JBL Bar 1300MK2 review

The JBL Bar 1300MK2 is the most premium of the brand’s latest range of soundbars.

Comprising a central soundbar, magnetically detachable surround speakers, and a subwoofer, JBL claims the package delivers “vivid, immersive 3D spatial audio you can customise to fit any moment”.

And if you never want to miss a minute of a live sports match or deal with subdued music as you temporarily move to another room, the ability to take one of the detachable speakers with you to keep listening will be quite the draw.

But does its audio performance impress as much as its clever design? Not quite, but while it’s not the best-sounding option in its category, the 1300MK2 will be the ideal solution for some buyers.

Price

The JBL Bar 1300MK2 will set you back £1400 / AU$2300.

That’s quite a premium price for a soundbar system, and it sets the JBL against the Award-winning Samsung HW-Q990H, which launched at £1599 / $2000 / AU$1999, but can now be bought for significantly less.

We bestowed upon the Samsung a five-star rating, thanks to its immersive, detailed and punchy sound, which hugely impressed in our test room.

This makes for tough competition for the JBL Bar 1300MK2.

This exact system doesn't exist in the US, which instead has the $1700 Bar 1300XMK2. Because this model features a slightly different subwoofer than the UK model, this review does not apply to the system available in the US.

Design

Like the cheaper Bar 1000MK2, the Bar 1300MK2’s design is an intriguing proposition.

You can connect the battery-powered rear speakers to the main soundbar via a magnetic port or use them wirelessly. There are two sets of plastic ends to hide both the exposed ends of the soundbar and the speakers, which makes for an aesthetically pleasing look.

The surround speakers offer a claimed 10 hours of battery life, and they can be charged either via the USB-C ports or by reattaching them to the main soundbar. Weighing just 1.3kg each, they are easy to carry around as well.

The black plastic soundbar package looks unassuming and simple, so it should blend into your living room easily. However, you'll need a fairly long piece of furniture to accommodate the soundbar. It measures 140cm with the ends attached, and 103cm without.

There’s a dot-matrix display on the front of the bar. This shows changes to volume and output as well as telling you which specific sound mode is being received.

Under the hood of the 11.1.4-channel system you will find eight forward-firing racetrack drivers, seven tweeters and four up-firing drivers. Inside each of the surrounds, there are two racetrack drivers, a full-range driver, and one up-firing full-range driver. That adds up to a whopping 27 drivers.

Turning to the subwoofer, its barrel-shaped design has a smooth plastic coating that looks relatively stylish. Measuring 28 x 32 x 28cm (hwd) and weighing 12kg, it’s easy enough to move around our space. We find it best to place it as close to the main soundbar as possible to deliver the most cohesive overall sound.

The subwoofer’s amplifier boasts a power output of 1200W, and there are two 20cm bass drivers inside the unit.

The remote control sports a smooth and slender design, and with this you can turn the soundbar on or off, adjust surround-sound and bass levels, and change the output and volume.

Features

If you want more control of the soundbar than is offered by the remote control, you can opt for the JBL One app.

From here, you can also calibrate the system to your room using the soundbar’s built-in microphones. This takes just a few minutes and makes the presentation feel more spacious and organised. The subwoofer is not included in the calibration process, but you can adjust it separately via the remote control or app.

The soundbar offers both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support, which is good news for movie fans wanting surround sound options.

Around the back of the bar, you will find a generous range of physical connectivity options. That includes three external HDMI inputs in addition to an HDMI eARC TV connection. There’s also an optical input. While there’s no 4K/120Hz support, the HDMI passthrough supports signals up to 4K/60Hz, as well as Dolby Vision and HDR10+.

There’s Bluetooth connectivity too (version 5.3 for the main soundbar and 5.4 for the surrounds), and networking to enable Google Cast, AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect and even Roon.

You can choose between three sound modes: Standard, Movie and Music. With Movie mode, you will be greeted with the widest soundfield, whereas Music makes the sound more direct. Standard is a decent middle ground between the two.

There is the option for the mode to automatically change depending on what content you are listening to. This can be toggled off if you want to select it yourself.

You can also access a Night setting which mutes the soundbar and subwoofer, feeding all of the sound out of the detachable speakers to make for a more “intimate high-quality listening experience”, according to JBL. We would have to disagree, as it leads to a more compressed and localised presentation.

Sound

We start off listening with the detachable speakers connected to the main soundbar in Movie mode, and are immediately impressed by the system’s sense of scale. Effects stretch much wider than our 65-inch TV screen, and create an immersive listening experience.

Watching No Time to Die in Dolby Atmos, the revving of engines as an army of cars pursue Bond fills our test room with a big and spacious soundfield. There’s a good sense of height, too, as a set of helicopters descend onto our hero from the sky and can be heard well above the TV screen.

But how does this compare with the detachable speakers used as wireless rear surrounds? The two positions both call for some sort of compromise. With the rears detached from the main soundbar, it understandably results in less authority with a narrower sense of width at the front.

With the surrounds positioned behind the listening position, however, the sound is less direct, but we get a more three-dimensional presentation as we can hear effects behind us. Bullets whizz around the soundfield with a reasonable level of detail which draws us into the scene, but it could do with more substance to create a properly solid soundfield.

Chapter two of Blade Runner 2049 challenges the JBL’s bass performance. When we first start to listen with the bass at its default level of 3 out of the maximum 5, the lower frequencies dominate the sound and make it unbalanced. After testing, we knock it down to 2, which creates a better sense of cohesion.

The subwoofer still delivers a big, meaty sound that lends the soundtrack a good sense of weight. But the nuances of the bass are somewhat unsophisticated, and it all sounds a bit one-note. The leading edge of each sound is not as crisp as we would like, which makes it seem a bit blobby.

The complex soundtrack should also start quietly before growing to a booming crescendo, but the JBL struggles to get a handle on the dynamics, so there is not as much of a gradual build as we have heard from rivals.

Dialogue is much clearer than our TV’s speakers, of course, and the bar keeps vocals well-balanced in the mix even in the busiest of scenes. Watching Bumblebee in Atmos, as the titular transformer fights against the evil Blitzwing, the vocals cut through the sound of explosions and the energetic soundtrack effectively. You can easily differentiate between Bumblebee’s youthful tones and Blitzwing’s gloomy, deep voice.

That said, we hear more nuance and expression with the Samsung HW-Q990H, which makes the JBL sound a little flat in comparison. The Samsung also excels in terms of scale and detail, making it the more talented performer overall.

So how does the JBL sound with music? While the surrounds are best placed in the rear position for movies, we find that connecting them to the main soundbar to listen to some tunes in Music mode results in the most direct and cohesive delivery.

With Aurora’s Some Type of Skin via Qobuz Connect, the soundbar struggles to portray the softness of her voice at the beginning of the song, lessening the track's delicacy. The bass keeps the beat well, and gives it a strong foundation, but there’s not a whole lot of detail in the low notes once again. Despite that, there’s still a decent balance between the frequencies and it keeps us interested with a variety of tracks. That’s more than can be said for some rivals.

Verdict

JBL’s flexible design will appeal to many, providing the option to use it as a soundbar and subwoofer duo or a complete surround sound system.

While the JBL is a reasonably cinematic performer, the Award-winning Samsung HW-Q990H remains the top recommendation for its wider, more detailed, and more polished overall audio performance.

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Features 4
• Design 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Samsung HW-Q990H

Also consider the Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9

Read our Sonos Arc Ultra review

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