fell to the ground, the Bar 700s rear channels made the falling brass come to life all around me. Meanwhile the 10” rear ported sub pounded the hard bass of the techno soundtrack of the scene. Is this bar loud? Yeah, it plays LOUD if you want it to. Max level of 32 is near blowing you out of your basement. You won’t be popular if you live in an apartment and pump this up. I found low to mid 20 volume gave me the full feel of a movie theatre.
The Bar 700 has a very well balanced sound profile out of the box. It is very full and rich. As most sound bars do, it lacks bass on its own simply do to physics of speakers. But the subwoofer easily provides more than enough bass for average to above average sized listening space. Initially I felt the highs were a bit harsh at higher volume, but once I used the automatic calibration, it toned down the brassiness I was experiencing. The sound can further be tweaked by the user via the JBL One phone app (Android and iOS both supported). The app also supports firmware updates, setup, and access to 3rd party streaming options.
JBL did a nice job of making this bar flexible. The included remote (and batteries), allow you to quickly adjust the level of bass from 5 levels and the volume level of the rears from mute, low, med, and high. These are excellent because not all video content has the same mix of bass and surround. While watching HBO Max, for example, the bass and surrounds levels needed to be higher vs streaming content from Apple TV movies.
With so many smart homes and devices, JBL was smart to include them with the Bar 700. The Bar 700 supports Chromecast, Alexa MRM, and Apple Airplay. Once you connect the Bar to your network, you can group the bar to speakers in your home for a true whole home music experience. You have the option to connect to your home network via Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 6 supported) or Ethernet. Once you’re connected, you can then use your phone to control music you want to stream via whichever service you prefer. I tested out a few tracks via Apple Music. Alternative rock, metal, pop, and hip hop all sounded very good for a sound bar system. It wouldn’t beat out high quality bookshelf or towers, but it easily will trounce the typical virtual assistant speakers many people use around their homes. I can easily recommend using the bar for background music in the home while doing housework and typical cleaning.
I tested most of the features of the bar using a TV that supports eARC. However, the bar also supports regular ARC and allows you to connect a source to the bar first and passthrough video to your TV. There is also an optical audio jack for older televisions. I wish the bar had more HDMI inputs, but I can use a switch to offset this.
Overall I feel that JBL has done a fantastic job with this generation of sound bars. I’d love to hear the Bar 1300 flagship model since the 700 is this good. The 700 provides the best overall value of the bunch IMO. The amount of flexibility for the cost in this 5.1.2 system is truly remarkable. I like the way the bar looks, I like its support for many formats, the remote is easy to use, and it sounds really great! JBL is definitely a brand to consider when shopping for a true home theatre experience.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
Excellent features and decent sound quality!
on February 6, 2023
Posted by: Teddymac11
from Minneapolis, MN
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The Bar 700 is a great option for multimedia entertainment.
Unboxing/setup
Within minutes of unboxing, the Bar 700 was up and running! Connecting through ARC on my television, sound immediately started playing through the sound bar. Subwoofer and rear speakers also connected instantly. I'm really amazed that the rear speakers are 100% wireless (something that's important with pets wandering around the house!
Within minutes of unboxing, the Bar 700 was up and running! Connecting through ARC on my television, sound immediately started playing through the sound bar. Subwoofer and rear speakers also connected instantly. I'm really amazed that the rear speakers are 100% wireless (something that's important with pets wandering around the house!
Setting up the Bar 700 was simple as well, compatible with Google Home and connected to wifi without issue. I tried calibrating the sound, but didn't really hear much of a difference, which leads me to think that it's more for time alignment and phasing.
My only complaint in regard to setup is that I wanted to tweak the sound a bit (more below), and as of writing this review (Feb 2023), the Bar 700 is not yet available on the JBL one app. My research of the app, shows that there are possibly some options to customize the EQ which I will definitely explore when it's available.
Sound Quality
As usual JBL doesn't disappoint!
As usual JBL doesn't disappoint!
There is plenty of headroom, vocals and effects are clear and precise. The sound is definitely following the 'Harmon V Curve', and could use a bit more mid-bass from the soundbar and surround speakers.
Due to furniture location and room acoustics the best place for the sub in my space is behind my sitting area. After listening for several hours I found that the crossover frequency to the sub is a bit high, and am hoping I can adjust or EQ out a bit of the mid bass from it when the Bar700 becomes available on the JBL one app. But, this is very unique to my set up. Typically the sub would be closer to the main soundbar, and this wouldn't be an issue. Additionally assuming that JBL is using similar drivers to their amazing Flip 6, I see no reason why the center or surround speakers couldn't handle a bit more of the midrange/bass frequencies.
Aside from the low-pass crossover being a bit high, the sub itself is outstanding. There are no issues hitting the lowest notes of sub-bass in movies, or music. Also the output is seemingly endless, which is definitely reminiscent of their LSR studio subs.
Using the sound bar for music, it works a bit better with the surround speakers attached to the sound bar, as they help broaden the sound stage. Disconnecting them from the soundbar puts them into a surround effect mode, especially when placed behind the listening position where they offer a bit more subtle immersion into the music.
Ultimately this is a great option for getting great sound and keeping a minimalist presence of physical audio gear. But as with any soundbar, it's no replacement for standalone speakers.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
Excellent 5.1 soundbar package!
on February 8, 2023
Posted by: Mikey Mike
from Charleston, SC
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This sound 5.1 bar system is impressive.
Mounting was easy, but I would recommend other dry wall anchors than what are provided. I pulled one loose when fitting the bar to the hanging brackets. That is the one and only complaint about this system! The bar itself has nice clear sound with an average amount of mid bass. The satellite speakers provide enough surround stage to my large bedroom. The sub is a very nice upgrade compared to most sound bars. The 10” provides enough bass to hear and feel it!
The auto calibration is a nice addition since the satellites can be positioned anywhere you want, or mounted on the walls with the provided mounting equipment. The surround stage is very nice. Objects are heard clearly moving all around with nice detail.
I highly recommend this 5.1 system in this package if you are shopping for sound bars.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
WOW this is next level !!
on February 9, 2023
Posted by: Licks
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I am absolutely amazed by this setup. As soon as I got it all set up it was cinema time boom, the surround system makes you immerse in the movie, it's crisp, and gladly I don't have neighbors I can blast it! At the same time, I've paired all my devices, and it's my go-to player for music in the living room. I truly recommend this, quality and price you can't go wrong here. Best investment I've made in a while!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
Probably the best sound bar I have ever used
on February 9, 2023
Posted by: Bmann
from Chicago IL
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Easily beats my Sony HTST5000. The sound quailty is amazing and fills my living room and kitchen when the rear speakers are removed. The unit sounds great as one peice and even better when the side speakers are removed. The bass balances everything perfectly and can shake the floor if all the way up. Wether you're rocking music or watching a tv this sound bar will not let you down. The portable rear speakers are also great to move closer if you are hard of hearing.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
Bar 700
on February 10, 2023
Posted by: jerry61
from Grand Island NE.
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Bar 700 used for TV It sounded very good. I Wish there would have been operating instructions. The surround sound was very good. The bass was very good and the style of the system was good. I was very satisfied with the system.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
Wonderful Design and Medium Room Filling Sound
on February 19, 2023
Posted by: ChickenFried66
from Warner Robins, GA
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Got home the day this was delivered and was happy I live in a neighborhood where people leave things on your porch because big package was easily seen. It was in a well designed and the size of the package was appropriate for the size of the components inside. Opening the package was relatively easy and all items were undamaged. I removed my current soundbar to clear out the spot in front of the television in my bedroom and set it up. (I have a big full surround system in my living room area and plan to try this there later just to see if it's got enough sound and power to fill the big room but so far I've only used it in my bedroom.)
The wiring setup was very easy; basically just plug the power cords into the bar and the subwoofer and then connect your audio input. At first I had a little problems getting it to work because I was using a digital connection and the USB (I have several things connected to my TV and didn't want the HDMI cable controlling everything) and I didn't realize this was preventing the system to connect to the digital audio cable. After about 15 or 20 minutes I was able to get the television and the soundbar to communicate with each other and the issue was really just that I had to decide on either the digital audio or the USB because I could not get it to connect to digital audio with HDMI connected. I think if I'd been able to use just HDMI it would have have been super quick and easy.
One issue I had is that even after installing the app on my iPhone I could not get it to find the soundbar. I was able to easily connect it to bluetooth and even played music from my phone but I could not get the JBL app to find the soundbar. I have not tried again and it may be something that has already been corrected in the app.
After having given the wireless surround speakers a while to charge I moved them to positions to my left and right (they are clearly labeled) and easily calibrated them using the clearly marked remote. I then found a good Dolby Atmos movie on one the streaming services and turned it up. The soundbar could use just a little more mid-range because the highs and the lows from the subwoofer really dominate the sound and it lacks just a little warmth. Still, the subwoofer is really well tuned and the surrounds work extremely well and it all goes together as a solid system. The Dolby surround function of this soundbar works very well when you have them calibrated and placed as instructed. The room "comes alive" with sound and you can very clearly recognize the side and background noises as they were intended to be heard.
I have not yet tested how long the battery last on the surround speakers when they are placed out in surround mode but the battery easily lasts long enough for a two and a half hour plus movie and then they quickly recharge. I really love the way the surrounds connect to the main soundbar using magnets. It is extremely easy and the magnets basically guide them into place making it easy to do even in a dark room. The caps (which for now I'm using to keep my soundbar elevated above my speaker stand) are really quiet genius for using when you aren't charging the surrounds and they are in the surround listening position. They easily click in place and make the whole system look even better.
I also was able to play some lossless Dolby Atmos music from a streaming service using the surround speakers in place and was really pleased with the sound. It does not have the sound of a full stereo system with a receiver and full sized speakers but I do not expect a soundbar of this size to be able to put out that type of sound but even with its smaller size than a full system the sound from the Bar 700 doesn't disappoint.
Another plus to the system is that I was able to pair the system to be controlled with my AppleTV remote as well as the remote from my cable box. The system turns on and off automatically when I turn on/off the television and comes on at the volume level from when you turned off the system. This is really a nice added convenience which makes your whole system easier to operate which can be a plus because it eliminates all of those remotes laying around. You just get the system set up and then you can put the Bar 700's remote to the side.
I have not tried to really "blow the doors" off so I do not know how loud it gets but at a level of 15 or 16 there is plenty of sound to clearly hear everything in any movie from action to suspenseful drama and anything in between. This also enough volume at this level for listening to music.
My favorite things about this soundbar is the easily connecting surround speakers, how easily the system calibrates, the good kick from the subwoofer, and of course the great surround sound. It looks nice and should fit in any room without really standing out which is a plus for me.
The biggest negative for me is the lack of enough midrange warm sound (this is not a real big issue, just something that would improve the system) and that the app that the instructions tell you to install on your device does not recognize or find the system. I think the app may give the ability to tune the speaker and this may be a way to tune it for more midrange sound and this should be an easy fix.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the Bar 700. It easily exceeds the sound of anything I've used in this location for sound before. It has more room filling sound and the Dolby Surround and Dolby Atmos works great providing even more room filling sound. For someone looking for a higher end surround system for medium sized (250-300 square feet) room this works great. This system may also work in a larger room (about 400 square feet) but I've not tried it in my living room yet so I can't say.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
Really livens up an old plasma tv!
on February 22, 2023
Posted by: Handy Andy
from Utah
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I wanted this to amp up the sound of my old plasma tv for movies or gaming. It does great for inputting from.tbe decide though the sound bar and into the TV.
If your tv is old like mine you might need an optical cable to get sound to go the other direction from the TV to the sound bar though.
If your tv is old like mine you might need an optical cable to get sound to go the other direction from the TV to the sound bar though.
The bass on this is pretty nice without being overbearing.
The rear/side channel speakers snap onto the ends of the sound bar with magnets to charge up the batteries without having to have more cables around that's a nice touch.
The rear/side channel speakers snap onto the ends of the sound bar with magnets to charge up the batteries without having to have more cables around that's a nice touch.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com