Customer Ratings & Reviews

Wow JBL really hit this one out of the park! It is a excellent unit all around it has crisp highs and ground shaking lows. The features are great. My favorite feature is the adjustable crossover and subwoofer level features on the back of the powered sub, don't let the size fool you the 8 inch down fire subwoofer rivals most 10 inch subwoofers above its class, the enclosure was tuned perfectly. Overall this unit was very well thought out its perfect for the action movie lover who enjoys loud explosions or the concert band enthusiast who loves watching live performances. It is also great for parties or small get togethers with the built in Bluetooth feature it pairs to my iPhone in a second. The only draw back is the remote control, it is very small and the buttons are not very responsive however it's not a huge problem because this unit easily pairs to your cable or satellite universal remote. Again this is a excellent unit and lives up to the JBL reputation from long ago. I also had considered the Polk Audio unit that was more expensive and side by side the JBL was a better sounding unit in my opinion and the powered subwoofer did not distort at upper volume levels like the Polk unit did. The JBL unit may have a lower power rating than the Polk, but the JBL was designed better and doesn't need the extra power like the other units do to reproduce the same output. I hope this review helps in making a solid decision.

Purchased item in December 2014. Heard a loud popping sound and it died last night. It is on the same surge protection strip as the tv and BluRay. They are both fine. Not worth the money if it only lasts two and a half years.

Here's the deal. I researched and read/viewed hundreds of reviews for various soundbars and soundbases. I narrowed down my search to 4 or 5 units that I wanted to actually hear. The JBL SB-400 was one of these selected few, but I was concerned about what some people said about popping noises from the subwoofer and the ridiculous remote control. The bottom line after listening to a number of soundbars and soundbases is that this JBL unit ROCKS!, and was by far the best sounding unit in this price category. If you want to shake the walls,.....do it. You can with this system. If not, that's OK too. The sound at low volume is well rounded. Never does it sound like a tin can. Is it true 5.1 or 7.1 surround?....NO....but that's not the standard here. It is the best bang for the buck out there if you want a system that sounds great and is simple. The remote control SUCKS, but I'll survive. I was able to program my regular remote without issue to control volume. No popping from the sub. So far so good. Highly recommended!

most of the time it is kept unplugged as it does not work properly

Optic cable input stopped working after a week or so

I appreciated the sound from this sound bar, however when connecting cables it obviously was not designed for a wall mount below a TV! The HDMI cabling design is horrible. I exchanged this unit for the SB450 which offers a better HDMI cable management layout.

I was indecisive whether or not to spend more money on the JBL sound bar, or go with a cheaper Vizio sound bar. I decided to take home both to evaluate. I started with the JBL and was absolutely impressed with the sound. I couldn't believe I have dealt with flat-screen speakers for so long without making the jump to a sound bar. Really nice bass, and very clear mids and highs. I have owned this for several months now, and do not regret buying it one bit. Once in a while I hear slight background noise, but only on certain applications so I think it is an issue with the incoming feed and not the sound bar itself. The only thing I wish this had was a bluetooth button on the remote. You have to walk to the device to switch it to bluetooth, which is only a minor inconvenience but makes me feel like bluetooth was an afterthought and not part of the original design.

Sound is just ok. Connection to TV is intermittent. Cuts out and loud sounds crackle. Bluetooth connection only done from bar is a big annoyance. Overall disappointed with this purchase and considering to take it back.

I bought this sound bar to replace an old 7.1 surround system. I was pleasantly surprised with the sound quality and the powerful bass. This system sounds great for movies, sports, and regular TV. It is very stylish looking and takes up a lot less space. The only negatives are the small remote which is difficult to see the small letters and I find I have to double push the buttons to get them to work. Also the HDMI inputs are in an awkward position and they don't all fit properly within the space they are designed for. Other than that it is a great buy for the money.

Looked at reviews. Went in the store to listen to it. Loved it. Bought it. Love the sound! Sounds much better than our old sony surround system with the big reciever and wired speakers and subwoofer. The only negative is the remote. It is a small credit card remote. I found that using the hdmi arc with my LG flat screen tv degraded the picture a bit and the sound was not discernibly different than when I was using the optical cable. Because of this, when you are using the remote you cannot SEE the remote working. You have to point it right at the speaker so it will work. The speaker DOES NOT TEACH UNIVERSAL REMOTES VERY WELL. I followed the directions perfectly and my direct tv remote only understands vol +, even when I see the white light flash on the (-) and mute buttons. I have just rubber banded the two remotes together. Problem solved for me. If this is a deal breaker for you, I suggest you look around some more. My husband and I love this product and it's price enough, that it doesn't make a difference. In the pic you don't see the subwoofer because its in the corner behind the couch. It sounds great!

good sounding in the store but when I got it home it wasn't quite what we had expected. We returned it and spent a little extra and went for the Klipsch. Well worth the few extra bucks!!

I was looking at getting a sound bar system to replace my old Bose system. I was looking at getting a Sony since my tv was a Sony as well. The store staff had me listen to different sound bars at the store and told me about the JBL SB400 system and after listening I was blown away. He also informed me of a returned system that was returned cause the person said he didn't like that it matched the color of his T.V. His loss my gain. I got a $500 system for $327 I couldn't refuse that deal. I looked on YouTube at a video on how to adjust the system for the best sound quality and I'm blown away at the sound I'm getting out of a sound bar and subwoofer, TV ,movies, PS4 they all sound great. I would highly recommend this system, and now I'm a big JBL fan!

Sound Bar sounds ok but the bass is sub par. Went with another brand.

Really wish I had not bought this. The device only works intermittently with dish network audio output and I have to leave it powered off unless we watch a movie and my audio source is my DVD player. Junk with terrible support from manufacturer. I've had it to long to return which angers me. Should throw it away, very expensive too. Grrr.

I Just bought this today great system easy to setup up first sound bar to compliment my sony 4k Tv crisp sound deep base with the sub woofer ! Great buy for the money not a Bose but you get that experience also if you hear popping in the speaker's make sure you're tv speakers are off and everything is going through the sound bar resolved that issue for me only thing I noticed when first setting up! Small remote is why I give it four stars

This sound bar has a substandard sound when playing music. If you're expecting great quality when watching a movie, forget about this product. It's a waste of money. I went back to Best Buy to return it, but the return time period was exceeded. So now I'm stuck with this product that I'm totally disgusted with.

did not fit my tv mount so returned for full surround sound unit

This was given to me as a Christmas gift and I was really excited about it since it was replacing my old Technics receiver and equalizer setup with Bose speakers. I experienced EVERY problem with this sound bar and woofer that everyone talks about OTHER than the popping noise, but I think I know the answer. Subwoofer drops connection - make sure there isn't another bluetooth device searching for a connection or a wifi router in the area. I angled the antenna on my wireless router away from the woofer and it helped a little, but the only real time I had big issues was playing Guitar Hero TV on my PS4, since the controllers are bluetooth. Popping noise - Whenever I read about the popping noise coming from the speaker, it always had to do with people using the TV's HDMI ARC connecter. I'm guessing people are hooking the ARC from the TV to the HDMI ARC output from the sound bar and its causing some sort of interference. Connect the ARC port on the sound bar to a REGULAR HDMI port on your TV. I have my Cable box, PS3, and PS4 all running through this sound bar to my TV and it sounds amazing! The last thing I remember people really complaining about was the lack of a bluetooth button on the remote. The sound bar WILL turn on when you connect a phone or iPad or similar device to it via bluetooth. So to get around the remote complaint, if you have the sound bar turned on, you could turn it off using the remote, then connect whatever bluetooth device you want to the sound bar and it should turn on when it senses that connection, switching to bluetooth and allowing you to listen to your tunes! all in all a great sound bar, the woofer is awesome, it really cranks out the bass!

Worked great on cable box. Worked great on DVD player, then never worked again. It was a PITA to pack up and take to a shipping store and I now have to install even though I paid for installation from Best Buy. Not a happy camper.

I gave this to my step dad for an early Christmas present and the sound is absolutely amazing. It comes with a sound bar and a "subwoofer"? I'm not that tech savvy about home theatre entertainment systems but it absolutely makes playing games and blu ray movies all the more entertaining. Packaging is a bit bulky though, I thought it was sort of the L-Shape. But it's actually a very large rectangular box.