JBL - Bar 500MK2

So I purchased my first soundbar recently due to me being tied of just TV speaker audio when I am so used to studio monitors and good quality headphones for consuming and listening to content. I did some research on the best soundbars I could find at about $500 USD or less. My needs were simple. I wanted a soundbar to not disrupt my roommates but that can produce a decently balanced and enjoyable sound. I stumbled across a few good options and this recent Best Buy sale happened to put me even more options within my budget. I’ve noticed a lack of people comparing these two soundbars after a lot of me trying to compare the JBL BAR500MK2 and the Sonos Beam Gen 2, so I took the plunge and got the Sonos. I tested it briefly at my mom’s and at Best Buy beforehand, so I had an idea on what to expect. It just sounded fine but I liked how it could be upgraded with extra speakers if I did enjoy the sound. I purchased the soundbar, got home, set it up, and did multiple TruePlay calibrations to get it to best fit the room. It was just okay. I found the low end to be relatively slow and boxy, lower mids to be inflated, upper mids to be a bit shouty, and the treble to be straight up fatiguing. Maybe I was being too critical and had to let my ears to adjust to a bar of sound vs speakers. But it was fine enough. I’ve never used a sub for my studio monitors and felt satisfied so I figured this could do good enough and the low end it could produce was impressive. The stereo imaging seemed good for what it was and the soundstage felt slightly wider than I expected. Then I booted up Metroid Prime 4 for the first time to test it out with a friend. I’ve never heard the score or audio design of this game beforehand but I could tell what it needed to sound like and it just didn’t sound right. I had the EQ at bass -2 and treble to +3 to balance things out along with enabling and disabling other settings. But I just wasn’t happy after a few hours of playing. This is when I tapped out. So off to Best Buy I went and tested the following systems: Sony Bravia Theater Bar 6, Klipsch Flexus Core 200, Samsung HW-S700D, JBL BAR500MK2, and the Sonos Beam again for good measure. The JBL was best by a landslide to my ears followed by the Sony and it wasn’t even close. The huge removed 10” downfiring subwoofer was a concern to me but it really did free up the other frequencies to not get overburdened and to really shine. It even worked well on reflective tile flooring. Sure I could have spent $500 for a Sonos sub mini, doubling my budget, to pair with the Beam. But if I’m not happy with the Beam on its own, then what’s the point? To my ears, everything about the JBL is better from an audio standpoint. The soundstage is substantially wider, the sound feels more balanced with just a mild need for a bass reduction in the EQ, and it feels more full and lively. But the bass is tight, full, and punchy. It really has the same characteristics I love about my JBL LSR305 monitors. I didn’t expect much from a consumer grade piece of audio hardware from JBL but it really is good. And yes, it has a proper EQ with 7 bands vs just bass and treble on the Sonos to really fine tune your sound. Plus the room correction tool maybe 10-15 seconds and was perfect on the first try. I will say, the button Konami code type combinations for the remote kinda such to enable things like Night Mode that isn’t visible in the app and the Sonos app generally felt more refined and was enjoyable to use on iPad, unlike JBL One. But I prioritize the sound over this and the sound is far better in the JBL for me. If you have a Beam 2, and like it, I’m thrilled for you. But if you’re disappointed, maybe JBL or Sony could be a better route for the price.

The MK2 I’ve heard has a much tighter and faster low end response. I don’t have any personal experience but as a snobby person, I do like the 500 Mk2 a lot for what it’s trying to do

I’ve only tested the 200 and I found the 500 Mk2 to be substantially better. Plus the EQ to tune the 500 was nice but I do think it’s still worth testing them out if you can. Though your room can substantially affect the final results. The 210 could be killer for all I know though

I’ve read about the infamous update they pushed out and I decided to pull the trigger regardless while knowing I can return it. I haven’t had any issues with the app personally, but I read somewhere that someone compared Sonos to Bose and it clicked for me. It’s all features first and sound second with the sound being more muddy than I expected. I just couldn’t see the Beam sounding more worth it than $200-300 but I’m glad it did, since that led me to try other options. I’ve always looked down upon soundbars but this JBL really changed my mind. I’m curious how the Bar 300 stacks against Sonos for future recommendations. I will say, Sonos’ ecosystem seems impressive and the ability to add and mix so many speaker options is pretty cool. Even their IKEA partnership to build speakers into (less than attractive) lamps is pretty cool. I just wish their products sounded better.

I have the jbl 5.1 sound bar. I was so impressed I bought 2 more so I have 3 total in my house. Now here’s the catch: I paid 200-250$ for each one vs the 5-600 they normally sell for. I don’t think it’s worth that much. The replacement for the 5.1 is the jbl 500, same basic design newer speaker packaging which looks better and you can find it factory refurbished for the 300$ range. I got this sound bar because the sound stream technology that reflects off the walls to give you a 5.1 experience actually works really well. Is it ever going to replace a real Atmos system? No. I’m in the process of selling my house that had an in ceiling 5.2 system, so using the network I’d play music on the main denon receiver and then the 3 sound bars… 2 in a bedroom, one of them in the loft upstairs and the whole entire house was filled with rich, clear sounding music So when I downsized, I obviously couldn’t take my inceiling system with me but for a smaller room/apartment like I live in right now that JBL sound bar… it’s amazing.

I have the jbl 5.1 sound bar. I was so impressed I bought 2 more so I have 3 total in my house. Now here’s the catch: I paid 200-250$ for each one vs the 5-600 they normally sell for. I don’t think it’s worth that much. The replacement for the 5.1 is the jbl 500, same basic design newer speaker packaging which looks better and you can find it factory refurbished for the 300$ range. I got this sound bar because the sound stream technology that reflects off the walls to give you a 5.1 experience actually works really well. Is it ever going to replace a real Atmos system? No. I’m in the process of selling my house that had an in ceiling 5.2 system, so using the network I’d play music on the main denon receiver and then the 3 sound bars… 2 in a bedroom, one of them in the loft upstairs and the whole entire house was filled with rich, clear sounding music So when I downsized, I obviously couldn’t take my inceiling system with me but for a smaller room/apartment like I live in right now that JBL sound bar… it’s amazing.

This sub has a weird obsession of the Q990x series…I tried both in my room, few weeks apart before getting a Nakamichi Dragon, and the JBL Mk2 was better overall for me than the 990F. The 12” subwoofer helps a ton, the Atmos was *slightly* better in some instances with the q990; but overall, I appreciated and liked the Mk2 much more. Being able to place the surrounds wherever I wanted was huge, and I liked the JBL app more too. The room correction and calibration it does is pretty good as well, biggest thing with all of them is providing the correct input so they can give you the correct output. Playing music through my Samsung tv via iPhone vs playing through Apple TV 4K was completely different. If you want to spend some coin and get something that will really blow you away, check out the Dragon. The price/performance ratio isn’t the greatest, but it’s the closest thing I could find that could match my old actual home theater 7.2.2 setup short of the sub stage. I went with the one that came with the quad 8’s, and have modified it a ton lol basically just using the 8’s amps for inputs to a Crown XLS2502 that’s driving the 8’s for 200hz-80hz, and using dual 600w Monoprice 15’s modified to have a 15” passive radiator instead of their port for 70hz and down. Sub stage ran through an Anti-Mode 2.0 for full room correction and EQ. I like to tinker with stuff too much and it’s definitely not healthy. Don’t go down this path, nothing is ever sufficient ?????????

Okay. So I literally just purchased this exact same soundbar (JBL 5.1) from Best Buy for that price. I have only had it for a few days. But I can say this thing is nice. I upgraded from a 2.1 JBL soundbar and immediately noticed the increased clarity from the additional speakers. Also, I would say it’s probably going to be the best sound bar you could get for $250. At $600, it is a different discussion. But since I paid $280 out the door, I consider that a stellar price for this sound bar. P.S. For what it’s worth to anyone. The 10” subwoofer has enough bass to vibrate my chest when I sit on my couch about 10’ away. So, it’s plenty loud enough for music.

I'd say grab the JBL Bar 500 MK2. From what I've seen these new MK2 soundbars are the real deal this time. NeverEnoughTech on YouTube actually gave the 1300X MK2 the win over the Samsung 990F in his comparison. I'll leave a link, I think you should watch it. Obviously the 1300X will have a ton more power and better bass than the 500, however the sound signature in the bar should be very similar. I'd even tell you to grab the JBL Bar 500 MK2 over the Samsung Q800F which is $750. https://youtu.be/lPXz9X-5LIc?si=A4lOPwOXwvmT1Bqm

1000% the Bose setup. I had the Q800B myself before (not quite the 990 but it's the same subwoofer design), it was pretty good. I had the Bose Smart 600 + BM700 later, the BM700 absolutely blows the Samsung subwoofer away. It plays a little deeper than the Samsung, I bet it's louder at max volume too. And you can always add a 2nd subwoofer if you want to later on which you can't do with Samsung or JBL. As for the JBL, it's definitely a strong and loud ass subwoofer, but i guarantee it doesn't play as deep as the BM700. I've had many soundbar setups ranging from the JBL Bar 3.1, Bar 500, Sonos Arc + Sub Mini, Samsung Q800B, Sony S2000 + SW5 (garbage), & a few others. My 2 favorite subwoofers were definitely the BM700 & the Sonos Sub Mini, followed by the Samsung but pretty far behind. If you're after bass, I think Bose is quite possibly king, but there's one I do think could be a contender for that title too, but it's a little more expensive... The Sennheiser Ambeo Plus is a fantastic sounding system, I've only heard demos in stores but the demos are madly impressive. I have read about the Ambeo having a few minor bugs though so maybe consider trying it out with a way to return it easily. But the reason I bring them up is that they let you pair up to 4 Ambeo 8" subwoofers!! Yes FOUR subwoofers! I'd be putting one in each corner of the room if that was my setup. It's a really tough call for me to decide if the 4 Ambeo subwoofers can be louder than the 2 BM700's, but I kinda lean towards the 4 Ambeo subwoofers cause it's more cone area (32" with 4 Ambeo's vs 20" with 2 BM700"s). 2 BM700's will play a little deeper, but I think 4 Ambeo subs will be a little louder. But it's a tough choice for me cause it's also 2 ported subs vs 4 sealed subs..... Either way you'll have ridiculous amounts of bass!

wtf I just paid $350 for the JBl 5.1 soundbar with subwoofer and lemme tell you this setup sounds amazing and the subwoofer is super bassy and pounds!

Yes I looked it up and that has the "oval" shape I'm referring to. My bar 500 had that subwoofer design and I absolutely hated how it sounded. Somehow felt like they made the subwoofer worse than the previous design.

Is the older friend tech savvy? If not, I'd stay away from the Sonos app. I'm not a fan of it at all. Plus, the Sonos Beam 2 without a sub will be completely underwhelming in a large room. And adding the Sonos mini sub itself is $500, the Gen 3 sub at $600 or the Gen 4 sub at $900. My 3 recommendations for the $500-$600 price point with a subwoofer are: * (1) JBL 500MK2-5.1 (currently at $550) https://us.amazon.com/JBL-500MK2-5-1-MultiBeamTM-Calibration-Assistant-Enabled/dp/B0FHBVS6GC * (2) Klipsch Flexus w/ 10" sub ($599) https://us.amazon.com/Klipsch-Flexus-Sound-System-Subwoofer/dp/B0D1SKD9CJ/ * (3) Samsung Q800F (this is an open-box option for $514) https://us.amazon.com/Samsung-Subwoofer-Q-Symphony-Integration-HW-Q800F/dp/B0DY1XXYT7/ I actually have the Samsung Q800F but if you like something with more bass I would choose the JBL or Klipsch option because they both come with a 10" subwoofer, vs the Samsung's smaller 6.5" subwoofer.. i'm not impressed with it at all as it's too small a sub for the system. All 3 soundbars offer a wireless subwoofer that can be placed anywhere in the room.

If you like bass, I highly recommend the JBL Bar 500MK2. It's on sale for only $450 right now. I think it has some of the best all-around audio for a soundbar + sub at that price point. The JBL has a 10" subwoofer that sounds pretty good. The Samsung subs at that price level are just pathetic and are only 6.5" and really lack any kind of bass.

I have that same T.V I end up buying JBL 500. I bought it on sale Black Friday for $349.00. I’m pretty happy with it

Yeah, one of the ones OP had was a 3.1, only the JBL is a 5.1. Alls I’m saying is that just because the other suggested ones are 3.1 doesn’t disqualify them because they are 3.1 as one of the original choices was only 3.1

I'd personally pick Samsung over both. My dad still has his Bar 3.1 system & it's alright. I had the JBL Bar 500 & it was honestly a disaster to my ears. Subwoofer was surprisingly bad sounding compared to the Bar 3.1 which is older, & The bar was noticably more distorted sounding than the older Bar 3.1. Which was realllllyyyy disappointing. But even with the Bar 3.1 I still wish they did better on the subwoofer. Doesn't play nearly as deep as I think it should considering it's a 10" subwoofer. Sony on the other hand is kinda starting to get better. I used to have a full Sony SEN-R5520 5.1 AV system. Shit rocked. But Sony soundbars I've experienced just don't even come close to the same experience (I know AV isn't a comparison to a soundbar, but it still shouldn't feel like 2 different brands of systems). Sony desperately needs to release an all new lineup of subwoofers cause that SW5 is absolutely laughable for the price, performance & size of it. Doesn't get very loud, & doesn't play very deep either. I have the S2000 bar & the SW5 & it's definitely disappointing. Only good thing I can say about it is that the bar can get quite loud, but it's definitely not very clean sounding, & honestly I have a hard time believing I'm even listening to a Sony system. I have had a brief listening of the new Bravia theater bars & they're definitely sounding more like how a Sony should sound to me. But again they really need a new subwoofer lineup so badly. I expect so much more from Sony it's honestly sad to me that this is what we get for soundbars.

I’ve had one for a while. It is paired with a 55in LG C4 that I bought last year around the same time. For watching TV and movies, it’s….OK….and I do mean just OK… Forget listening to music on it. As many have mentioned, and I saw even before I bought it, there were mentions of underwhelming low end/bass performance. Well, they were all correct. It does well with highs and mids, but bass performance is severely lacking. Also, for reference, I am using this setup in a 12x12 BEDROOM. When I listen to music, I use portable bluetooth speakers that all sound better than this soundbar system and are a fraction of the size. If I had it to do all over again, I would have done more research and got something better. I may still even look into replacing it the next time I get a super profitable business month. I hear really good things about Sonos.

I got the Sonos beam and mini sub for Christmas. It didn’t pair the first day on Christmas but the next day it paired perfectly. It sounds great but I’m going to return it as you cannot shut it off. How stupid? The only way to turn it off is unplug it or shut off your WiFi. Love it but I don’t want it on all the damn time. Looking for other options now.

I know it's all personal preference but I wouldn't count on JBL for longevity personally. I am sorry to hear that tho, def a bummer. It's the JBL Bar 500? Same model they have out now or an older version? Jw. Also, I have personal experience and have heard some others report bad connections between LG sound bars and subwoofers. My sister's setup is very confused where the crossover is and decides to cut out entirely for minutes at a time. So I lean away from LG for audio personally. If looking at $500 roughly for price point I'd suggest the Denon S517, The newer Klipsch Flexus Core 200 line, Polk Signa S4/S4D.. If you can get one for the steal snag a Sony A5000 before they're all gone as they bring in the Bravia 8/9 bars etc. That A5000 is a beast at its price point imo and the system is buildable. I set my parents up with it for their family room cu they have a proper basement theater, so they use it with no sub nor rears, but you can always add both or either of them later. Sony is really in a good place rn imho hardware-wise. I was aiming for that bar for them for Bravia Sync to maximize the use of their brand new TV in a new home, but I didn't expect to be so thoroughly impressed with Sony's virtual surround capabilities rn. They're doing something right. Stinks to have to replace that that soon tho 2 years is a joke. Edit: +1 any device from any brand can fail early or malfunction before too long or even right out of the box. But I did wanna say my personal 2 cents on JBL. I think the brand has its place, just longevity in home theater systems isn't my first place I'd give them points. Their portable and more rugged speakers tho that are more designed asking to take a beating, that's where they shine imo. Pretty much every other application there's another product I'd prefer. But again, that's just my preference! I won't say I have never been impressed by their sound. I may often find some of their tuning a bit bassy, but it depends on the exactly product really.

Q990c Q800c are really good, don’t even use any of the voice enhancements. My folks both wear hearing aids with the 800c and both say it’s really clear, nice bass too. I also own JBL Bar 500, not as good as the Samsungs, but drop the bass and raise the mids it’s not half bad.

Well for anyone still following along, today I found my missing bass… JBL Bar 500MK2 has replaced the S80TR… losing the rear satellites with this setup but doesn’t really make a difference for me…again, it’s a 12x12 bedroom, and for me it’s worth it to be able to play music through this setup versus having to use portable Bluetooth speakers. So, win for me. Consequently, anyone want to buy a used S80TR? ?????????

I got it by chance at Walmart it knocks shit off my shelf the bass is so good

I bought the JBL 500 last week and love it. It packs a punch with the Bass for sure which you have level 1-5. 2 is enough honestly. 5 will rattle your windows. The clarity works great for me. For the price it’s a great system. Upside is you can shut the system off which i had the Sonos beam and mini sub and was frustrated that u couldn’t turn the system off so even the news had bass which sucked. I am very pleased with the purchase. It def makes you feel like you’re in a movie theater. My Sonos didn’t sound this good and now I have xtra $ for something else lol. I am still researching if I can add extra speakers which I was told by the sales guy that I couldn’t but I’m still searching. Either way I love it.

I think your expectations were a little skewed. Are you watching downloaded movies or good quality ones? I have the bar 500 and it definitely feels surround soundish on mine.