JBL Bar 1000 Review: Massive Dolby Atmos Sound At An Affordable Price

Has JBL finally cracked the code when it comes to high-end soundbars? Read on for our full JBL Bar 1000 review.

Power, style and a feature-heavy set make the JBL Bar 1000 one of the best premium devices from the company in years. With the demand for high-end Dolby Atmos soundbars really taking off over the past few years, JBL has managed to muscle up this attractive, convenient 12-channel bar (7.1.4) to bring superior spatial sound to any set-up. Having spent a few days hearing this power-up my 65-inch LG CS OLED, forming the key part of a beastly home cinema, recommending this highly efficient bad boy is a no-brainer to me.

Brands like Sennheiser and Sonos have so far dominated discussions about true Dolby Atmos soundbars. Basically, these soundbars can accurately and effectively push sound around a room, creating height and width for an immersive, spatial and object-based audio profile. JBL’s latest attempt at a top-tier soundbar is a home run for the party-minded brand, which over the past few years has shed the stigma of being a bit too focused on bass.

And that’s obvious here. The default sound signature, without playing around with the soundbar’s settings, is perfectly balanced. This means the bass might be a bit more restrained than most users would expect, but I’d say the overall experience of listening to music, playing games and watching a few blockbusters is as good as it gets for a home cinema.

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JBL Bar 1000 Highlights

• Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D Surround Sound
• Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple AirPlay support
• Four up-firing drivers
• 2 x detachable battery-powered rear speakers included
• 1 x 10-inch subwoofer included
• Total Size (WHD): 1194 x 56 x 125 mm
• Subwoofer Size (WHD): 305 x 440.4 x 305 mm
• Soundbar Weight: 3.7 kg
• Subwoofer Weight: 10 kg
• PureVoice Dialogue Enhancement Technology

JBL Bar 1000 Review – Table Of Contents

• Design
• Features
• Sound
• Verdict & Value
• Frequently Asked Questions

Design

The JBL Bar 1000 is pretty much a sequel to the JBL Bar 9.1 so they both look remarkably similar. You’ve got a seamless black profile for all components, while the detachable satellite speakers have a metal grille to protect the drivers inside. It’s plain but functional.

You’ll also notice four-pin connectors on the sides of each satellite speaker, obviously meant to slot right into the ends of the Bar 1000. Attaching and removing the satellite speakers is smooth and couldn’t be easier. Which is good as you’ll be doing that a lot. The biggest downside with the JBL Bar 1000 is these rear channels don’t charge quickly nor do they last for more than a few hours. You’ll be charging them frequently so the best habit is just to always reattach the speakers after every streaming session.

Thankfully, JBL has kept the profile rather low so you don’t have any annoying height to obscure any part of the TV. Of course, this also depends on what kind of TV stand you have and if it’s freestanding or wall-fixed. Mine is freestanding and the LG CS OLED has an annoyingly small stand so if the bar was any higher it would have blocked a bit of the view.

Importantly, Dolby Atmos soundbars need to be able to bounce sound off the ceiling to heighten the soundstage. As such, you won’t want to position the JBL Bar 1000 on the bottom shelf of a TV unit as the sound will be blocked from bouncing around. You need an open space.

Where you place the massive subwoofer also matters. Although it’s bulky, the relatively lightweight sub should be positioned away from the bar so you’ve got those richly detailed rumbles of bass clearly separated from the rest of the mix. This way, the low-frequency rumbles sound like they are rolling in coming from the side and running through the mix.

The detachable speakers are essential to the bar’s flexibility. Because everything is wireless, you can experiment with different positioning. My lounge room doesn’t allow for much leeway but I played around with three different positions for the speakers and tested them all with the same movie – All Quiet on the Western Front – and the same scenes. The scattershot sounds of war circling my chair really pulled me into the award-winning film in a way native TV speakers could not.

A wise design choice was to include endcaps that you can use to protect the connectors at each end of the soundbar when the rear channels aren’t docked, reiterating how well-considered the design of the JBL Bar 1000 is.

A lightweight remote control can be used to control each and every feature of the soundbar but most of the time you’d likely just be using your TV’s remote to control the volume. There is also a raised surface on top of the bar with a few physical controls while the rear panel has all the ports including 3 HDMI ports, one for a Digital Optical cable, a USB 2.0 and one HDMI Out port.

I would recommend using the soundbar with a 55-inch or 65-inch TV. It’s too big for any smaller TVs, and too smaller for any bigger TVs. If you’ve got a 75-inch unit then this is still well worth owning, although you might want to step up and look at the JBL Bar 1300.

Features

There are a few technologies used by the JBL Bar 1000 to make the hardware more efficient. Harman Kardon’s proprietary MultiBeam technology helps the four up-firing drivers better produce the height of the soundstage and achieve the necessary effects to create Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D surround sound effects.

But I found the most helpful feature, from a software perspective, is the PureVoice Dialogue Enhancement Technology. This is one area I feel soundbar manufacturers are still trying to get right and it appears JBL has nailed it.

Basically, this helps ensure clear dialogue at all times. One of the most valuable functions of a soundbar is preventing you from having to constantly adjust the volume just so you can hear speech clearly despite any other noise in the mix. An example of this would be the scenes in Top Gun: Maverick where the actors have to speak under oxygen masks. The clarity of the voices in these scenes surprised even me, someone who has tested several high-end soundbars over the past year.

The JBL Bar 1000 comes with all the expected conveniences of wireless connectivity that you’d want from a soundbar priced this high. You’ve got Wi-Fi, of course, as well as AirPlay, Alexa Multi-Room and Chromecast all built in. The bar is also compatible with Google Assistant although I imagine you’d be using this with a smart TV anyway. Still, it’s nice to have those features.

Seamless connectivity also means the speakers can instantly connect to each other via Bluetooth. As such, set up is outrageously simple and is over pretty much as soon as you follow the instructions in the JBL One app to calibrate the system. That is, the soundbar uses tones to bounce off nearby walls and optimise itself for the setting.

The JBL One app is also where you can go to adjust the sound mix at will. Even though the default profile is typically the way to go here, the EQ is useful if say you want to dial back the extended bass of the sub or make those dusty mids sing a bit more, if you’re streaming some Motown classics for example.

Sound

Most importantly, sound doesn’t come across as artificial or forced. You’d be surprised at how many soundbars I’ve tested where the mix sounds overly processed and blown up rather than detailed and delivered with nuance. Thankfully, the JBL Bar 1000 is very sophisticated in how it deals with your overall soundstage, delivering it with both width and height.

Top Gun: Maverick and All Quiet on the Western Front were the two main pieces of content I used to test the set-up. Both films have typically bass-heavy, blockbuster-scale sound designs. Testing this out with a quieter, dialogue-heavy film like Marriage Story was more insightful as the chaotic, operatic arguments between the two leads really gave me a sense of how well PureVoice works to accurately follow the speech on screen and present it in a way that enhanced the viewing experience.

Verdict & Value

An ultra-wide soundstage and realistic object-based personal sound. Ideally, this is what all soundbars should deliver and most do but success is variable. To date, the Sonos Arc has been the most balanced soundbar to me in terms of price point, design and performance. I personally prefer the slick design of the Arc but the all-black profile for the Bar 1000 is still very appealing. I’d also say the Bar 1000 is better when it comes to dealing with dialogue.

The most important consideration here is price. At $1,499.95, the JBL Bar 1000 may seem like an expensive investment. However, it’s too good to pass up for anyone looking to build an impressive home cinema. I’d so far as to recommend anyone opt for a 55-inch TV instead of a 65-inch and use the savings the grab a soundbar like this.

Hopefully, this JBL Bar 1000 review has laid out enough details for you to decide whether a purchase is for you or not. I’d say that if you can afford it, then the Bar 1000 is an easy buy. Although as above, if you’ve got a 75-inch TV or larger and enough space then you may want to go for something bigger like the Bar 1300 ($1,999.95) with more channels.

JBL Bar 1000 is now available in Australia. The writer, Chris Singh, received a loan device from the company for the purpose of this JBL Bar 1000 review.

JBL Bar 1000 Review – Frequently Asked Questions