Customer reviews from jbl.com
JBL - Refurbished Excellent - 9.1-Channel Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer and Dolby Atmos/DTS:X - Black
Average customer rating
3.9
(106 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 106 reviews
5 Stars
59
4 Stars
16
3 Stars
11
2 Stars
5
1 Star
15
84%of customers recommend this product.
(
48 out of
57)
Customer Reviews for JBL - Refurbished Excellent - 9.1-Channel Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer and Dolby Atmos/DTS:X - Black
Customer Rating
5
JBL 9.1 Atmos Soundbar lives up to JBL quality!
on April 22, 2024
Posted by: Chevy513
from Sandy, UT
Best soundbar ever! I have always used receivers and speakers and have never been a fan of soundbars. That was until I heard this soundbar and I immediately got it. I love how unlike a lot of soundbars all the speakers are wireless! The main soundbar only needs to plug into the eARC HDMI port on your TV or the Digital Optical port if your oldschool and also into a power outlet, the subwoofer is wireless and only needs to plug into a power outlet, the rear speakers are totally wireless with built in batteries that give your around 8 to 10 hours of battery life before you need to plug them onto the sides of the soundbar to charge them, or you can plug them into a power outlet with a USB port so that you never have to charge them. Also everything is super easy to setup, I had my system plugged in and set up in about 20 minutes, the wireless sub and wireless speakers connect super easy with no guesswork involved. I have an LG TV and it connected to my TV just fine and although I have to use the JBL remote to adjust things like Bass, Atmos and Rear speaker levels, however my LG TV remote adjusts the volume just fine. My previous sound system was a 5.1 receiver speaker setup with a 10" sub which was pretty weak since it had no built in amp and ran off the receiver giving it only about 50watts. However my 5.1 system sounded decent, or at least I though so till I heard my JBL 9.1 Soundbar! I had never experianced Atmos at home before, but now that I have I will never go back to not having Atmos. Think about it like this with 5.1 Surround Sound you can hear when someone is coming from behind or from the left or right, well with Atmos Surround Sound it makes that way better all of the sudden your hearing things above you, like a helicopter or jet fly over head, things exploding above you, a car flying over the top of you, a building crashing down around you etc. it brings theater sound to your livingroom. It's basically like 3 dimensional sound and unlike the 3D TV fad Atmos Surround Sound is here to stay! Once you have heard it you will be a believer
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
on January 12, 2021
Posted by: BONG10
from Barcelona
Words cannot describe the sound quality of this JBL 9.1 soundbar. The product is premium both in terms of sound and finishes. A bar with a thousand details that will not stand out because of a thousand multimedia options that almost nobody uses. It has what it takes for a demanding user and to have a good team to cast from any app that allows the bar to transmit.
Ultra recommended.
The DOLBY ATMOS and DTS-X sound is the most impressive I have ever heard in a home system of this kind. It may not have an equalization option to use it as HI-FI for music. But it is that it really sounds basic at levels that other brands do not even dream of. Movies like Mad Max: Fury Road for Dolby Atmos or Atomic Blonde on DTS-X in its most top sound mixing representation will leave you breathless in the armchair at home.
Ultra recommended.
The DOLBY ATMOS and DTS-X sound is the most impressive I have ever heard in a home system of this kind. It may not have an equalization option to use it as HI-FI for music. But it is that it really sounds basic at levels that other brands do not even dream of. Movies like Mad Max: Fury Road for Dolby Atmos or Atomic Blonde on DTS-X in its most top sound mixing representation will leave you breathless in the armchair at home.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
4
Great speaker. The best so far by JBL.
on June 19, 2020
Posted by: RockyKarthik
from Cincinnati, OH, USA
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I switched from a 3.1 channel soundbar to this 9.1 channel one. The sound quality is excellent. It totally transformed my living room into a movie theatre.
The detachable speakers offer surround sound which totally offers a different level of experience.
Some cons:
- Sometimes I hear a lot of disturbance from the detachable speakers
- the audio quality is excellent but the maximum
Volume is not sufficient for me. Max volume is 32. I would’ve been happy if the max volume is at least 40 or 50. When at high Bass and high Atmos, the voices and lyrics are not clearly audible.
The detachable speakers offer surround sound which totally offers a different level of experience.
Some cons:
- Sometimes I hear a lot of disturbance from the detachable speakers
- the audio quality is excellent but the maximum
Volume is not sufficient for me. Max volume is 32. I would’ve been happy if the max volume is at least 40 or 50. When at high Bass and high Atmos, the voices and lyrics are not clearly audible.
Other than that this is a fantastic speaker and gives you a mind blowing experience.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
JBL Bar 9.1 Review
on July 7, 2020
Posted by: Dogsnif
from Virginia, United States
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I have resisted the purchase of any type of soundbar/speaker combination to obtain a home theater surround sound system to augment my TV viewing experience. After all, my main viewing room lent itself to a wired 5.2 combination of speakers and a very satisfying experience. To achieve that, I did have to purchase an expensive flexible drill bit to make holes in two wall voids to create access to the crawl space under the house. Then all I had to do is enter the crawl space and thread fire-rated speaker cable into the walls fore and aft. Oh, I also had to purchase expensive wall plates to accommodate speaker cables terminated with banana plugs. So, nothing to it – hardly! Now, fast forward to 2020 and a move to a new state and a new house. Suddenly the surround sound system that was accessible and, more importantly, wife-tolerated in the old house was now verboten in the new house. Not only was there lack of strategically located electrical outlets in the “open floor plan” of the new house, but there would also have to contend with those unsightly wires running across the viewing room. Now what, go without – I think not!
Luckily the new JBL Bar 9.1 surround sound system hit the market and looked to be a solution to my new circumstances. The new JBL Bar 9.1 is a wireless solution that consists of a soundbar, two detachable, battery-powered wireless speakers and a 10-inch wireless sub woofer. An important draw for this system is that cables are kept to a minimum. The soundbar and sub woofer are the only items that need to be plugged in. The two detachable speakers are recharged by attaching them to the two ends of the soundbar via built-in magnets. These speakers can last around 10 hours when fully charged. The detachable speakers also have a micro-USB port providing an alternate means for recharging. Of course, they can remain plugged in all the time if an outlet is available but, in my opinion, that defeats the purpose of having a wireless system.
The main body of the soundbar is covered in a cut metal mesh and conceals a scrolling LED display on the front of the soundbar. It provides useful information, such as volume, input selection, power status as well as battery status of the wireless speakers. The display cannot be seen unless something is being displayed. There are four manual buttons on the top of the soundbar for power, volume and input source. The soundbar's rear connectors include a power port, a USB Type-A port, an optical port, a RJ-45 Ethernet jack, a HDMI OUT with TV eARC, and HDMI IN. The USB port is provided to play MP3 songs from an external storage drive. For a lot of users, the USB port would be superfluous because most would probably use a music streaming service instead. In this instance, Chromecast and AirPlay are supported.
The main body of the soundbar is covered in a cut metal mesh and conceals a scrolling LED display on the front of the soundbar. It provides useful information, such as volume, input selection, power status as well as battery status of the wireless speakers. The display cannot be seen unless something is being displayed. There are four manual buttons on the top of the soundbar for power, volume and input source. The soundbar's rear connectors include a power port, a USB Type-A port, an optical port, a RJ-45 Ethernet jack, a HDMI OUT with TV eARC, and HDMI IN. The USB port is provided to play MP3 songs from an external storage drive. For a lot of users, the USB port would be superfluous because most would probably use a music streaming service instead. In this instance, Chromecast and AirPlay are supported.
The Bar 9.1 surround sound system, as the name suggests, is advertised as a 9.1 channel audio system. In actuality, the JBL Bar 9.1 is really a 5.1.4 system with five surround speakers (three forward firing in the soundbar and one each in the detachable speaker) and a sub woofer. The “.4” is derived from the four Dolby Atmos (up firing) speakers - two in the soundbar and one in each detachable speaker.
The JBL Bar 9.1 was fairly easy to set up. In my situation, I placed the soundbar on the mantelpiece below my 52” LED TV as I have an electrical outlet and a cable chase directly behind the TV. I placed the sub woofer behind a chair about 5 feet from the soundbar to accommodate an electrical outlet. The two detachable surround speakers were placed on a table behind a sofa in the middle of the room. I followed the quick setup instructions and plugged the provided HDMI cable into the HDMI (ARC) port on my TV and into the HDMI OUT (TV ARC) on the soundbar. I did not have any other devices (e.g., Blu-ray player or game console) plugged into my TV’s HDMI(ARC) port so I didn’t need to relocate any other cables. If I ever get another device, I can plug directly into the HDMI IN port on the soundbar. The remote control is small and thin and provides buttons for power, TV and Bluetooth input, Atmos intensity, volume up/down, mute, and bass and rear surround adjustment.
Following the placement of the system components, I ran the calibration routine using the built-in sound test via the remote control. Once the system as calibrated, I tested the soundbar with Dolby Atmos videos and movies. Everything played sounded very good and the Dolby Atmos effect was fantastic. The primary sources for the videos and movies were YouTube and Netflix. All of the sound channels seemed to be accurately represented based on the information being broadcast from the videos.
As far as improvements go, I would have liked to have hidden the exposed charging contacts on the soundbar and the wireless speakers when they are undocked. My wife pointed this out to me almost as soon as I placed the soundbar and detachable speakers. She said that the exposed ends gave the speakers and “unfinished” look. I could not disagree with her. As it turns out, JBL Bar 9.1 systems sold outside of the US come with plastic end-caps in the box that conceal the exposed charging contacts giving those speakers a “finished” look. I have verified this by viewing a video review of the Bar 9.1. It is beyond me why JBL doesn’t include these in every Bar 9.1 box. The only other potential shortfall I see, is the lack of additional HDMI inputs on the soundbar that would for allow for additional component setup.
Overall, if you’re an individual (like me) looking for a truly wireless surround sound solution and want to upgrade to a Dolby Atmos system that’s easy to set up and sounds great, the JBL Bar 9.1 is an excellent choice.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
amazing product
on July 7, 2020
Posted by: ramanraghav
this is the best product in atmos. and its true wireless
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
3
Amazing sound, glitchy connection
on December 30, 2020
Posted by: Tyler
from North Carolina
I really couldn't be happier with the sound quality on these, and this would be an easy 5 star review if it wasn't for the persistent connection issues. When on streaming services such as Netflix or Hulu, the sound completely cuts off for 3-5 seconds at a time, sometimes every few minutes, sometimes more than twice a minute. This is not an issue when connected via Bluetooth (on my phone, for example), but when the system is plugged into my TV via HDMI eARC, this happens regularly. Bought a month ago and has been happening regularly since. If it weren't for this issue, this system would be amazing all around - but this is almost a complete deal breaker.
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
3
The best sound system! But missing one thing....
on January 5, 2022
Posted by: Clarksdead
from Medford, ma
This sound bar has everything you need: amazing base that let's you feel what you see, atmosphere that puts you in the middle of it all, and sound clarity I've never heard before, but......sadly the fact that the only way to charge the side speakers is from the bar itself, really brings it down for me. Other sound bars give the option of buying power banks, or specific chargers for the speakers themselves is a quality of life I never thought I'd miss. Some nights I'd forget to return both speakers to the bar, and when I go to watch something to only fi d out I need to wait four hours for them to charge, especially when I first brought them, I'd try to use the remote....which turns of the bar, but not the speakers leaving them idle draining the battery
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
The greatest
on May 15, 2024
Posted by: Tbud
from Pennsylvania
It's total awesomeness the ten inch really kicks and the bar is the clearest I've heard in a long time I like how the surround sound speakers are completely wireless. It was simple to setup definitely worth the $$$$
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com