JBL BAR 9.1 Soundbar Review & Comments

Is this soundbar still a good option or should I wait for the Samsung q750a and Klipsch Cinema 1200?
 
Is this soundbar still a good option or should I wait for the Samsung q750a and Klipsch Cinema 1200?
Better to wait for the reviews on a Klipsch 1200 and 950 a Sammy and then decide if the price is worth the upgrade. The creative sxfi carrier maybe also an option...
 
Better to wait for the reviews on a Klipsch 1200 and 950 a Sammy and then decide if the price is worth the upgrade. The creative sxfi carrier maybe also an option...
How about the q900t and some rears... Q900t can be had for a bargain £400 at Currys with a code and a Samsung frame £69 ... Which you can then return for a refund.
 
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How about the q900a and some rears... Q900a can be had for a bargain £400 at Currys with a code and a Samsung frame £69 ... Which you can then return for a refund.
samsung frame i 'm not so fond of (poor picture quality ) Q900 is a good deal for that price but maybe a Q70a is a better option for PQ
 
samsung frame i 'm not so fond of (poor picture quality ) Q900 is a good deal for that price but maybe a Q70a is a better option for PQ
It's the frame for a frame TV.

And sorry it's the q900t not 900a

You put both in your basket, use discount code SAMSAVE400WBW which will take the total amount to £468 delivered. When the frame arrives arrange a free return through the Currys website and they will refund you the cost (£69). You then have the q900a for £400.
Frame link:
 
Great
It's the frame for a frame TV.

And sorry it's the q900t not 900a

You put both in your basket, use discount code SAMSAVE400WBW which will take the total amount to £468 delivered. When the frame arrives arrange a free return through the Currys website and they will refund you the cost (£69). You then have the q900a for £400.
Frame link:
Great Deal
 
I'd have the 9.1 over any lower tier Samsung. I expect the Klipsh to be really good but it'll be 3 times the price I paid for the JBL
I believe the 900t is same soundbar used in the 950t.
+ Samsung have just released the sw9500s rears which are identical to the rears of the 950t. So you just need Samsung to up date the firmware to allow them to work with the 900t soundbar.... Which Samsung say they are going to do later in the year. So the 950t set up would cost you no more that £650.
 
Don't know if I trust Samsung to update their firmware. Been burnt before!
 
I believe the 900t is same soundbar used in the 950t.
+ Samsung have just released the sw9500s rears which are identical to the rears of the 950t. So you just need Samsung to up date the firmware to allow them to work with the 900t soundbar.... Which Samsung say they are going to do later in the year. So the 950t set up would cost you no more that £650.

Yes they'd be top spec Samsungs so I'd expect them to be better than the JBL - the poster mentions the 750 though which I would skip. A major thing that can't be overlooked is the completely wireless surrounds on the JBL. It's just the perfect solution for us i.e. they're docked unless specifically wanted, keeps the wife happy.
 
I'm really disappointed with this Soundbar.

I have it connected via HDMI to my eARC port on my Sony 65" X950H TV. I use the TV's built-in apps (Netflix, Prime Video, Youtube, Disney, and Emby).

For movies that have multi-channel audio, the satellite speakers cut-out and have a lot of static. I'm noticed this with anything that has 6 channels or more (e.g. EAC3). It isn't consistent, but happens randomly - noticeably when the volume in the rear channels increases.

I have tried:

1. Swapping the HDMI cable to an 8K cable
2. Tried every single combination of settings (e.g. Pass Through 1/2, Dolby Equalizer) on my TV
3. Using a Chromecast connected to the TV instead of the built-in apps
4. Moving the satellite speakers closer
5. Replacing the satellite speakers (provided directly by JBL)
6. Replacing the entire unit (provided by my retailer)
7. Running the set up on the soundbar

It is unusable for surround sound movies. I cannot be the only person experiencing this? My partner refuses to use the satellite speakers now, and we leave it attached to the soundbar because of these issues.

Any guidance?
 
I'm really disappointed with this Soundbar.

I have it connected via HDMI to my eARC port on my Sony 65" X950H TV. I use the TV's built-in apps (Netflix, Prime Video, Youtube, Disney, and Emby).

For movies that have multi-channel audio, the satellite speakers cut-out and have a lot of static. I'm noticed this with anything that has 6 channels or more (e.g. EAC3). It isn't consistent, but happens randomly - noticeably when the volume in the rear channels increases.

I have tried:

1. Swapping the HDMI cable to an 8K cable
2. Tried every single combination of settings (e.g. Pass Through 1/2, Dolby Equalizer) on my TV
3. Using a Chromecast connected to the TV instead of the built-in apps
4. Moving the satellite speakers closer
5. Replacing the satellite speakers (provided directly by JBL)
6. Replacing the entire unit (provided by my retailer)
7. Running the set up on the soundbar

It is unusable for surround sound movies. I cannot be the only person experiencing this? My partner refuses to use the satellite speakers now, and we leave it attached to the soundbar because of these issues.

Any guidance?
Apologies if you have already tried all this. However....have you done an auto calibration? Whether you have or not, I would factory reset the bar and do it again. Do you have earc enabled on the TV, as you may need to manually activate earc functionality on the port in the tv system menus? Have you tried it with earc switched off to see if the drop outs occur then? Does the sound cut out if you connect the Chromecast directly to the JBL?
 
@slaman I would redo the wifi connection. The crackling sounds like interference. Make sure when you set it up that your phone is on the same wifi band (2.4 or 5, whichever you choose) that you use to connect to the bar. I have owned the JBL 9.1 since it's release and never had this issue.
 
OK, XH90 and 95 are notorious for eARC issues.
My JBL is not connected to the network, I've only ever connected it once to do an update but that was quite a while ago. I have no issues and I love the bar. It's connected to a Pana DX902 (no atmos) and XBox (lots of atmos)
 
Apologies if you have already tried all this. However....have you done an auto calibration? Whether you have or not, I would factory reset the bar and do it again. Do you have earc enabled on the TV, as you may need to manually activate earc functionality on the port in the tv system menus? Have you tried it with earc switched off to see if the drop outs occur then? Does the sound cut out if you connect the Chromecast directly to the JBL?

Thank you for the suggestions. I'll reset to factory default and try the auto-calibration again. I have not tried it without EARC, because I do like the fact that I can control the soundbar's volume using my TV's remote (and can automatically power the soundbar on with the TV remote)... but it's worth trying.

Also, how do I connect the Chromecast directly to the JBL? Isn't there just one HDMI out port on the Chromecast, so how would I get video from Soundbar to the TV then?

@slaman I would redo the wifi connection. The crackling sounds like interference. Make sure when you set it up that your phone is on the same wifi band (2.4 or 5, whichever you choose) that you use to connect to the bar. I have owned the JBL 9.1 since it's release and never had this issue.
Thanks for the suggestion. We run a mesh network, and perhaps the soundbar is not connecting to the closest pod? I'll take a look at the topography of the network to see which pod it's connecting to. However, I don't think it's a wifi connection issue because we've got solid coverage throughout the house.
 
Thank you for the suggestions. I'll reset to factory default and try the auto-calibration again. I have not tried it without EARC, because I do like the fact that I can control the soundbar's volume using my TV's remote (and can automatically power the soundbar on with the TV remote)... but it's worth trying.

Also, how do I connect the Chromecast directly to the JBL? Isn't there just one HDMI out port on the Chromecast, so how would I get video from Soundbar to the TV then?


Thanks for the suggestion. We run a mesh network, and perhaps the soundbar is not connecting to the closest pod? I'll take a look at the topography of the network to see which pod it's connecting to. However, I don't think it's a wifi connection issue because we've got solid coverage throughout the house.
HI! I have the same kind of mesh system (Ubiquiti Alien) and it's not about the strength of the connection it's about interference or setting the wifi connection improperly. I had this issue currently on my Q950T upstairs. After I installed my new router, I starting having cutouts and distortion in the rear speakers. The Samsung Q950T has auto connected to the 5ghz wifi band (the Alien has a common SSID which uses both bands and finds the best one for the device to connect to). I created a separate 2.4ghz SSID to put the Q950T on and that solved the problem. I have a Google Nest Hub Max and an Echo around the same room that were on the same 5ghz band and I believe those is what was causing the interference. Also, if you attempted to set up the wifi on your phone which lets say was on the 5ghz band, and you attached the JBL to the 2.4 ghz (even possibly without knowing) that could cause issues as well.
 
Thank you for the suggestions. I'll reset to factory default and try the auto-calibration again. I have not tried it without EARC, because I do like the fact that I can control the soundbar's volume using my TV's remote (and can automatically power the soundbar on with the TV remote)... but it's worth trying.

Also, how do I connect the Chromecast directly to the JBL? Isn't there just one HDMI out port on the Chromecast, so how would I get video from Soundbar to the TV then?


Thanks for the suggestion. We run a mesh network, and perhaps the soundbar is not connecting to the closest pod? I'll take a look at the topography of the network to see which pod it's connecting to. However, I don't think it's a wifi connection issue because we've got solid coverage throughout the house.
Also, there is an eARC port AND an HMDI input on the JBL. You would connect the Chromecast to that input and an HDMI cable from the eARC to the TV's eARC input. I highly recommend for best audio quality to use that HDMI input on the JBL for an external device, especially if you have a standalone UHD Blu Ray player. Cheers.
 
HI! I have the same kind of mesh system (Ubiquiti Alien) and it's not about the strength of the connection it's about interference or setting the wifi connection improperly. I had this issue currently on my Q950T upstairs. After I installed my new router, I starting having cutouts and distortion in the rear speakers. The Samsung Q950T has auto connected to the 5ghz wifi band (the Alien has a common SSID which uses both bands and finds the best one for the device to connect to). I created a separate 2.4ghz SSID to put the Q950T on and that solved the problem. I have a Google Nest Hub Max and an Echo around the same room that were on the same 5ghz band and I believe those is what was causing the interference. Also, if you attempted to set up the wifi on your phone which lets say was on the 5ghz band, and you attached the JBL to the 2.4 ghz (even possibly without knowing) that could cause issues as well.

Thanks for this suggestion. It's very plausible that Wifi interference is causing my issue. Unfortunately, because I use Plume's mesh wifi, I don't have the ability to separate 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz (they are shared by the same SSID). I'll try to add a new "password", as I'm not sure if it emulates a new network for any devices that connect to it, and therefore I don't know if it will fix the interference.

Now on a completely unrelated note, I disabled eARC on my Sony TV and it seems like all my issues have disappeared!
 
I'm very happy with the JBL. Please note that you will NOT get Atmos from apps on your TV unless your TV has eARC. If the TV only has ARC and you use Netflix for example, Atmos will not be displayed nor sent to the bar. If you plug a device e.g. Roku Ultra, Apple TV 4k, etc...directly into the JBL HMDI input, you will have no problem if your TV doesn't have eARC.
I thought you would still get Atmos but just a compressed version?
 
Atmos but just a compressed version?
ATMOS is usually attached to either DD 5.1+ (Lossy compressed) or Dolby True HD (losslessly compressed). Can also be sent with multichannel PCM and PCM is uncompressed.

ARC can handle DD 5.1+ and any ATMOS delivered with it. If the source app/device sends ATMOS with DD 5.1+ and nothing happens to process that audio on the way to the ARC on the soundbar, the soundbar will play ATMOS with DD 5.1+ .

many devices will plug into the TV and the TV will passthrough DD 5.1+ with ATMOS via ARC. The processes are so hit and miss regardless, with ARC, eARC, CEC, TV not passing through as is etc, that plugging a device into the soundbar will always give the best audio results.

then you need to decide if you must have HDMI 2.1 video features over the audio. If you must have the video features then plug devices into the TV and put up with any audio lag and/or TV audio passthrough issues.

Soundbars with HDMI 2.1 standard video passthrough will save the current mish-mash of experiences with many devices, TVs and soundbars.

that seems a way off yet - SONOS has decided only return channel audio will be input in their soundbars. If there are any issues delivering the audio from the app on a device, though the TV and out to the soundbar over the return channel, SONOS will say their soundbar is working perfectly - same as every other manufacturer when the user doesn’t use the soundbar inputs (if supplied).
 
I thought you would still get Atmos but just a compressed version?
Hi Frank, I wrote this comment in November of 2020 - the JBL would not at all display Dolby Atmos on the LED screen at that time with only an ARC connection hence my post. I believe they have since updated this with the newer firmware to display Atmos DD+

Edit: I also remember at this time that Netflix titles in Atmos connected from a TV with ARC only to the JBL would NOT show Atmos as an option on the Netflix menu. When I added an eARC TV to the JBL soon after, the ATMOS option was there next to the movies that had it.
 
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I just got a firmware update notification, does anyone know what the changes are? It updated from 21.13.11.80 to 21.23.11.80.
 
I just got a firmware update notification, does anyone know what the changes are? It updated from 21.13.11.80 to 21.23.11.80.
No idea, I'm in the US so not sure if that makes a difference but I'll wait to dock my speakers until I see what's up haha
 
I just got a firmware update notification, does anyone know what the changes are? It updated from 21.13.11.80 to 21.23.11.80.
One change in the firmware is they have reinstated the support for Dolby atmos dd+ from my C8 internal app. It was there in the beginning and then lost on the previous firmware.
 
One change in the firmware is they have reinstated the support for Dolby atmos dd+ from my C8 internal app. It was there in the beginning and then lost on the previous firmware.

Thats good they're still updating the software and fixing issues, I did the update last night and haven't noticed any differences.
 

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