The JBL Bar 1300 MK2 sits at the top of JBL’s latest soundbar lineup. It’s a full 11.1.4 surround system, built around its standout feature: detachable rear speakers you can place anywhere you want. Add in a dual 8-inch wireless subwoofer and 2470W of total system power, and this is very much an all-in home theatre setup.
It’s packed with features like PureVoice 2.0 which generates clearer dialogue, MultiBeam 3.0 so the audio sounds the same wherever you’re sitting, AI sound boost to push the speakers to their limits, compatibility with music streaming services and those detachable speakers can even be used as portable Bluetooth speakers.
The end result is a soundbar system that’s easy to setup, has loads of features and most importantly, sounds great.
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Other products in the lineup
The 1300 MK2 is the best of what JBL has to offer in its soundbar range, but it’s not automatically the right choice for everyone. The MK2 range scales depending on room size, budget, and how much hardware you want in your space.
As mentioned, the $1,797 JBL Bar 1300 MK2 is the most fully featured system in the lineup. It combines detachable battery-powered rear speakers, multiple height channels, and the largest subwoofer in the range to create a full Dolby Atmos setup without the need for permanent speaker wiring.
The $1,268 JBL Bar 1000 MK2 follows the same overall design but has fewer speakers and a lower channel count, positioning it as a more practical fit for medium-sized rooms where the scale of the 1300 may be a bit overkill.
The $788 JBL Bar 800 MK2 keeps detachable rear speakers for proper surround sound while simplifying the system by reducing the focus on overhead height effects. You don’t quite get full Dolby Atmos surround sound here.
The $677 JBL Bar 500 MK2 removes rear speakers entirely and relies simply on the soundbar with virtual surround processing being paired with a dedicated subwoofer, making it better suited to smaller rooms and cleaner setups.
The $458 JBL Bar 300 MK2 is the entry level model providing a compact all-in-one soundbar designed for small spaces where simplicity and minimal hardware matter most.
Setup
Setting up the JBL Bar 1300 MK2 is simple, and that’s thanks to how flexible it is. There are multiple ways to connect it to your TV, which makes it much easier to fit into your specific layout instead of forcing you into a setup that may not actually work for your space.
As you’d expect all the connection options are here, HDMI eARC with 4K Dolby vision passthrough, an optical port and standard HDMI inputs. You can simply connect the soundbar directly to your TV using one of these options and be up and running quickly.
But in my opinion there’s a better option. The 1300 comes with what JBL calls the “One Commander.” This is a small puck that connects to your TV via an HDMI or Optical port, and it sends the audio signal wirelessly to the soundbar, rear speakers, and subwoofer. It makes cable management much easier. The puck is small and easy to hide, which means you can keep everything plugged in near the TV making it easier to achieve that minimalist, wireless look.
It’s important to be clear about what “wireless” means here though. While audio is sent wirelessly via the One Commander, the soundbar, subwoofer and the One Commander itself still need to be plugged in to power, so you might have to consider that when preparing your room. The rear speakers are the exception, they run on internal batteries and don’t need to be plugged in while in use, however you can permanently plug them in via their USB-C port if you don’t want to worry about charging them.
The best part of the setup is easily the rear speakers. As mentioned, they’re detachable and battery-powered, so you can either leave them attached to the soundbar or pop them off and place them anywhere around the room. This is great. Not having to install power points behind the couch or deal with cables makes a huge difference, it’s excellent. Wall mounting kits are included in the box as well which is a nice touch. They do need charging though, and that’s worth mentioning. JBL rates them at up to 10 hours of battery life, but in my time with the soundbar, it was a bit less than that, closer to 8.5 hours. Having to charge the speakers can get annoying, but you can run them permanently via USB-C power, which is a nice option if you’ve got a charger nearby and don’t want to think about battery levels at all.
Sound
When it comes to audio, the first thing you notice is that real speakers are doing the work here. The 1300 doesn’t rely on processing tricks to imitate surround sound. Once the rear speakers are in place, audio actually wraps around you, rather than feeling like everything is being pushed out from the TV and it's very noticeable. You can change the levels of surround sound between low, medium and high and you can even turn it off to get it just how you like it.
The 1300 is Dolby Atmos certified, meaning it can decode Atmos audio and reproduce height effects like rain or helicopters using its physical up-firing speakers rather than relying purely on virtual processing. The benefits of this will depend on your room and ceiling, but when the conditions are right, it’s great.
The 8-inch dual-driver subwoofer adds real weight and impact, without turning everything into a jumbled rumble. It hits hard when it needs to with its maximum 1200 watts power, but it stays controlled enough that it doesn’t overpower dialogue or detail. You can also set this to certain levels with the app or the remote, again allowing you to get it just how you need it and there’s an equaliser in the JBL One app for even more fine tuning.
With JBL’s PureVoice 2.0 software, dialogue stays clear even during busy scenes. Voices remain centered and easy to follow without needing constant volume adjustments or dreaded subtitles. And of course you can use the speakers to play music, it’s compatible with basically every ecosystem, AirPlay, Google Cast, Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect and more.
Features/App
A genuinely cool feature is that the rear speakers can double as portable Bluetooth speakers. You clip on a small cap, you get them in the box, pair them over Bluetooth, and that’s it. No menus, no setup headaches. They also support Auracast, so you can link them with other Auracast-enabled speakers, which makes them surprisingly versatile. They sound very good too.
The JBL One app is pretty basic, but it covers the essentials. You can EQ the sound, run room calibration, use your phone as a remote, and toggle features like PureVoice 2.0 on and off. One frustration I did run into was that the app would quite often lose connection to the soundbar, which got annoying when trying to make quick adjustments. It works, but it’s not the most polished app experience I’ve ever had.
MultiBeam 3.0 is here as well. It helps spread the soundstage wider than the physical bar itself, which means the system still sounds balanced even if you’re not sitting dead centre in front of the TV. That makes a noticeable difference in wider rooms or when multiple people are watching.
Verdict
The JBL Bar 1300 MK2 feels like a system that’s been designed around flexibility. Instead of forcing you to shape your room around the soundbar, it lets you set things up in a way that actually works for your space. You’re not locked into a single layout, and that makes a big difference.
That’s mainly thanks to the detachable rear speakers. They remove a lot of the hassle that comes with setting up your first surround sound system. Being able to place them where you want, when you want, is genuinely one of the strongest parts of this system.
From an audio perspective, it delivers what you’d expect from a flagship soundbar. Movies and TV have real scale, dialogue stays clear, and the subwoofer brings solid weight without becoming overpowering. It’s not trying to replace a dedicated music system, but for its intended purpose, it works very well.
There are compromises. The rear speakers need to be kept charged which can get a bit tedious, the app can be a bit hit-and-miss, and it’s not a budget option. But none of those take away from what it does best, in fact there’s usually a remedy for them. Don’t want to charge the rear speakers, plug them in, don’t want to use the app, set it up once then use the remote.
So if you’re looking for a soundbar that’s easy to live with, works with pretty much anything, and delivers a genuinely immersive home theatre experience without the usual setup headaches, the JBL Bar 1300 MK2 makes a lot of sense. It’s excellent.
