Customer Reviews

Finally, great surround sound

Easy to set up. Gives my old tv great sound. It's great for streaming music.

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Easy Setup and Excellent Sound

This is the first JBL product I've owned, and overall, I am impressed. The sound quality is excellent (I am using the HDMI Arc input). Movies in Dolby Atmos sound surprisingly good for a low profile systems without true surround speakers. The subwoofer has just the right amount of deep bass and punch to carry the low frequency audio. Setup was amazingly easy, with the wireless subwoofer automatically connecting to the soundbar. Grab the JBL One App for your phone to get firmware updates (which it did automatically). Only caveat is that some of the menu adjustments like Pure Voice and whatnot are a bit buried - I wish the app had clear toggles for these instead of odd simultaneous remote button pressing. Overall, extremely happy with my purchase and a suitable home theater solution when you don't have a lot of space for a full amplifier/7.1 setup.

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JBL Bar 500

Makes 4K ultra shine. It figured out the room space even though it's in a 5th wheel rv. Excellent product.

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JBL Bar 500

Replacing jbl bar 3.1 dialogue is much better and much better suited for a larger room.

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Race car shop

I put this in a 1500 sqft racecar shop. Super happy with the sound. It is truly impressive. Makes working on cars and watching tv a joy. Using it to stream music is equally amazing. Would highly recommend this system. Service from crutchfield was also top notch. Super happy with this purchase all around.

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Great Sound

I ordered this sound bar on Sunday night and received this on Wednesday! And I got this $200 cheaper than another retailer! Still learning how to operate this bar but it sounds phenomenal

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great unit at a fantastic price

I love the JBL 500. It's great set that sounds amazing and the current price at Crutchfield made it even better.

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JBL Bar 500

Sounds great. Was very hard to sinc up with cable box and also t v. could use a better manual. Way too much to download and not enough information

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JBL Bar 500

Sounds great and was easy to hook up

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JBL Bar 500

I think it's great. I had an old Boston acoustic system that was dying. The JBL is a huge upgrade. It was simple to set up and sounds larger and much more full in comparison.

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Great Christmas present.

This was a Christmas gift for my brother. He really liked it. This was truly plug and play we connected the hdmi from tv to soundbar and seconds later it synced with the tv and the sound was coming from the bar. Next he powered up the subwoofer and it synced with the bar and all was good. Put on a sci-fi flick and wow he couldn't be happier. The best part is the calibration function just press the button on the remote to start then press again, wait a short bit and it's done. As for the sound quality well it's pretty good (it's not that loud but does have that 3D vibe going for it). My gripe is with the voodoo math they use nowadays (not just jbl) to get the total system watts. The subwoofer may be 100 watts no way 300 watts and they claim the sound bar has a built in 290 watt amp. How is that possible on something that weighs 6.2lbs? It's not. There is no way that this has more power than my 2 channel McIntosh amplifier or my Yamaha AS-801 etc. so I removed one star. Anyways I got this when it was on sale and it is worth it ,they should emphasize the good sound quality it produces over exaggerated loudness that it doesn't have.

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JBL Bar 500

Easy install. Good sound. Would prefer more bass. Setting bass level somewhat confusing.

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Great sound.

Great sound! Easy to set up and start using. This is a wonderful sound bar and sub-woofer option!

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JBL Bar 500

Great sound bar for the price.

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Just right

My son and wife love it . He had no issues with set up and are excited for movie night.

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JBL Bar 500

Excellent product

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What a disappointment

This has got to be a joke. Are you kidding me? Sounds like chipmunks coming out of the speakers. Had better quality sound with a 10 year old $200 vizio soundbar. This product should be an embarrassment for JBL. Read one guys review (flat and lifeless), sounds about right. If this is your first soundbar you probably won't notice. For music enthusiasts its a hard pass. 100% returning this junk! Got it on sale for black friday and thats still to much. The regular price tag is beyond crazy, Charging $100 for this product would be fair. Pure Junk.

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Very happy

I have a bose 900 and this jbl 500 is much much better at half the cost

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Great sound

Absolutely worth the price.

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LOX LIFE

Easy setup right out of the box. You can calibrate the sound bar easily if you ever change your room decor. I currently have this sound bar on top of an old center channel speaker that I quit using, more on that later. This is where I had my existing sound bar. My old sound bar was a Sony and when Sony was having a sale on packages about 15 years ago I bought four of them, one for every room. WOW ! ! ! When I hooked up this new JBL I was immediately impressed. Full sound and great dialog. Bass is also very good. Although I do not have everything together just yet, once I move everything around I am sure that I will be equally impressed. Currently I have my video and sound thru HDMI direct to the TV ARC, the sound leaves the TV and goes to my sound bar via TOS Link (Optic) When I install my new 75 Inch OLED Samsung I will run HDMI direct to sound bar and then HDMI to TV and see how that compares to the TOS Link. I purchased this new TV as I wanted a larger screen and this one was on sale so I got it. Now, why a sound bar. I ran a full 7.1 system thru a Denon head unit, Klipsch speakers all the way around but my head unit quit working, out of warranty. Before that, same speaker setup and a 2 Yamaha head unit, that also died. I live in South Florida and we have frequent power outages and surges so I did not want to spend more money on new head units, so I decided to go with the simple basic sound bar and sub woofer setup. If I remember to update review after cha

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JBL Bar 500

Very happy with this purchase. Easy setup and it sounds great. It's a good value buy.

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Decent but lacks midrange

I read reviews regarding lack of mid range and agree. The bar 500 to me sounds a bit flat. I did the calibration but nothing on the mid range seemed to change and I still feel it sounds rather flat. I have multiple Sonos sound bars and feel they are better for full range sound. The JBL sound bar was easy to install and isn't bad overall. Just not in the same league as Sonos in my opinion.

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JBL Bar 500

works perfectly and the sound is excellent. Maybe i haven't read the instructions but the bass is a little stronger than I was expecting .Will retry the calibration . watched a movie last night and could have sworn there was a thunder storm outside not on my TV.

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JBL Bar 500

The dialogue is clear . A pleasure to watch movies . I recommend .

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JBL Bar 500

great clean sound

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JBL Bar 500

Very easy setup. Great sound.

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Awesome bang for the buck!

Bought this after my 12 year old Klipsch soundbar died. Absolutely amazing bang for the buck! Full, rich, spatial sound with plenty of bass. Includes wall mount brackets and was easy to set up. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for great sound at an affordable price.

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JBL Bar 500

Easy to set up. Excellent sound quality. I use it in my bedroom for TV and other audio.

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JBL Bar 500

Sounds great, but cannot get it to pair to my Wi-Fi or my phone.

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JBL Bar 500

Great option for replacing the built in TV speakers. The soundbar plays music and movies really well. Hearing the dialogue in movies is not a problem anymore either .

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JBL Bar 500

Sounds good outside

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Works seamlessly

Works seamlessly with newer TVs. Older TVs, well, there's always the Optical cable option. Great audio quality with rich bass notes!

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JBL Bar 500

Bought this for my living room, & am very impressed. Solid JBL sound! Super easy setup with the app & had it working in just a few minutes!

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JBL Bar 500

Crutchfield delivers again! Product arrived on second day after ordering! Sound bar and subwoofer sound so much better than my old Sony 5.1 surround system from 20 plus years ago. Subwoofer is the real difference in sound presentation! I will say that the Instruction Manual leaves a lot of holes. I used Digital Optical cable instead of HDMI Arc (TV is older) and this hook up is not mentioned in instructions! Quick call to Customer Service and Franky had me enjoying my new speakers in less than five minutes! Really enjoying "Empire Strikes Back"! Just like in the movie theater! Thank you Crutchfield! By the way, system was on sale and I just could not pass up the improved sound quality!

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JBL Bar 500

Very Powerful

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JBL Bar 500

Good sound and easy set up

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Not to my Liking.

I tried to like the JBL Bar 500, but in the end I returned it to Crutchfield for a refund. The remote is of cheap construction with minimal functions and the app JBL one isn't much better. The sub woofer is very large, but the base isn't much better then my much smaller Energy sub woofer. You can play the Bar 500 loud, but the sound is rough and lifeless. Clear Voice is always on and not so clear. You can"t directly access Bluetooth with the remote unless you first turn on the TV( if it is paired with eARC). I'm staying with my Yahama YAS-109 with Energy sub woofer. The sound is soft and full unlike the JBL. The Yahama remote allows you to more finely adjust the sound and base and you can directly access Bluetooth. It also has Alexa built in unlike the JBL. Even though the Yahama sound bar and Energy sub woofer are smaller and less expensive, I believe the Yamaha beats the JBL hands down.

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Highly Recommended

Everything was as expected Subwoofer Paired automatically Samsung TV recognized soundbar immediately Fire stick remote paired so that I only have one remote I mounted the soundbar on top of 65" Samsung with the subwoofer directly below and it sounds fantastic. Lots of base and plenty of power. Makes you feel like you're in the movie This replaced an older Dennon that was dying and could no longer run in any mode but stereo and my powered JBL subwoofer would no longer receive a signal. This was a great investment and I recommend it. It sounds better than my Klipse soundbar and subwoofer that I have on my 75" Samsung in the basement. Crutchfield was very competitive to Amazon on this.

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Party Barn

We're using it in a party barn /man cave / teenager hangout. It's pretty much open space other than a bathroom, roughly 800 square feet. Sounds great, it gets loud enough that you'll have to turn it down to talk. Bass is very good but I'd rather have a 12 inch sub. Having said that, it's really fine for what we wanted. In any normal sized room it will run you out. No complaints.

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JBL Bar 500

Sounds great!

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JBL Bar 500

Great sound for the price.

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JBL Bar 500

Sound is great and system is easy to set up

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JBL Bar 500

I'm a little disappointed with voice clarity so far. Otherwise, the 3D effects and bass are very good.

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JBL 500

I read the reviews before purchase which convinced me to buy this model. Although the JBL is a step up from the Klipsh, female voices are shrill, raspy and hollow sounding no matter what equalizer setting is used. There is minimal bass, certainly not what others reviewers have mentioned. Music and male voices are acceptable. The unit is attached via HDMI to a Samsung Neo- QLED TV. Technical support from Crutchfield is phenomenal. Very helpful with setup and a problem with unit recognizing the HDMI cable.

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Crutchfield response on 1/31/2024

Norm contacted our Customer Support team and set up a return. Purchases from Crutchfield can be returned or exchanged within 60 days.

JBL Bar 500

Great sound nice bass!

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JBL Bar 500

Terrific sound. Much better than expected at this price.

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more than i exspected

great compliment to my 85" 4k mini-led tv

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JBL Bar 500

Great soundbar

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JBL Bar 500

Great sound for a bedroom or a small room. Surround sounds is good for sound bar.

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JBL Bar 500

Good sound. Decent bass. Very satisfied with the product.

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JBL Bar 500

Excellent sound ,good bass ,very good for movies. Shipped very quick,had a little difficulty connecting to t.v. (lack of instructions) but luckily I purchased from Crutchfield, their customer service is excellent and Eugene helped me make the right decision. So nice to talk to a person rather than automated system. Would definitely purchase from Crutchfield again!!!

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Great Christmas present

Just installed today. Streamed Maverick off Amazon Prime and sound was awesome! Airplayed Pandora and also sounded great! JBL ONE app very easy to navigate. This thing gets loud. Fills my great room easily with sound and even better with virtual Atmos engaged. I recommend this to anyone looking for a great sound bar in this price range. Got it on sale as a Christmas present so that made it even better!

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Fantastic

Easy to setup and sounds great!

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JBL Bar 500

Easy setup and the sound is awesome.

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JBL Bar 500

JBL Bar 500 Is a great compact 5.1 system for the Teens Room, for Gaming, Movies, and Music, With Dolby Atmos, Brings Cinematic Sound and Deep Bass. With Professional Help from Quinn and the Crutchfield Team the Order was Placed, Shipped, and Delivered within 48 Hours. Thanks again Team Crutchfield. Patrick C. from Cape May N.J

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Good sound, needs better software

Pros: Great sound quality and I can hear the sound clearly through the house. Fantastic for music and the subwoofer puts out a rumbling that adds atmosphere to music. Additionally it's particularly easy to connect and disconnect from an IPhone, which helps to not accidentally broadcast something you intended to listen to on your phone. Lastly, the Bluetooth range and clarity is insanely good; I haven't found where it cuts out yet. Cons: The inability to adjust equalization is a major drawback. You can adjust bass between 5 levels, but for TV, I've found that only level 1 or 2 works, and ideally it'd be at 1.5. Additionally the phone control volume lacks micro adjustments to volume. You are either moderately loud or you can't hear it. TLDR: Better for music than for TV and could use some software updates for fine tuning, but all in all a great buy.

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JBL Bar 500

Expected better. I own a lot of high end JBS's . This is not even comparable. Just a TV sound bar.

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JBL Bar 500

Easy to set up. Just remember to initially switch on your TV before the sound bar. My only word of caution is if using the provided wall brackets. Clearly, the engineers of the brackets and the JBL engineers did not speak. The bracket mounts the sounder too close to the wall for any reasonable cables. I added spacers -- see below.

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Great when it works!

This is an extremely frustrating product. When it works it sounds great! You do get the virtual surround effect and it's pretty convincing. Sound quality is good overall. Bass is sufficient but not overly impressive. The frustrating part is that I've had constant issues with it from day one. The bar will freeze up and stop responding to the remote. It will lose sync with the video. And the subwoofer will disconnect randomly. It's great when it works, but I don't expect to have to power cycle an expensive sound bar regularly to get it to work. Harman support hasn't been particularly helpful, either.

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Crutchfield response on 10/9/2023

Jason, we're sorry you're having issues with your sound bar. If you purchased this product from Crutchfield, feel free to contact our Tech Support team. They can help you solve the problem or set up a return within 60 days of purchase. Lifetime tech support comes with every Crutchfield purchase.

JBL Bar 500

The JBL 500 sound bar has really improved my tv watching experience . I mounted it on the wall under my tv. Easy to install with easy instructions and all required hardware included.

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Man Cave

I was looking for a sound bar that had adequate bass as an all in one. I came across the JBL Bar 500 for less than a single sound bar. I pleased with this system for my Man Cave Garage.

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Great Purchase JBL 500

Went from an old Bose cube surround system with receiver and all to the JBL 500 sound bar with subwoofer. This was recommended by Crutchfield after a lengthy conversation as I was really thinking of going with floor standing speakers, center channel and subwoofer. I am really, really happy with the purchase - the sound is great, can really hear voices, bass is great, Dolby atmos rocks and I can stream my music via Bluetooth to the sound bar.. I could go on but extremely happy with the JBL 500 - works great in our small living room 14'X12'?????

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JBL Bar 500

Amazing sound, easy setup and installation.

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JBL Bar 500

I purchased this for the bedroom TV so when I get kicked out, by my wife, from the audio room, I can still have a nice experience. Works for me

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JBL Bar 500

I chose this after looking through the great reviews across different websites and I agree with them. Had it for about a month now and it's good sound over bluetooth and through the TV.

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JBL Bar 500

Exsctly what I thought it would be. Excellent system and easy to install. Will problybuy another one 9for a friend.

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Great deal.

Upgraded from a Polk and holy %#^! What a difference. This, on sale, is a steal for what you get. Crazy amounts of bass, not sound bar quality bass but legit home theater bass. Sweet soundstage with audible separation that makes the whole thing just more enjoyable. Feel good hit of the summer.

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reccomend

one word exceptional great sound stage for a sound bar, bass is clean and THERE

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def worth the money

Impressive sound and easy to set up. You can tweak the sound even more w the jbl one app to suit your taste. No complaints at all. Great product w good fidelity.

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JBL Bar 500

Amazing sound.

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Great sound!

Great sound really clear. Connected to TV with HDMI, setup was really easy. Connected to WiFi. Android JBL app was easy to use. Can't see it in Spotify devices though. Haven't tried Bluetooth yet.

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A no brainer!!

I love this sound bar! Plug and play and man what a difference in sound!! Could not be happier!

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