So both the JBL Bar 500 and JBL bar 700 are good soundbars from JBL that give you a lot of bang for your buck… and they are good options if you’re looking for a home theater set up for your medium or large living room. However, these two systems are very different from one another. So today we’re going to compare the Bar 500 to the Bar 700 and lets see which ones right for you.
Regarding pricing, the JBL Bar 500 has a retail price of $600… where as the Bar 700 has a retail price of $900… but I do expect both of these systems to go on sale from time to time. Nonetheless, if you want to pick either of these two systems up, they’ll be linked down below.
Now first off I do have to point out that both of these systems come included with an external subwoofer. And they’re the same 10 inch subwoofer. Now some people will be happy that these systems come included with an external subwoofer… but everyone will might not want or have the space for an external subwoofer. So if you’re looking for a fully self-contained soundbar then you’ll might want to look at either the Sony A5000 or A7000 or the bose Smart Soundbar 900.
Also, its very important to point out that you can’t build out any of these systems… so you can’t add any additional surround sound speakers like you can with either of Bose’s or Sony’s soundbars. If you want surround sound speakers, then you’re going to have to go with the 700. Now the surround sound speakers on the 700 detach from the soundbar it self, you can place them where ever you want, and they have a battery life of 10 hours. This is super convent and its easy to use, but it is recommended that you go through the calibration process every time you detach these speakers.
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 setups, the bar 500 has a total of 4 frontward firing speakers in it that are mounted in the middle and they shoot out the front. And it also have 3 built in tweeters. One is in the middle and it shoots out the front and the other two are on the sides and they shoot out the side a little bit. But then there’s the 700, now the main soundbar has 3 built in speakers, which are a lot more spaced out than the speakers on the 500… and the satellites also has a single speaker. And the main soundbar itself has 3 tweeters… one in the center and the other two shoot out the sides. And finally both of these soundbars have their 10 inch 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… the satellite speakers on the 700 have been placed behind the microphones, and we’re going to use the built in speakers found on the 2023 Sony Bravia X90L TV 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 lets address max volume performance on these soundbars. Now for the most part, these two systems get equally as loud as one another. Both systems are going to have no problem filling a larger living room with sound, and they are good options if you’re just looking for a sound system for your living room to entertain guests with. But technically yes, the 700 is rated at 620 watts and the 500 is rated at 590 watts… but in general you’re not going to notice a big performance difference when it comes to max volume.
And when it comes to bass, its the same thing. Both of these systems come included with the same 10 inch subwoofer, so with both of these systems you’re going to be able to physically feel what’s happening on the screen and they are going to rattle the walls in your house.
But the main performance difference here is going to the how open these two soundbars sound. With the 500, it has a very strong center channel cause its 4 main speakers are mounted in the middle and you’ve got that tweeter firing at you as well. But unlike the Bar 300, the left and right channel separation is decent cause its side tweeters are able to get louder.
But with the Bar 700, this soundbar simply sounds more open whether you have the satellite speakers attached or not. With the bar 700, its speakers are much more spaced out… helping this soundbar have much better left and right channel separation and making it sound more open. And if you were to place the satellite speakers behind you… then this system is going to sound even more open and immersive.
So with the Bar 700, this is the system that you want to go with if you want the more immersive experience… plus its also a very simple way for you to get a surround sound system without having to worry about wiring your satellite speakers to power. With the Bar 700 if you want surround sound, you just detach the speakers, you place them behind you, and when you’re done you put them away and they’ll charge back up. And even while they’re attached to the main soundbar… the 700 still sounds more open than the bar 500 cause the speakers are just a lot more spaced out.
But the Bar 500 is also a good option if you’re looking for a good sounding system for your larger living room. The Bar 500 gets plenty loud, its has plenty bass, and its super easy to use. Now even though this soundbar sounds more open than the Bar 300 cause it has better left and right channel separation… the 500 just doesn’t sound as open as the 700.