So both the JBL BAR 300 and JBL BAR 500 are great soundbars from JBL that give you a very big bang for your buck. But if you’re trying too choose between getting the Bar 300 or Bar 500… then today we’re going to break down the main differences between these two systems and see which one is right for you.
Reading pricing, the Bar 300 has a retail price of $400 and the bar 500 has a retail price of $600… and at first glance, the main difference between the 300 and 500 is that the 500 comes included with an external subwoofer. Nonetheless I do expect both of these systems to go on sale on a regular basis, but nonetheless, if you want to pick either of these two systems up they’ll be linked down below.
Now one of the main differences between the 300 and 500 is that the 300 is a self contained system… as in the soundbar itself produces its own bass. Where as with the 500, all of the bass is handled by the subwoofer. Now obviously the 500 is going to have a lot more bass than the 300… but some people just might not want or have the space for an external subwoofer. So that’s why they’ll want a self contained system like the 300.
But also, with both of these soundbars, you can’t add any extra speakers to them. So if you want to add surround sound speakers to the 500 or add a subwoofer to the 300, you can’t. If you want a system with surround sound, then you’ll might want to go with the JBL Bar 700.
Now when it comes to ports and compatibility, these soundbars are the same. They both have an HDMI Earc port that goes connected to your tv, they have an optical port just in case your tv doesn’t have an HDMI EARC port… but they both have an HDMI in port which has support for 4K, HDR10, and Dolby Vision, so you can plug in your blue ray player or your playstation… they both have a USB A port so that you can plug in a USB Stick and play music off of it and they all have an ethernet port so that you can hard wire them into your network if you want.
And when it comes to wireless connectivity, they both have AirPlay 2 support and Chrome cast so if you’re on the same wifi network you can just stream music to them, but they also still have Bluetooth.
Now both of these soundbars also come included with decent remotes… but personally I never use the remotes on my soundbars and instead I just use their apps. And thankfully JBL now has a very sleek app for their soundbars. From here you can easily adjust their EQ to your liking. You can do your audio calibration and you have access to your remote here as well where you can adjust your dolby atmos settings.
But with all of the basic stuff out of the way lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker sets ups, the Bar 300 ha a total of 4 speakers in it all mounted in the center and theres an exhaust port that shoots out the back, and there are two tweeters in this soundbar which shoot out the sides. But then there’s the Bar 500. Now the Bar 500 also has 4 speakers that are mounted in the center of this sound bar… but this soundbar also has 3 tweeters in it. One is in the center, and the other two shoot out the sides. And like I mentioned earlier, the 500 itself doesn’t create any bass, all of the bass is handled by the subwoofer. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test. Both of these soundbars are playing at 75% volume with their stock EQ’s and we’re also going to be using the built in speakers found in the Sony Bravia X90L and they’re going to be 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 envoy your movies.
Now first I do want to address max volume performance on these systems. The Bar 300 is going to be best suited for a small or medium sized living room or bedroom. And its going to be best for small viewing parties. Where as the bar 500 is going to be able to fill a larger living room with sound, and its also a good sound system if you want to to entertain guests with. So plainly said, yes the 500 gets way louder than the 300, its not even close.
Now when it comes to the overall sound quality of these speakers. The Bar 500 does sound more open and has a better defined center channel than the 300. The center channel on the 500 is more defined cause you have that additional frontward firing tweeter shooting right at you. So dialog is more pronounced with the 500 than with the 300.
But also, the 500 has better left and right channel separation than the 300. Now in general both the 300 and 500 have very strong center channels to them cause they both have their main speakers mounted in the middle… but with the 500, since the tweeters that shoot out the side are able to just get louder than the tweeters found on the 300, the left and right channels on the 500 are just more pronounced. Making it sound more open.
And finally there’s the bass on these systems. Like I mentioned before, the 300 is a self contained system, so it creates it own bass. But the bass on the 300 is mostly on the audible side. So your going to be able to hear the bass, but you’re not going to be able to feel what’s happening on the screen.
Where as with the 500, it has its external subwoofer, so the bass coming out of this system is going to rattle the walls in your house and you’re going to be able to feel what’s happening on the screen. Giving you a much more immersive experience. Overall the bass on the 300 just doesn’t compare to the bass that you’ll find on the 500.
So with all of that being said, both of JBL’s sound bars are solid options cause they both have very sleek apps, they’re very easy to use and they both have that HDMI in port so you can plug in your Blu-ray player or your playstation. But the JBL Bar 300 is a good option if you want a sound bar for your bed room or medium sized living room and you want to mainly focus on the dialog. And you plan on using this soundbar for small viewing parties.
But the JBL bar 500 is a whole other beast. For starters since this sound bar does come included with an external subwoofer, its going to have a whole lot more bass than the bar 300. Just make sure that you have room for the subwoofer. But also, the soundbar itself simply gets louder than the 300, it has an additional frontward firing tweeter, and the 500 sound more open and more immersive than the 300 cause the left and right channel separation is a lot more pronounced.