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
Impressive, Versatile, Fantastic Bass
on February 8, 2023
Posted by: kitkatt611
from Chicago, Illinois
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Before I get into specifics, I love this system. It's extremely versatile for your home setup, and has fantastic quality, range, and depth.
Physical features include 1 main sound bar, 2 side speakers that you can mount on your walls OR attach to the main bar as extensions, a sizable subwoofer, remote, and mounting accessories. I initially had no idea the side speakers were able to be reattached to the main sound bar, so depending on if you want more of a full audio from the front (which still filled the room) or surround-sound, they're magnetized and easy to attach/detach wherever you'd like them. This is perfect for being a renter, in the event you may want this setup but are worried about drilling into the walls. I also love having one system that gives you the choice of surround sound for specific events, and a full bodied sound system for daily use.
1. Clarity - 5/5 I tested this with a variety of genres; classical, pop, electronic, rock. Depending on the type of music I was listening to, different parts of the audio really shone. Every little detail of the sound production was distinguishable, and nothing was muddled together. Highs, Lows, and Mids were clear.
2. Depth of sound - 5/5. If I could give it more points I would. That bass can get SO LOUD, but at any volume remained clear and did not blend any of the different bass notes together. It really enveloped the room. One thing I was concerned about was that there is no built-in bass for the main bar, so in order to hear any bass you need the sub turned on.. Which could potentially upset neighbors. HOWEVER, there's actually a bass level button on the remote that goes 1-5, so you're able to turn the bass up/down very easily. At the lowest level you still get the full bodied sound without any vibrations below. Obviously louder is better in my opinion, and no matter how loud I made it, everything was rich.
3. Range - 5/5. All segments traveled well to other rooms, so I didn't need to be sitting right in front of it to feel the full effects, which is perfect.
4. Other Features - Best part is how many connectivity points there are. Depending on whether you want it to be set to Wifi or Ethernet, HDMI, Optical, or USB, there were a lot of ways to customize the setup to your preference. I personally connected it to a game console so we could use it for games or video streaming, and utilized Bluetooth for playing music off my phone.
1. Clarity - 5/5 I tested this with a variety of genres; classical, pop, electronic, rock. Depending on the type of music I was listening to, different parts of the audio really shone. Every little detail of the sound production was distinguishable, and nothing was muddled together. Highs, Lows, and Mids were clear.
2. Depth of sound - 5/5. If I could give it more points I would. That bass can get SO LOUD, but at any volume remained clear and did not blend any of the different bass notes together. It really enveloped the room. One thing I was concerned about was that there is no built-in bass for the main bar, so in order to hear any bass you need the sub turned on.. Which could potentially upset neighbors. HOWEVER, there's actually a bass level button on the remote that goes 1-5, so you're able to turn the bass up/down very easily. At the lowest level you still get the full bodied sound without any vibrations below. Obviously louder is better in my opinion, and no matter how loud I made it, everything was rich.
3. Range - 5/5. All segments traveled well to other rooms, so I didn't need to be sitting right in front of it to feel the full effects, which is perfect.
4. Other Features - Best part is how many connectivity points there are. Depending on whether you want it to be set to Wifi or Ethernet, HDMI, Optical, or USB, there were a lot of ways to customize the setup to your preference. I personally connected it to a game console so we could use it for games or video streaming, and utilized Bluetooth for playing music off my phone.
Overall, it was really easy to set up, very customizable, and the quality is phenomenal.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
JBL BAR 700 Impressive
on February 7, 2023
Posted by: Rich1
from Northeastern Ohio
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I have had multiple sound bars in my home and can say this is by far the best sound bar I’ve had hands down. The clarity and bass is amazing. Setup of this sound bar was simple and very well illustrated in the instructions. Two power, one for the subwoofer and one for the bar and multiple inputs for audio. Hdmi(e-arc) is my favorite of the new audio inputs. Also I forgot the remote is very user friendly. And not cumbersome very easy to switch in between Bluetooth and tv which I love. JBL you did it again great product.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
This new JBL 700 is Dope!
on February 7, 2023
Posted by: TootsMatt
from Bronx, NY
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This sound bar is amazing. I previously owned a JBL 300 sound bar and obviously this blows it out of the water. The surround-sound soundbar is loud and crisp and the subwoofer is powerful enough that it makes you "almost" feel you are in the movie theater lol. This is definitely worth the buy.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
Big sounds from little speakers...and no wires!
on February 6, 2023
Posted by: reded
from Santa Cruz
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I have this setup in a large(30ft) room with high ceilings. The sound is amazing considering the amount of space it has to fill. The Atmos speakers work well(unbelievably sometimes) and I can hear things like rain and airplanes flying overhead. My ceiling is hard so the sound probably reflects well. I think in a normal smaller room this will be very loud! I like that the rear speakers are wireless and charge up from the front ones, I didnt have to run new wires and when I'm not using them they fit nicely at the front(with a magnet to hold them). I don't have anywhere to mount them so they go on the top of the back of the sofa and work well there. The bass is pretty good, I ended up putting the sub behind the sofa to get more oomph. My taste is even more bass though but given the size and price its acceptable.
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
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
Bar 700 Soundbar
on February 4, 2023
Posted by: Bubba1020
from Bossier City, Louisiana
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The Bar 700 comes in a cool box with the sub woofer and sound bar. Unpacking was fast and easy.
Setup was just as easy with all accessories needed in the box. Pairing the speaker again was fast and simple and the sound lets you know when you are ready. What's cool is the the JBL Bar Series is a soundbar with battery-powered removable ends. You can have it like a soundbar or snap each end off and place them around the room for a surround sound experience. The Speakers sound great with 5 levels of bass and with the rear having low, mid high, and mute. This speakers can really enhance the the movie watching experience of an action packed movie. This is a great sound bar and I really enjoy the sound and versatility of moving the end speakers to get the sound I want.
Setup was just as easy with all accessories needed in the box. Pairing the speaker again was fast and simple and the sound lets you know when you are ready. What's cool is the the JBL Bar Series is a soundbar with battery-powered removable ends. You can have it like a soundbar or snap each end off and place them around the room for a surround sound experience. The Speakers sound great with 5 levels of bass and with the rear having low, mid high, and mute. This speakers can really enhance the the movie watching experience of an action packed movie. This is a great sound bar and I really enjoy the sound and versatility of moving the end speakers to get the sound I want.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
Theater Experience at home
on February 3, 2023
Posted by: Byron_1985
from Hawthorne, CA
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Great sound bar, the detachable rear speakers allow you to place them anywhere you like to enhance your listening experience. I am personally using this sound bar in the living room with a 60" tv, the audio quality makes it feel like you're in a movie theater.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com