Sound quality: JBL's Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has Good overall sound quality. When this sound bar is turned on, it defaults to the Smart Mode virtual sound setting regardless of the sound setting it was in when it was turned off. In the Smart sound mode with source content from the HDMI input bass has good impact, but is slightly boomy, and the deepest bass is lacking. Midrange is a touch nasal and plasticky, somewhat grainy and echoey, slightly hazy, and etched. Treble is fairly extended, but is somewhat smeared and ranges from somewhat prominent to slightly subdued depending on the program material. Does a decent job of recovering the actual room ambience from the recording; the echoey quality of the midrange creates a sense of room ambience that sounds artificial. The overall sound is slightly congested. The virtual Dolby Atmos setting made the sound field taller, wider and more echoey. In Standard mode (Smart Mode off), the sound is similar to Smart mode except the midrange loses the nasal, plasticky, and echoey quality, and the sound field recedes to somewhat above and beyond the speaker enclosure. The overall sound quality improves slightly, but it remains in the Good range. Regardless of whether the sound bar was in Smart mode or Standard mode, the Night mode did not seem to make a difference to the sound. In Standard mode, Virtual Dolby Atmos was not available. When 5.1 channel program material is played back in the Smart mode the width and height of the sound stage expands, and depending on the program material extends well beyond the height and width of the soundbar enclosure. The virtual Dolby Atmos setting did not seem to have a noticeable effect on the sound. Turning off the smart mode effects multichannel material the same way it effects stereo program material. As with 2 channel material in Standard mode, Virtual Dolby Atmos was not available. Regardless of whether the sound bar was in Smart mode or Standard mode, the Night mode had a minimal quieting effect on the sound. In Smart mode when playing Dolby Atmos material the width and height of the sound stage expands further than with 5.1 channel material, and depending on the program material can fill the front end of the room; audio imaging can extend up and above from the front of the room to the ceiling in front of the user depending on the program material, but there was no rear surround effect, and sounds that should have been in the rear come from the front. The virtual Dolby Atmos setting had no noticeable effect on the sound. Turning off the smart mode effects Dolby Atmos material the same way it effects stereo program material. Regardless of whether the sound bar was in Smart mode or Standard mode, the Night mode had a minimal quieting effect on the sound. Regardless of the sound mode, there was no significant difference in sound quality between the HDMI and optical inputs. Regardless of the sound mode, the WiFi, and Bluetooth and USB inputs have the same sound quality as the HDMI input in the Standard (Smart mode: off) sound mode setting. The system can provide satisfying volume in a medium sized room.
TV ease of use: Very good overall.
Features ease of use: Very good overall.
