Good spatial audio can be expensive, but it’s worth the investment if you value a truly immersive home theater experience. The $1,699.99 JBL Bar 1300X soundbar is pricey, but its 11.1.4-channel setup, with conveniently detachable wireless satellites and a huge 12-inch subwoofer, provides all-encompassing audio with thunderous rumble. It envelopes you with sound thanks to detailed directional imaging and is the soundbar to get if you want a full surround system in a single package, earning it our Editors’ Choice award.
Go Wide or Deep With Detachable Satellites
The 1300X soundbar is a rectangular black plank measuring 2.4 by 39.4 by 5.5 inches (HWD). A black metal grille covers the front and caps protrude slightly out of the left and right sides to hold the satellites. Empty caps with wraparound grilles are included to hide the inelegant ends on the soundbar when the satellites aren’t connected. A white alphanumeric LED display sits near the right end of the grille and helpfully shows the soundbar’s status.
The top of the soundbar has a large, flat plastic panel in the middle containing a small JBL logo, volume and power/input buttons, and two pinhole microphones. Two additional metal grilles flank that panel to accommodate the upward-firing drivers.
The rear of the soundbar features a large recess with an HDMI port for connecting to a TV over eARC, three more HDMI ports for connecting additional devices to your TV (using the soundbar as a switch), an optical audio input, a USB port, an Ethernet port, and a jack for the power cable. There are no holes on the back of the soundbar for mounting, but two L-shaped brackets are included that screw into the bottom if you want to put it on a wall.
Each satellite measures 2.4 by 8 by 5.5 inches and weighs 2.75 pounds. Each has grilles that wrap from the front around to the left or right sides (depending on the speaker). A recess on the opposite side houses the metal contacts used for charging. These speakers plug into the left and right ends of the main soundbar and stay attached fairly securely, widening the bar to 54.2 inches. The satellites are wireless and thus run on battery power; they charge when connected to the soundbar. JBL says they are able to run for up to 12 hours on the battery, though that will vary depending on volume.
A wireless subwoofer joins the soundbar and satellites and it. It requires a power outlet, but no direct connection to the soundbar. It’s a hefty 18.9-by-14.4-by-14.4-inch black block, one of the biggest subwoofers we’ve seen included with a soundbar.
This wireless design is convenient because it means you can set the subwoofer anywhere in your room and place the satellites around your couch without running wires to the subwoofer or the satellites.
The soundbar itself has six 1.8-by-3.5-inch racetrack drivers and five 0.75-inch tweeters facing forward, and an additional four 2.75-inch full-range drivers facing upward for height. Each satellite has its own matching racetrack driver, tweeter, and upward-firing driver, along with two passive radiators. The subwoofer has an impressive 12-inch downward-firing driver. The system delivers 1,170W with a frequency range of 33Hz to 20kHz.
The included remote is a skinny, rectangular black wand with flat, circular buttons. Its controls include power, volume up/down, mute, play/pause, favorite, and calibrate; source buttons for TV, Bluetooth, and HDMI; and dedicated volume selection buttons for Dolby, bass, and rear satellites. Oddly, the input and volume selection buttons are located on an isolated panel that gives the impression they should slide out to reveal additional controls, but this is just a design choice.
Streaming Features and JBL Bar 1300X App Experience
The JBL Bar 1300X is an 11.1.4-channel sound system with wireless satellites that you can deploy behind and to the sides of the listener. It’s primarily designed for use with a TV over HDMI eARC, but also supports optical audio for non-spatial audio standards. It features Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity with Alexa Multi-Room Music (MRM), Apple AirPlay, and Google Cast. The satellites can function independently of the soundbar as a Bluetooth stereo pair or separate Bluetooth speakers when connected to your phone.
Alexa MRM doesn’t mean the Bar 1300X has Alexa itself. The soundbar lacks any voice assistant; it can simply be used to play music with Alexa commands if you have an Echo smart speaker or Echo Show smart display (or use the Alexa app on your phone).
You can use the Bar 1300X out of the box by plugging it into your TV or pairing it with your phone over Bluetooth, but you should use the JBL One app (available for Android and iOS) to fully set it up.
The app lets you connect the soundbar to your Wi-Fi network to enable Alexa MRM, Apple AirPlay, and Google Cast, and can update the firmware when needed. The app provides a meager three-band EQ for adjusting the sound but no presets, and it also has separate audio sync and volume sliders for the rear speakers when they’re detached.
The app can walk you through calibrating the setup with on-screen prompts that explain where to put the surround speakers. You can also use the app to set up the My Moment feature, which launches your favorite playlist or radio station when you press the favorite button on the remote. Amazon Music, Calm Radio, iHeartRadio, Napster, Qobuz, Tidal, and TuneIn support this feature, but Apple Music and YouTube Music do not. Finally, the app provides a touch-screen version of the physical remote if you want to control the soundbar directly via your phone.
Big Bass and Detailed Surround
With such a big subwoofer, it’s unsurprising that the Bar 1300X can put out some heavy sub-bass. The soundbar played our bass test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” with powerful thump building up at only half-volume. In fact, I was unable to push the volume any higher to test the bass because the kick drum hits were already vibrating the walls and floor, and while I’m the only apartment on my floor, the thunder could almost certainly be heard upstairs. If you want to feel whatever you’re watching or listening to, this soundbar and its 12-inch subwoofer deliver the impact.
The Bar 1300X is also excellent for more balanced music and doesn’t try to inject extra rumble where there isn't any. The opening acoustic guitar plucks of Yes’ classic progressive rock hit “Roundabout” get solid resonance without sounding artificially boosted, and the crisp string texture comes through in the higher frequencies. When the track properly kicks in, every element stands on its own, from the punchy bassline to the bright guitar strums and the prominent vocals.
It’s a detailed sound, and the width of the soundbar ensures that stereo separation is present. The stereo soundstage can be enhanced by actually keeping the satellites attached to the sides of the soundbar; if they’re separated and placed in surround positions they provide a more room-filling experience that mostly preserves the directionality of the track, though increasing from two channels to more is technically less accurate than just listening in stereo.
The Dolby Atmos audio in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is powerful, with excellent directional imaging through the 1300X. The sound of rubble flying overhead in the opening chase scene excites, with the height channels of both the soundbar and the satellites clearly giving the impression of rocks shooting around the viewer. The dialogue can be heard clearly against the bombastic soundtrack and the deep rumble of stonework being destroyed.
While The Nun’s Dolby Atmos mix isn't quite as sensory-overloading as Doctor Strange, its use of spatial audio for environmental sounds to build tension is incredibly effective with the Bar 1300X. When the demon nun is stalking Frenchie on the abbey grounds, the telltale rustling of leaves comes through clearly both high and behind the listening position. When she jumps down to attack, the sound of branches cracking seems to come from directly overhead. The subwoofer does plenty of work for the atmosphere, too, providing deep, palpable sub-bass rumble to wring a sense of dread from the scene.
Even without a spatial audio mix, the Bar 1300X does a good job of up-mixing stereo for frightening content. Watching some horror game playthroughs on YouTube, I noticed that ghostly whispers came through the surround speakers quite plainly, adding a chilling sense of behind-the-shoulder spookiness. Up-mixing can’t compare with a full spatial audio mix, but the soundbar can still immerse you in audio when multichannel content isn’t available.
Room-Filling Home Theater Audio
At $1,699.99, the JBL Bar 1300X is one of the more expensive soundbars we've tested, but it offers loads of power and an incredibly immersive experience. Its huge subwoofer can easily shake the house when listening to music or watching movies, while height channels add a new dimension to spatial audio content and detachable satellites keep the number of power cords and wires to a minimum. The JBL Bar 1300X eclipses the $1,899.99 Samsung HW-Q990B in convenience and power, earning it our Editors’ Choice for high-end home theater audio, though the HW-Q990B might still be a better choice for some Samsung TV owners due to exclusive features. If you don’t want to spend quite so much, meanwhile, the $899 Sonos Arc offers 5-channel audio and smart assistant support, though it lacks rear height channels and doesn't include a subwoofer.