JBL Bar 500 MK2: https://geni.us/GC-JBLBar500MK2
Sony Bravia 5 TV: https://geni.us/GC-SonyBravia5TV
Bose Smart Soundbar: https://geni.us/GC-BoseSmartSB
So this is the JBL Bar 500 Mark 2, and for the most part, JBL’s soundbars are a solid option that will work well with all TV’s. JBL’s soundbars also usually have an HDMI in port which is usually reserved for more premium home theater systems now. And having an HDMI in port on your soundbar can be very useful if you have multiple game consoles and or a Blu-ray player or something else… so this way you can be a little more efficient with your HDMI ports. Nonetheless, today we’re going to checkout the JBL Bar 500 Mark 2 and lets see if its right for you.
Regarding pricing, the JBL Bar 500 mark 2 has a retail price of $650, not bad… but given that this is a JBL soundbar, I do expect it to go on sale on a regular basis. Now keep in mind that this is a soundbar and subwoofer combo, great for mid sized living rooms… but it wouldn’t be my first pick for a bedroom cause of that external subwoofer. Nonetheless if you want to pick this soundbar up it’ll be linked down below or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button, and if you want to further support the channel than you can always watch some of the related videos in the description below.
Now first there’s the design of this soundbar, the JBL Bar 500 comes included with an external subwoofer, which depending on your setup is either good or bad. Now its really good cause an external subwoofer means that you’re going to get a lot of bass… which means big sound. But its bad news if you’re planning on using this soundbar in your bedroom cause you’re going to have to make room for your subwoofer. So personally I recommend this system for living rooms and if you’re looking for something for your bedroom then you’ll might want to look at either the Bose Smart Soundbar the Sony S2000 or the JBL Bar 300 cause they don’t need an external subwoofer for their bass cause they produce their own bass.
Now concerning the subwoofer that comes with this soundbar… this is a medium sized subwoofer, its larger and heavier than Bose’s external subwoofer and keep in mind that JBL has one subwoofer size for all of their systems. So even if you were to get lets say the JBL bar 1000 Mark 2… you’re going to get the same sized subwoofer. But the important thing is, this subwoofer is wireless so you can place it anywhere you want in your living room, and this sub connects via an AC port, so there’s no external power brick that you have to worry about with this sub, which given the size and weight, there better not be an external power brick.
And when it comes to the connectivity of the soundbar itself, thankfully it also only plugs in via an AC port and there’s no external power brick that you have to worry about… which is something that needs to be pointed out cause other soundbars do have an external power brick which makes placing this soundbar in your set up all little more difficult, I feel. Now this soundbar does have an HDMI port that connects to your TV and it also comes included with an HDMI cable. and no you don’t need to go out and buy ultra high speed, gold plated and Dimond encrusted HDMI cables… they don’t do anything. But like I mentioned earlier, the Bar 500 also has an HDMI in port which is rare for soundbars at this price point. So if you want you can plug in your gaming console or Blu-ray player directly into your soundbar which is going to be more efficient cause you’ll be able to save and HDMI port on your tv or it just makes wiring everything up a little cleaner in your set up. However, you only get one HDMI cable with this soundbar.
Also with this soundbar you do get a wall mounting kit in the box, its not sold separately like with some other brands out there like either Bose or Sonos… Now the soundbar itself isn’t too heavy weighing in at six and a half pounds, so you don’t have to worry about your walls taring down if you have a new construction home or if you live in a “Luxury” apartment. But personally I am against wall mounting tvs and soundbars, I do prefer having a tv stand.
Now control wise, you do get a remote in the box where you can adjust your settings, but peronsally I never use these remote cause you can just use the app to adjust your settings. Now JBL is TV agnostic… so unlike lets say with Sony TV’s and Sony soundbars, or LG TV’s with LG Soundbars, or Samsung TV’s and Samsung soundbars… if you use them together then you’ll be able to adjust your sound settings directly from the tv menu. However I do feel that JBL soundbars should work and pair better with Samsung TV’s cause JBL is owned by samsung. But also, the JBL Bar 500 does have airplay and chrome cast support so you can stream music to it… but I feel that streaming to a soundbar is pointless cause I would rather stream to the TV. But more importantly, this soundbar does have bluetooth, so you can share your soundbar with a guest without having to share your wifi password.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. When it comes to speaker set up, the JBL bar 500 has a total of 5 frontward firing speakers and 4 tweeters, two that shoot out the front and two that shoot out the sides. And like I mentioned earlier, it has that external subwoofer that has a diameter of 10 inches and it is downward firing. So that bass that comes out of this system is very thunderous and violent. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test, we’re going to be using the built in speakers found on the Sony Bravia 5 TV which are playing at max volume, and the JBL bar 500 is playing at 70% volume and with its bass set to 3 which is half of what it can put out cause its setting goes from zero to 6.
Soundtest
So first off, obviously any soundbar is going to sound better than your tv’s built in speakers. Your TV most likely has a pair of downward firing speakers that bounce sound off of the table, they don’t get all that loud, and when the bass gets going then it can become a rattling mess. However if you were to go with a more premium TV like lets say the Bravia 5 like we have here, distortion isn’t a problem… however you are going to be better off getting a soundbar cause these built in speakers are going to be mainly for hearing dialog with.
Now with the JBL Bar 500 Mark 2, this soundbar does a really good job of bring vocals out a lot cause it does have a total of 4 tweeters, so there is a lot of emphasis on the highs. The Mids are also very strong cause you have a total of 5 speakers aimed right at you. But my problem with this system is that the instrument separation and openess isn’t as good with other speakers for a few reasons. For staters since this sounder doesn’t have any upwards firing drivers, there is no sense of verticality and you’re not going to have true dolby atmospheres support. And JBL claims that with their beam forming side tweeters, this system will be able to give you a surround sound experience cause they are going to bounce sound off the walls… but to be honest, if you want surround sound, you’re going to need satiliate speakers. So as a result, this soundbar can sound a little narrow… but vocals are very prominent.
And then there’s the bass on this system. Since this is a downward firing subwoofer, you’re going to get a lot of kick in your bass, which is great for action scenes cause you’re going to be able to feel what’s happening. However the resonance on this bass is as clean and it can get a little over powering at times… so sometimes to hear dialog you’re either going to have to raise the volume or lower the bass. But when it comes to the max volume performance of this speaker… it actually gets super loud… so not only is this soundbar going to have no problem with a medium sized living room… you’ll might be able to push it for a larger living room as well.
But with all of that being said, the JBL Bar 500 Mark 2 is a decent agnostic soundbar to consider if your TV doesn’t support a soundbar. As in, if you try pair your Sony TV with a Sony soundbar and use you’re TV’s built in speakers as a center channel. And this is usually the case with more affordable TV’s. Now with the JBL bar 500 this soundbar gets very loud, it has a lot of thunderous bass and dialog is very prominent thanks to its quad tweeter set up. However this system can sound narrow cause there are no upwards firing drivers, so you don’t get a sense or verticality… and if you want surround sound, then you’re going to need satellite speakers. Nonetheless the JBL bar 500 is a good plug and play solution, plus you do have that HDMI In port which can be a big plus if you’re a power user with multiple game consoles, maybe a PC that you like to stream off of and maybe even a bluejay player.\