JBL Bar 800 MK2 Black

We've had this rather pricey JBL soundbar for a few weeks now, and these are the things we've noticed.

Setting it up was incredibly smooth. It has a calibration mode that senses exactly where the rear speakers are positioned and adjusts everything accordingly.

That subwoofer is a beast of a thing; it doesn't match our TV stand at all :( I mean, it's really big.

The remote is basic and works just fine.

Sound quality: I have to admit, for that price, I'm quite disappointed. Especially those rear speakers. For example, when I click on YouTube Music and put on a playlist, the sound from the rear speakers is like old, heavily compressed MP3s from the last century. It squeaks and whines a bit, you know? It makes listening to tunes with surround sound really unpleasant.

About those rear speakers: If you don't want ambient sound but just stereo from all speakers simultaneously, you can fix that via the app.

Clever idea, but incredibly annoying that you ALWAYS have to select it again. Biggest drawback ever. Because when watching TV or chilling with music, we want that simple stereo, not a circus. Come on JBL, add a 'standard mode' to the app for that, please.

And if you want a rear speaker... When I pick it up to move it, I click a little hat on, but the thing isn't secured at all. I almost fell over trying to lift it by that hat (they stick on with magnets).

Subwoofer:

It really rocks, much better than my old little Samsung one.

In short, a pretty good set, but those annoying little things will have me throwing it back on Marktplaats soon. I expected (especially from the back) much more fireworks from JBL. The hype was enormous -> the reality was much less epic.

The JBL 800mk2 is easy to install, so you can quickly enjoy great sound. You can easily switch between various preset scenes. For example, I use a different setting for my series than for an action movie. Unfortunately, even for me, a relatively newbie, it's difficult to configure all the advanced settings correctly. I might get around to this later. I think you can get even more out of it then, but even out of the box, the 800mk2 offers an exceptionally good sound experience.

The two side speakers are easily detachable, giving you a true surround sound experience. Combined with the powerful subwoofer, this soundbar offers a fantastic sound experience that would otherwise require a complete system. It also has a sleek and clean finish, making it a perfect fit for any interior. Not a cheap set, but definitely worth the money.

Beautiful clear sound, I use this soundbar for gaming, rear speakers are easy to connect and disconnect, the woofer is a lot less, I also own the JBL 5.1 surround soundbar and that woofer is really a machine so that was a bit disappointing but certainly does not take away the pleasure that I get from it