So the JBL Bar 700 is a very impressive and very easy surround sound system in a box. You’ve got your sound bar, you’ve got detachable surround sound speakers which are battery powered so you dont have to worry about wiring them to power, and you have a wireless subwoofer as well. But today we’re going to see how this surround sound system compares to a more premium surround sound system, like the one that you can get from Sony.
Regarding pricing, the JBL Bar 700 has a retail price of $900… which for a surround sound system, that’s not bad. But today we’re going to compare it to the Sony HT-A5000 which retails for $1000 all on its own… plus we’re also using the SW3 which has a retail price of $400 and the RS3S which have a retail price of $350. Bringing our sony set up to a grand total of $1,750… or baisccly double of what JBL’s set up costs. Nonetheless, if you want to pick any of these soundbars up, they’ll be linked down below.
So first off, with JBL’s system… this is a system that you can’t build out. You can’t upgrade the subwoofer that comes included with the Bar 700 and you also can upgrade or add more satellite speakers. Where as with Sony’s system… first off you can choose from from multiple sound bars from sony. Sony has the new S2000, they also have the A3000, there’s the A5000, which we’re using right now and they also have the A7000 which has a few more drivers than the A5000. And more importantly, all of Sony’s soundbar are self contained systems, as in they create their own bass… so if you dont want or have the room for an external subwoofer, you dont need to use one. Where as with the JBL, you have to use the external subwoofer.
But also, with Sony’s soundbars, you can add an external subwoofer and or you can add rear satellite speakers. Now in this video we’re using the SW3 subwoofer and the RS3S rear speakers from sony… but you can always upgrade them as well. Now as a spoiler, Sony’s system gets louder, has more bass, and sounds more impressive than JBL’s system… but the draw back with Sony’s system is that you have to wire the rear speakers to power. So you have to worry about have having wires running under the carpet.
Where as with JBL’s rear speakers… these things are battery powered, they have a battery life of 10 hours… so you don't have to worry about having any wires running around, and when you’re done, all you have to do is attach them back to the main unit and they’ll start charging again, or you can charge the satellite speakers via their USB C port.
But one of the most important things to keep in mind if you’re thinking about building out a home theater set up from sony is… if you’re using a Sony TV… in this case we’re using the 2023 Sony Bravia X90L… if you have a sony soundbar, your menu settings for your soundbar will be found on your sony tv, which is super convienite.
But also, if you’re using a sony soundbar with a sony tv… the A3000, A5000, and A7000 all have support for Sony’s Acoustic Center Sync… meaning that your TV’s built in speakers will play in conjunction with your sound bar… those giving you a stronger center channel. Where as with is something that your JBL soundbar can’t do…
But now we’re going to jump into the soundtest. Both of these home theater setups are playing at 75% volume… The satellite speakers on the Bar 700 have been placed in the same position as the rear speakers on the sony… but with the Sony Home theater set up… we are using acoustic center sync since this is a sony tv being used with a sony home theater set up. But we’re also going to be using the built in speakers on the 2023 Sony Bravia X90L tv as our baseline… and those are playing at max volume.
So like you may have just heard, obviously a sound bar is just going to sound better than your TV’s built in speakers. Your TV most likely just has a pair of drivers that shoot sound downwards, they don’t get all that loud and when the bass really gets going they’re just going to be a distorted mess.
Now the speakers on the Sony X90L’s get decently loud and distortion isn’t a problem for them like with some more affordable TV’s… but with the Sony X90L you’re still going to want to upgrade to a sound bar if you want to truly enjoy your movies.
Now first off, when it comes to max volume performance, both of these systems are going to be more than adequate for a large living room… and if you’re looking for a sound system to entertain guests with in your living room or just house in general, both of these home theater sets up will have you covered. However, Sony’s home theater set up does get louder than the JBL’s home theater set up here.
But the main performance difference between these two home theater set ups is going to come down to instrument separation, immersiveness, and bass. First off, the bass that comes out of the sony home theater set up is a lot more impressive and its a lot more precise. First off, if you use a subwoofer with a sony soundbar… the built in subwoofer in your sony soundbar will be deactivated. But the bass that comes out of Sony’s subwoofer is going to rattle the walls in your house… but it also going to be a lot tighter than the bass that found on the subwoofer that comes with JBL’s soundbar. And the SW3 putts out an impressive amount of bass for its size.
But more importantly, there are the rear speakers… with JBL’s battery powered satellite speaker… these speakers only put out mids and treble. Where as Sony’s rear speakers have woofer and a tweeter built in and they also have a frontward firing exhaust port. So with Sony’s rear speakers… they are going to create both mids and treble… but they also put out bass. So Sony’s rear speakers not only sound more open cause they have a woofer and a tweeter setup.. they also sound more imrepssive cause they also put out bass.
However, even though Sony’s rear speakers do sound more impressive than the satellite speakers on the JBL Bar 700… you do have to worry about wiring them up to power. Where as that isn’t an issue for JBL’s rear speakers cause these are battery powered. So here you’re going to choose if you want to sacrifice some sound quality for connivance.
So with all of that being said, the JBL Bar 700 is still a very imrepssive home theater setup that is super easy and its super convinete to use. First off it come included with a wireless subwoofer so you can place it where ever you want, but more importantly, it has these detachable satellite speakers which you can place behind you and get a surround sound experience. But this system is super continents cause these are battery powered… so you dont have to worry about wiring them up to power. You just use them, and when you’re done you put them back on the main unit. Overall, the bar 700 is very impressive and it gets the job done.
However, there are reasons as to why you’ll want to go with a more premium set up, like lets say Sony. First off if you have a Sony Bravia TV with support to Acoustic center sync, you want to get a sony soundbar so that your TV’s speakers will play in conjunction with your soundbar. But also, if you have a sony tv, your menu setting are going to show up on your tv as well.
But more importantly, Sony’s system is going to sound fuller and more impressive. Specifically, the rear speakers that you can get with sony sound more open than the satellite speakers that come with the JBL cause they have a woofer and a tweeter set up… giving them better instrument separation. But also, they create their own bass. The main draw back with the Sony’s rear speakers is that you’re going to have to wire them up to power.