As movie theaters are still closed in most places, the home experience is more important than ever. A Spiffy Atmos sound system can elevate your viewing experience to the next level, but you may not want to run wires or have speakers permanently installed in your room. Well, this happens to be the niche that JBL is targeting with the JBL Bar 9.1. It is an Atmos-enabled soundbar with a huge 820W power and detachable satellite speakers that you can place in the room if you need it. It also has full integration with Google’s Chromecast platform, allowing you to manage it from the Home app. While the sound experience is great, the price is not. JBL wants a cool Grand for the Bar 9.1, which is more than most people have to pay for convenience.
Design, hardware, what’s in the box?
The Bar 9.1 looks like your average soundbar with its gray casing and various speaker grids, but it’s a big boy almost 35 inches wide. The top and sides are made of metal, but the bottom and back are made of plastic. All around you have ports, including power, USB, optical, Ethernet, and two HDMI ports (ARC audio and 4K HDR throughput). The 10 inch subwoofer is very physically simple, but it is big. Ideally, you should have the sub at least a few feet away from the soundbar, which may not be possible in smaller spaces.
There is no real display on the soundbar – all it has is a “dot-matrix” panel on the front that allows you to show several characters at once. This makes fiddling with settings quite annoying, and usually requires you to hold one or more buttons on the remote, and then have to wait until the messages scroll through. The soundbar does have some physical control on the top surface, but it is all repeated on the remote control. The remote control is also greatly underestimated. There are only a few buttons, so you want to keep the manual handy to look up the button combinations you need to change the settings.
You can choose to set up Bar 9.1 with cables and call it a day. However, it also has Wi-Fi connectivity, and to use it, you need the Google Home app. This is how you connect the bar to your WiFi and how the bar keeps the firmware up to date. Once added to your account, it appears in the Home app, just like any other Chromecast speaker. You can add it to speaker groups and play from any local device. There is also Bluetooth and Air Play 2 support if you are not in Google’s home ecosystem.
The satellite speakers magnetically attach to the ends of the bar for charging, and they are very safe there. If you did not know about the removable satellites, you would probably never know that it came down. If disconnected, the satellites will synchronize wirelessly with the rest of the system. I also had no connection issues during my test. The satellites are supposed to offer 10 hours of playback, and that seems about accurate based on my time with the Bar 9.1. It’s probably a bit less, but you should have no trouble watching a few movies in a row without plugging in the speakers.
It’s a $ 1,000 sound system, so you’ll expect some extra in the box. There is of course the remote control, sound bar, satellite speakers and subwoofer. There are also power cables, an HDMI cable and a wall mount kit. Be careful if you decide to follow that route; the soundbar with attached speakers weighs more than 10 pounds.
Sound and features
While the bar has 9.1 ‘9.1’ to its name, it is actually a 5.1.4 setup. The “best” Atmos systems have speakers that you do not get with the Bar 9.1. However, the sound bar can reflect sound from the ceiling to create a more immersive experience. You need to calibrate the speakers to your room, which is one of the things that an esoteric combination of buttons should require. Due to this speaker setup, the Atmos height channel is weak compared to dedicated speaker systems. If you’ve never had an Atmos setup at home, you’ll probably still be impressed.
Fortunately, this is the only negative thing I have to say about the sound quality. Everything from movies to concerts sounds amazing on the JBL Bar 9.1. At default settings, the soundbar has powerful but not overwhelming bass, sharp highlights and nice, rich midrange. Even if the bass is completely climbed up, it is intense but not overwhelming for the rest of the sound. This is the best sound system in my house.
The Bar 9.1 supports optical and HDMI connection options, but you should follow the HDMI route if at all possible. Optical only supports DTS and Dolby Digital, and even then you may suffer from bandwidth. HDMI has Atmos, DTS: X, and even more advanced lossless formats like DTS-HD Master Audio. Please note: you can only use the HDMI audio option if your TV has ARC or eARC HDMI. If not, you should use options, which do not support all the fine Atmos stuff. If you use other HDMI ports of your TV an older specification, you may need to use the HDMI input of the audio bar to get 4K content from other sources. It describes my TV, so I’m so glad I’ve seen 4K HDR fit support.
Should you buy it?
Can be, but only if you’re a nerd for high quality sound – and not so nerdy that you’ll install a complete Atmos system. The JBL Bar 9.1 offers excellent sound in a compact, stylish package. You do not need to install speakers or cables, and it supports every audio format under the sun (via HDMI). I also appreciate that the satellites can be captured to the soundbar most of the time. It’s easy to grab the speakers and tune into the room when I watch something with high quality sound, and the rest of the time it’s out of the way. I’m also glad that Google Home is integrated with Bar 9.1, as this is again the best speaker setup in my house.
The only hardware issue I see is the lack of screen. Even a rudimentary menu system will be easier than using buttons on the remote control and the simple dot matrix screen. It’s not a big deal, but the price is. The JBL Bar 9.1 holds very close to its $ 1,000 MSRP, even after months of availability.
Buy it as …
- You want loud sound for your home entertainment system, but do not want to install a bunch of speakers.
- You do not mind spending a lot on a good sound system.
Do not buy it if …
- The built-in speakers of your TV or a cheaper soundbar sound good enough for you.
- You love sound technology that mediocre Atmos support will ruin the experience.
Buy: Amazon, Crutchfield, B&H