With movie theaters still closed in most places, the home theater experience is more important than ever. A spire Atmos surround sound system can take your viewing experience to the next level, but you may not want to run cables or have speakers permanently installed in your room. Well, that just happens to be the niche that JBL is targeting with the JBL Bar 9.1. It’s an Atmos-compatible soundbar with a whopping 820W of power and detachable satellite speakers that you can place in the room when you need them. It also has full integration with Google’s Chromecast platform, so you can manage it from the Home app. While the audio experience is great, the price isn’t. JBL wants a cool grand piano for the Bar 9.1, which is more than most people would pay for the convenience.
Design, hardware, what’s in the box
The Bar 9.1 looks like an average soundbar with its gray housing and various speaker grilles, but it is a big boy of almost 35 inches wide. The top and sides are metal, but the bottom and back are plastic. All around you have your ports including power, USB, optical, ethernet and two HDMI ports (ARC audio and 4K HDR pass-through). The 10-inch subwoofer is very simple physically, but it is big. Ideally, you want the sub at least a few feet away from the soundbar, which may not be possible in smaller spaces.
There’s no actual display on the soundbar – it just has a “dot-matrix” panel on the front that can show you a few characters at a time. This makes it clunky with settings quite annoying, usually requiring you to hold down one or more buttons on the remote and then wait for messages to scroll over them. The soundbar has a few physical controls on the top, but they are all replicated on the remote. The remote is also very understated. There are only a few buttons, so again, you’ll want to keep the manual handy to look up the button combinations you need to change the settings.
You can choose to set up the Bar 9.1 with cables and leave it for a day. However, it also has Wi-Fi connectivity and to use that 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 will appear in the Home app like any other Chromecast compatible speaker. You can add it to speaker groups and play it from any local device. There is also support for Bluetooth and Air Play 2 if you are not in Google’s home ecosystem.
The satellite speakers attach magnetically to the ends of the bar for charging, and they sit there very securely. If you didn’t know about the removable satellites, you would probably never know that they are coming off. When disconnected, the satellites sync wirelessly with the rest of the system. I also had no connection issues during my testing. The satellites should provide 10 hours of playtime, which seems about accurate based on my time with the Bar 9.1. It is probably one bit less, but you shouldn’t have any trouble watching a few movies in a row without docking the speakers.
This is a $ 1,000 audio system, so expect a few extras in the box. There is of course the remote control, soundbar, satellite speakers and subwoofer. There are also power cables, an HDMI cable and a wall mounting kit. Be careful if you decide to go that route; the soundbar with connected speakers weighs more than 10 kilos.
Audio and functions
Although Bar 9.1 has “9.1” in its name, it is actually a 5.1.4 setup. The “best” Atmos systems have overhead speakers, which you don’t get with the Bar 9.1. However, the soundbar can bounce sound off the ceiling to create an immersive experience. You have to match the speakers to your room, which is one of those things that requires an esoteric combination of button presses. Because of this speaker arrangement, the Atmos “height channel” is weak compared to systems with dedicated overhead speakers. If you’ve never had an Atmos setup at home, you’re probably still going to be impressed.
Fortunately, that’s the only negative I have to say about the audio quality. Everything from movies to concerts sounds great on the JBL Bar 9.1. At standard settings, the soundbar has powerful but not overwhelming bass, clear highs and beautiful, rich mids. Even with the bass all the way up, it’s intense but not overwhelming for the rest of the audio. This is without a doubt the best sound system in my house.
The Bar 9.1 supports both optical and HDMI connection options, but you should go the HDMI route if possible. Optical only supports DTS and Dolby Digital, and even then, you can suffer from bandwidth issues. HDMI has Atmos, DTS: X and even more advanced lossless formats such as DTS-HD Master Audio. One thing to note here, you can only use the HDMI audio option if your TV has an ARC or eARC HDMI. If not, you’ll have to use optical, which doesn’t support all the fancy Atmos stuff. If your TV’s other HDMI ports use an older specification, you may need to use the soundbar’s HDMI input to get 4K content from other sources. This describes my TV, so I’m really happy with the support for 4K HDR passthrough.
Should you buy it?
Could be, but only if you’re a geek about high-quality audio – and not so nerdy that you’d install a full Atmos system. The JBL Bar 9.1 offers excellent audio in a compact, attractive package. No need to install speakers or lay cables and supports any audio format under the sun (via HDMI). I also appreciate that the satellites can stay in the soundbar most of the time. It’s easy to grab the speakers and place them around the room when I’m watching something with high-quality audio, and the rest of the time they’re out of the way. I’m also happy that Google Home is integrated with the Bar 9.1, because again, it’s the best speaker setup in my house.
The only hardware problem I see is the lack of a screen. Even a rudimentary menu system would be easier than using remote control button combinations and the simple dot-matrix display. That’s not a big deal, but the price is. The JBL Bar 9.1 remains very close to its suggested retail price of $ 1,000, even after months of availability.
Buy it if …
- You want high-quality audio for your home entertainment system, but you don’t want to install a bunch of speakers.
- You don’t mind spending a lot on a good sound system.
Don’t buy it if …
- The built-in speakers of your TV or a cheaper soundbar sound good enough for you.
- You love audio technology so much that the mediocre Atmos support ruins the experience.
To buy: Amazon, Crutchfield, B&H