Customer Ratings & Reviews

I really regret this purchase. When you want to turn it on and use it, pair it to the TV—it literally decides when it’s going to work. It will say connected and paired, but wont work. I’ve never had this much trouble with a sound bar.

Great concept with the remote rear speaker capability. Dialogue on movies not clear for a sound bar costing this much.

I’m unhappy with the sound bar, it makes cracking noises

Set-up instructions were not thorough. After 2 hours on phone with JBL, they sent me to purchase basic HDMI cables because sometimes theirs don't work... unit still did not work after purchasing basic cables. Returned to Best Buy. On a positive note, the customer service at JBL and Best Buy was fantastic!

I can’t begin to describe how much I hate this system. I have to reconnect the Bluetooth every time I use my TV. Either I’ll have to connect it again or unpair it and reconnect. Every. Single. Time. I wish I had bought something else. Probably too late to return it ATP.

not too much impress with this product but for the first time buyers would recommend.

Speakers go off and on, have to be recharged every night, so they have to return to the base. I would NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT again. Too expensive!

Nice system but mine stopped working after a week.

This is a great sound bar, but it does have its flaws. It came boxed up to me very well. Tons of bubble wrap! Unboxing only took a few minutes and the manual was laid out pretty clearly on how to get everything connected to my TV. I have a Nvidia Shield that I use for a Plex server as well as Netflix, Hulu, Philo, and Tablo. So I just did a HDMI out of that box into the sound bar and then out of the sound bar into my TV and I was good to go. I had a few problems getting one of the rear speakers to pair with the main sound bar. But after a few times of turning it off and on and letting it sit it finally connected. It’s a cool idea of having the battery-operated rear speakers so they are completely wireless. I don’t think I will use them that way though. Thankfully the speakers also come with a micro USB connector so you can have them plugged in all the time and you don’t have to rely on the battery. Kind of a shame that the don’t include the micro USB cables or wall adapters to plug them in, you have to buy those separately. For a $1000 sound bar you’d think those would be included. You also don’t get the end caps to put on the sound bar to cover the ends when you have the rear speakers undocked from the bar. I have heard that those come with international versions of the sound bar, but not the US version. Another oversight in my book that should have been included for the price of the sound bar. Apart from that, the sound bar is pretty standard. A black rectangle and a big black square subwoofer. The bar itself has a hidden screen in the front that shows you basic information like the volume level and things like that. The remote is very basic and you have to rely on a lot of different combinations to get the sound bar to do what you want it to do. Long press this key then tap this key, but if you want more than 5 seconds you have to start all over again. I wish there would have been a fuller featured remote included. a few more buttons would save users a lot of hassle. Once I got everything placed where I wanted it, I went through the calibration process. It was very easy to do. You put the speakers next to you in your listening position and start the first part of the calibration. Then you put the speakers where they will normally sit and run part 2. Then you are all good to go! Apart from that, all you really can adjust is the bass level and the rear speaker level. You don’t get any other control over the audio. This leads me to what I think is the biggest problem with this sound bar. There should at the very least be a general bass and treble control (apart from the subwoofer level). I know people have many different tastes in their audio, so I think this is a must have feature. To me, this sound bar sounds very tinny. There is a lot of high end, and a lot of bass when you crank the sub up. There is a lack of midrange, and low midrange to give it that “full” sound. I would love to see a companion app to go with this sound bar that has like a 5 band EQ or a bass and treble control or something like that. Even some preset EQ’s would be better than what you get. That alone would make this the best sound bar out there! I know that’s something that can be added with a firmware update, so I hope enough people complain about it so its added in the future. You don’t notice it as bad on Hollywood movies. But regular TV shows sound very hollow and tinny. Even with those few negatives, I still highly recommend checking out this sound bar. It has amazing Atmos sound, and even regular 5.1 surround as well. It does provide a very immersive feel to it. If you watch tons of movies and Netflix shows and things like that, I think you’ll find this to be a very satisfying sound bar. If you watch a lot of network TV, you might be a little disappointed. Overall, they have a great start with this sound bar. I am coming from a top of the line bar from a couple years ago from probably the biggest name in home audio. I truly feel with a few tweaks, this bar could give that company a serious run for its money! SO please JBL if you’re listening…. please give us an EQ!!! ….one other thing I just noticed too. If you have the rear speakers connected to a USB power supply they don’t turn on when you turn the sound bar on. So whenever you turn on your TV you have to go and turn on all the rear speakers individually. Would be nice if they came on when the sound bar came on.

This surround sound system is great wirh sound but it stops working around 5 times a day i must reset each time can not watch a movie without the sound going out on a very good part. Jbl needs to fix this

It was not giving me sorround sound and bluetooth was so difficult

I bought this product expecting it to be really great got it home didn't open the box and then read all these horrible reviews online and I returned it I really hoped it was going to be a good Soundbar and surround system but I didn't want to take a chance with all the negative reviews I heard

Whenever we increase or decrease volume it gets muted.

Not happy at all with this product. Constantly disconnects from the tv. I even had geek squad install it and when i start having problems with it....they wont return calls.

This item sounded fine in a giant wide-open store so I really didnt hesitate to fork over $1200 for a mid-tiered item like JBL. Once I got it home and installed, it didnt take long for the honeymoon period to wear off and all the shortcomings to surafce. Next to zero audio controls beyond 3 settings for the center speakerand 3 settings for the rear speaker (and thats only if they are off the charging bar. During charge, zero rear controls) I still gave it a week and wound up returning, Do not waste your money

turns off randomly. i often have to unplug and replug to get it to work properly. many better options other than this

I bought this sound bar and had so much trouble with it. The rear detachable speakers wouldn't work the next morning after I turned the bar off for the night. I would have to do the set up all over again the next morning. The middle speaker wasn't very good making hearing audio difficult and getting to speak to support was awful. I called them 4 times, spoke with someone and was supposed to get a call back that never came. Finally just gave up on the bar. Returned it and went with a Sony sound bar.

Just to get the negatives out of the way, I will start with cons because I figure if the negatives are manageable upfront then they won't be a dealbreaker. CONS: The quick start guide is decent, but completely pictorial and somewhat unnecessary. WIFI set up via Google Home app is mentioned at the tail end of the setup guide and a little vague for someone who has never used the Google Home app. Wifi set up in Google Home app was tenuous and slow (approximate 2 hours and the first hour and a half was just getting the Google Home app to communicate with the soundbar. The remaining time was firmware updates for the speaker. The process itself was simple once it finally worked, but I had to factory reset the soundbar a few times because of failed updates and Google Home communication failures. I have an Apple/Alexa household and I don’t use Google Home for anything so that could be a small part of the issue. Wifi set up is needed to fully enable ChromeCast and Apple Airplay. If your streaming device is Bluetooth capable then this is the easiest way to connect aside from direct HDMI cable. Google Home Setup is REQUIRED in order for the unit to perform firmware updates. The JBL connect app does not seem to work with this speaker. Nothing mentions that it will, but nothing mentions it won’t either. Noticeable sound loss on non-Dolby DVD, BluRay media made it sound like there was no center channel and top layer of audio was lacking; I did verify that this was not an issue with my BluRay equipment by testing the same films on both the soundbar and my home theater system. Now for the PROS PROS: Did I mention WOW?! Remember when all good things came in big heavy packages? This is no exception! So this little 9.1 wireless soundbar system puts my 5.1 receiver driven home theater system to total shame for streaming and Dolby sound-based media. To give context, I tested this unit on my 4k Sony TV and Apple TV 4k as well as with blu ray, DVD, Bluetooth, and airplay streaming. I connected directly via HDMI to the TV, Apple TV, and BluRay player and did Bluetooth streaming via Apple TV and iPhone as well as airplay from iPhone. I played music from Evanescence, Black Lab, Korn, Camila Cabello, Weird Al Yankovic, Halestorm, Jurassic Park, Beethoven, Pavarotti, The Eagles, and Mad Season. I watched Iron Man, Avengers Endgame, Blue Man Group, Various shows on Netflix, Harry Potter (battle scenes from Deathly Hallows and the Quidditch World Cup from Goblet of Fire) and Transformers. Bluetooth connectivity was totally seamless. Once WIFI set up is complete, airplay was enabled and worked well from youtube. There did not seem to be any sound delay when streaming wirelessly via AirPlay or Bluetooth. When the detachable speakers are placed in their rear positions you get the sense of true immersive surround sound. At one point, it was raining in a movie I was watching and I thought it was raining at my house despite being very sunny and clear out. The highs are excellent and the lows are deep and throaty. For anyone looking to have excellent sound without a full home theater receiver system, I definitely recommend this soundbar. Just be prepared that older DVD/BluRay media may have some sound loss issues.

First impression: My first impression of the JBL Bar 9.1 is that it is very well made and added a significant improvement to the sound in my bedroom media center. I have set up a few soundbars and some of them are lightweight and feel cheaply made. Some of the lighter soundbars seemed to vibrate when really pushed. The JBL is fairly heavy and feels solid. The removable side/rear speakers mount to the end with magnets and they hold the speakers tight. It is also an attractive soundbar. It’s as wide as my 55” TV but only 2.5” tall. This works great if you are planning to put it underneath a display that is sitting on a shelf. The display is hidden in the front and not apparent until it displays something. In my room, I am mounting the soundbar underneath the TV that is mounted to the wall. Included with the system is the 10” wireless subwoofer, the soundbar, side or surround speakers, Remote control, HDMI cable, wall mounts for the soundbar and surround speakers, mounting hardware, and the manual. This system even has Atmos audio. Setup: Sometimes what appears to be easy is not easy at all when it comes to technology. That is not the case with the JBL Bar 9.1 system. After charging the surround speakers, I attached them to the side of the soundbar. I unplugged my TV from my TiVo and plugged it into the Soundbar. I then added the included HDMI cable from the TiVo to the soundbar and plugged the soundbar and subwoofer into the power outlet. I powered the system up with the included remote and set it to HDMI and the system was up and running. I did not configure the WiFi or set it up on my network because I was most interested in the performance of the system in improving the sound of my TV display in my bedroom. Performance: My test started with an over the air (OTA) recording on my TiVo. The recording is from a channel that has very flat audio. The mids and highs were still flat, However, the subwoofer added lows that weren’t obvious before. I didn’t expect any increase in the quality from that station, so when I got the lows it was better than I expected. I then jumped from channel to channel on my TiVo and compared audio. The audio quality differed from channel to channel. The soundbar doesn’t offer sound adjustment other than the subwoofer level, so the quality is dependent on the source audio. In all cases, the JBL system improved the sound presented to it. The next step was 4K streaming from Netflix and Amazon Prime. On both channels, the audio was far superior to the TV audio and the lows were filling and tight. I never felt like the lows from the subwoofer dominated the room, nor did it waffle or distort. When set correctly, it filled in from the mids to the lows beautifully, complementing the entire audio range. The mids and highs were clear and crisp. Conclusion: For the price, there are two things I would have liked to see. One is I really would have liked to have at least a basic equalizer to adjust the sound to fit the room. Not every room is the same, not every source is the same, and not everyone likes the same audio. The second thing I would have liked is more than a single input. In addition to my TiVo, I have a Roku device and a 4K UHD DVD player that I would like to have in that room. I believe the selling price of this system should have more than a single HDMI input. If this system had adjustable audio eq and additional inputs, I could see spending the asking price for this system. Without them, I don't see this soundbar as a single-source solution. The JBL Bar 9.1 system definitely improved the audio from my TV display in that room. The subwoofer is large and does a great job filling in the sound and bringing life to otherwise limited audio produced by the display. The bar produced better audio than the source on every occasion. With good source audio, the sound was excellent.

Don’t do it. I purchased one and the left side speaker was defective. Didn’t work. I returned in the extremely limited timeframe and have been too busy to check the second one. What were the changes right? The speakers on the second one don’t work either. The jbl 2.1 and the Samsung were better and less than half the price.