JBL 2.1 Bluetooth Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer

1. Bluetooth streams perfectly. This feature puts it above the Bose Cinemate II or the Klipsch SB3. If you don't need Bluetooth streaming, the Sony CT150 may be a next best choice. The only downside is there is no Bluetooth input button on the remote which means I have to walk over to the bar to change the source to Bluetooth. Update: Tapping the dedicated Bluetooth button on the bar flips to source for you. 2. The three HDMI inputs with HDMI pass-through work perfectly. It's the reason to choose this over the Sony CT260. The only downside is the space behind the HDMI plugs have plastic guiders which interfere with the sturdier Mediabridge HDMI cables. As it stands, the Mediabridge cables can go into HDMI input 4 (The ARC / TV input) and HDMI input 2, but would need some bending for the other two inputs. 2 thinner and more flexible, at the neck, cables would work better for inputs 1 and 3. The 1080P pass through looks great. The supported on-TV display due to HDMI is very nice as well, since you're not guessing where the volume level is at. It also tells you what surround mode it's in and indicates Bluetooth streaming. On your phone or device, you may have to go to Bluetooth advanced setting and set timeout to never to stream while you walk away. 3. The subwoofer is wireless and it uses RF. This means that pairing is stable, easy and provides good range over the alternatives. It's an 8" down firing piston action woofer with a bass port on one side. It also includes separate controls for crossover, gain and boost/reverb (on the remote). Leave the boost alone since it just adds reverb but without fine adjustments. It also includes an out of phase option button which de-syncs the piston firing from the soundbar and cancels out some bass (note from the manual). I have the gain at half and the crossover a hair below 120 (which is noon). This isn't a competition sub, but it sounds well balanced with the soundbar in a non-theatre room. Update: I changed the crossover to 80hz and put gain between half and three-fourths after repositioning it in the front right corner. This is a better configuration and has improved my respect for the sub. It can hit clean. 4. The audio quality of the soundbar is very good and so is the sub. The Kipsch SB3 subwoofer would be the step up to high quality, since it's a 10" and hits lower. The soundbar sounds smoother and warmer and what a Klipsch would sound like, but slightly worse than the Bose Cinemate II (which I happened to demo at Target). I would rate this soundbar system as worse than the Cinemate because of the somewhat reduced perceived channel separation, but the speakers do have better sound quality. There is an EQ switch on the sounbar which optimizes the DSP for over the TV mounting. The mounting hardware is included. Update: I think it's better than the Bose after listening to a variety of music and watching some more movies. 5. If you sit in the sweet zone, then this soundbar sounds ridiculously satisfying with its integrated DSP (which is great). The sound will fill a 20x20 room. Update: Listened to Shots from Lil Jon and it gave me goosebumps :). Movies - saw Hugo and I Am Legend and I could hear effects coming out 3 feet from the sides outta nowhere. 6. Price - I really feel that at $400, the JBL 400 would be perfect, but I'm comfortable with the price I paid because it accomplishes everything it needs to and has a lot of bells and whistles. The packaging is fantastic, but at 4 feet long / 2 feet wide and high, it's too heavy to carry alone comfortably. The build quality is excellent, but has less warranty coverage than the Kipsch. It doesn't include HDMI cables, but it comes with a short (maybe 2') optical cable and other audio cables. Update: I switched over from the Logitech z5500 after many years... I like this more. I doubt anybody will go above half volume in an apt. 7. Update on annoyances: I have a Roku 2 XS and Vudu encodes some titles in Dolby Digital Plus. I researched ways to get around this, but the only option is to change the Roku's output to stereo. I think Vudu is right up there with Amazon Video, so it is unlucky that the JBL400 doesn't decode DD+. The other one is volume leveling. Crackle and some other channels insert advertisements which play at increased volumes. Someone told me advertisement via your regular tv channels aren't allowed to do this. The remote is thin and small, and if you don't go to Harmony, then you may have to deal with this and the fact the IR receiver's range on the soundbar wants you to aim well when trying to lower/increase volume. I think the IR receiver is left of center. It can learn volume buttons, but I couldn't get it do that either. I thought about returning this, but there's nothing like it with Bluetooth. If you don't need Bluetooth streaming, then you may want to consider a different high quality system (more than the 320 watts you get with this). It's just really convenient to tap the Bluetooth button on the soundbar and start listening. I just returned the Roku 2 and purchased a Roku 3, but I doubt that it will have options to override Vudu's audio output selection. Thankfully, not all movies use DD+ and Amazon's service doesn't use DD+. For soundbars, this one is the phenomenal, but you're paying more for a aesthetically pleasing, clutter-free, and compact design. Soundbars themselves have some inherent disadvantages, but they're still good. I got this link from AVS. I'ts good to have stuff in one place and Amazon, as usual, has provided me with a solid shopping experience. [..]