Great Sounding AVR for Music and Movies
Richard from Palmyra, VA on 6/6/2025
I got this primarily because I was tired of black equipment and loved the looks and was hoping it would deliver and boy did it. I have Revel Performa M105 speakers and Revel M8 surrounds but was not satisfied with my Denon AVR sound for music. I had a separate Arcam amp for music and was evaluating a Marantz M1. I got this as a possible replacement for all as part of downsizing and with a speak switch they all sounded excellent for music, enough to return the M1 and put my Arcam up for sale. It looks good and sounds good and so far it has worked much better with eARC and CEC than my Denon ever did. Roon works great as did all of my connected services. I would have given it 4.5 stars because it has a few foibles but nothing critical to me. 1. The text on the screen could be larger in most cases to make it easier to see from a distance - hopefully correctable with firmware. 2. The remote is small, but that is a plus to me as the Denon remote was so complicated with most of the buttons never used. Though not backlit the white one is easier to see in a dark room. 3. The EZ EQ Setup utility is fair and takes a little getting used to and it needs the ability to save multiple profiles. BE SURE to read the manual and do some setup configuration before you run it. A laser measuring device and an SPL meter or app on the phone would help. 4. Dirac is available which I will try later. All in all highly recommended. The first AVR to put a smile on my face
Pros: 1. Easy setup with fewer options 2. Sound is excellent 3. Plenty of power, no need to add external amps. 4. Pretty 5. Wife approved 6. All connections so far just worked. 7. Dialog is much clearer than on my old Denon. The Denon had the dialog enhancement all the way up and the JBL enhancement turned off and it still was easier to understand.
Cons: 1. If you like to dig deep and tweak there are limited menus. 2. Phone app not very useful 3. You do have to cycle through the inputs with a simpler remote.
0 of 0 found this helpful
Not worth the price, even on sale
Victor from OVID, MI on 2/14/2025
I wanted to love this AVR, I am a JBL fan. I bought this with the full Stage 2 speaker system and no amount of tinkering or calibration could make it sound good. I am returning this for a refund and have already replaced it with a Denon AVR-4800H which sounds INCREDIBLE compared to this JBL AVR. The display is great, though this AVR lacks a lot of features that other AVRs have. The free EZ Set EQ app from JBL is GARBAGE, and ONLY sets the EQ and DB Level, you have to manually set distance, crossovers, etc - which is all done automatically by the competition. Spent an extra $350 and purchased a license for Dirac Live, total waste of money and non-refundable. It's also not compatible with the Dirac Bass Management addon for Dirac Live. Overall, the sound is POWERFUL, but too "harsh" even after calibration with Dirac. The sound is detailed, and somewhat accurate, but I found myself constantly turning the volume down while playing music (I normally like listening to music somewhat on the loud side). Movies sounded OK, but also, a little on the harsh side. It's advertised to plat hi-res musinc from Tidal, Room, etc at 24-bit/192kHz. I was not able to get it to play anything above 48kHz, it displays the bit rate in the pop-up menu on the TV display when you adust the volume, and it caps at 48. Other devices in the house played the same tracks correctly. Again, I am a JBL fan and wanted to love it. They nailed the aesthetics.
Pros: VERY Attractive Design Great Full color display POWERFUL
Cons: Sound is too harsh, and innacurate even after calibration Options are LIMITED compared to other AVRs Two sub outputs re NOT discrete, and cannot be calibrated properly if using more than one sub EZ Set EQ is USELESS Overall NOT user friendly, at all, to properly calibrate with EZ Set EQ or Dirac Live (not included, extra $$$$)
5 of 9 found this helpful
Wanted to like it...
Paul Robert from Trumbull, CT on 12/2/2024
Got this for my 7.2.2 setup. Tried running the ez eq setup, but it did nothing for my setup. I also got annoyed at having to cycle through the inputs to find the one I want instead of just pressing a button on the remote, like any other AVR. I returned it and got the more priced Marantz Cinema 50. Double the price but totally worth it in every aspect. That thing is flawless. Should have known better than to get a device that just hit the market.
Pros: Good look, price
Cons: Limited remote, could not get the EZ eq to work, white noise when nothing is playing
3 of 6 found this helpful
Very Happy
Lewis from Fresno, CA on 10/16/2024
Very pleased with the sound quality. I'm hearing things on songs I never noticed before. The menu selector is a bit confusing, but think in time I'll get used to it.
Pros: great power, no distortion
Cons: Menu Selector, Would rather it had separate controls for Bass - treble. A bit pricey.
6 of 6 found this helpful
