JBL Bar 1000 Soundbar with Subwoofer

The JBL Bar 1000 Soundbar is the top-of-the-range model and will provide a complete, 7.1.4 channel, 3D Dolby Atmos, experience. There are four parts to the system, a main soundbar, two detachable satellite speakers, and a subwoofer. The Main JBL Bar 1000 Soundbar features five front-firing racetrack drivers and a front-firing tweeter. The front-firing tweeter is used in conjunction with PureVoice technology to make dialogue easier to hear. Additionally, two side-mounted tweeters provide a wide sound field. There are also two up-firing full-range drivers. Lastly, two side speakers are provided, each has a tweeter and a full-range driver. A subwoofer is also supplied with the unit.

The JBL Bar 800 soundbar main unit

The JBL Bar 1000 soundbar’s main unit features no less than five 46mm x 90mm full-range drivers. In the centre sits a 20mm silk domed tweeter, this unit is used with the PureVoice system to enhance dialogue. Next two additional tweeters are placed at both ends of the sound bar, this creates a wide sound field. Lastly to simulate the ceiling speakers needed by Dolby Atmos, two upward-firing full-range drivers bounce sound off the ceiling. The main soundbar has an output of 340 watts.

Detachable surround speakers

To save the hassle of having trailing wires for the rear speakers, two dockable surround sound speakers are attached to either end of the soundbar. These are battery-operated and wireless. Simply move them to a position behind the listener when in use. Each surround speaker has an output of 70 watts. Moreover, this top-of-the-range unit features a two-way design, with both a tweeter and a full-range driver in each speaker .

Deep bass from the 10” subwoofer

Movies always benefit from punchy bass and the JBL Bar 1000 soundbar comes with a powerful 300 Watt, downward-firing subwoofer. This is also a wireless unit that can be placed anywhere without trailing wires. Soundbars can have difficulty producing sounds lower than about 100Hz however a subwoofer can go below 50Hz.

What is Dolby Atmos?

Dolby Atmos was first used in cinemas in 2012 and has now become available in the home. However, setup can be complicated and the speaker placement can be awkward to facilitate. Dolby Atmos is a multidimensional sound system that can use up to 128 discrete sound objects. Each can be placed anywhere in the 3D sound field. To generate the 3D field overhead speakers are normally needed. However, this can also be simulated by using upward-firing drivers. That is how the JBL Bar 1000 soundbar achieves the same effect.

PureVoice technology

Movie soundtracks are usually mixed with a centre channel in mind. However, systems without this feature can cause difficulty hearing dialogue. Hence the JBL Bar 1000 soundbar features the JBL-developed PureVoice system. This extracts the dialogue from the signal and makes it much more audible. The dialogue is then remixed back into the main audio. Cheaper systems often use equalization to boost the dialogue. However, this can also boost other parts of the soundtrack.

Room compensation calibration

Rooms come in all shapes and sizes and the walls and furniture can all cause sound refraction or absorption. This results in dips and peaks in the frequency response of a surround sound system. As a result, the JBL Bar 1000 soundbar has a built-in room compensation system. This uses an embedded microphone to analyze the actual sound in the room and equalize it to create a flat frequency response. This is an active system with no setup hassle.

TV connectivity and why a soundbar?

To decode Dolby Atmos properly the JBL Bar 1000 soundbar needs an uncompressed and high-bitrate feed. This is provided by an eARC-enabled HDMI socket. This connector is used to connect your TV sound to the soundbar. Notably flat screen TVs can have poor sound due to tiny speakers. They also rarely have more than two speakers. One of the main issues with Dolby Atmos is the cost and complication of multichannel AV receivers, that have multiple speakers. Hence an all-in-one soundbar is much easier to use and set up.