JBL Bar 3.1

JBL recently launched a range of four soundbars, rising from the economical ‘Bar Studio’, a 60cm bar-only design, through the subwoofer-equipped Bar 2.1 and this Bar 3.1 up to the rangetopping Bar 5.1, which has the clever solution of sections at each end of the bar which can pull off and operate as battery-powered wireless rear speakers — a notion we first saw in a Philips Fidelio product some years ago.

For our review we have the Bar 3.1, which offers three channels of sound at the front, plus an impressively-sized wireless subwoofer to handle the bass. It’s priced at $699 in Australia (comparing well with its US pre-tax price of $499), and is particularly notable in offering three HDMI inputs on the bar, all of them fully compatible with 4K UHD signals and the necessary HDCP2.2