Earlier this year JBL launched the new Soundbar series with Dolby Atmos. We’ve seen and heard these Soundbars in action firsthand and our impressions were stellar.
The Dolby Atmos technology in these Soundbars make their audio brighter and crisper. They provide 3D audio, or rather, spatial audio, which creates sounds based on what is on screen. This is even more prominent in the JBL Bar 1300, which features detachable components so you can place them around the room. This kind of setup allows deeper immersion: Footsteps coming from behind the screen? Yes, you’ll hear that behind you. Cars driving along the street? You’ll mistake an actual car passing by your own room.
The rest of JBL’s Bar series also happen to be compact, making it easier for them to be placed in the room. They use Multibeam, a technology that creates an immersive space 3D sound without the need of having additional speakers or attachments.
Larry Secreto, country head of Harman International, JBL’s parent company, has talked about how the market for home entertainment continues to grow year after year, especially with the rise of streaming platforms that disrupted the industry.
Larry Secreto during the launch of the JBL Bar series
“JBL is at par with the market growth, especially after launching our new Soundbar series,” Secreto said. “Our Q2 is traditionally the lowest season of the year, but thanks to the active promotion of the new series, customers are picking up and the early adopters are buying the latest models. Aside from the Soundbar, the new Tour Series M2 models helped contribute to the update.”
The Tour Series M2 is one of JBL’s newest headphones released in the country. It features True Adaptive Noise Cancelling and Smart Ambient to bring out the best audio from the headphones and contains four microphones for improved calling. Also, it features JBL’s own Pro Sound spatial audio, so you can immerse yourself when watching your favorite shows and movies. Imagine having spatial audio when watching horror flicks like Cobweb and Take to Me, or reliving cinematic epics like Lord of the Rings and Avengers Endgame. Sounds like a nice new way to re-experience something.
Headphones are one thing though. They’re easy to try as some retail shops have them on display. The soundbars though can be quite a challenge. That’s why the JBL team launched the Soundbar Experience Box, recently at SM Megamall. The Experience Box replicates a home setting with JBL’s Bar series installed, for people to try out firsthand on how immersive these speakers are.
“JBL Soundbar Experience Box is one of the best ways to let customers experience the full feature of listening to Soundbar mimicking the experience in your living room,” Secreto said. “Usually, if you buy this kind of product, you don't get the chance to experience the full potential if you try it on in a retail shop. But the Soundbar Experience Box will let you play around, turn on the best features and experience how it will be set up in your living room.”
Secreto has confirmed the Soundbar Experience Box will pop up in other locations: “This Soundbar Experience Box will go around in different shopping malls within Metro Manila and will include Cebu and Davao cities eventually.”
If you happen to be a new JBL customer and interested in checking them out, you’ll be interested to know the company has a wide selection of products suitable for everyone’s needs. One of the products Secreto spoke about is the JBL Partybox. It’s a portable speaker with bright neon lights that syncs up to the music you’re playing. It comes with microphones and the audio is powerful and vibrant. It’s a device for those who want to karaoke with friends and family or just have an awesome speaker ready for your whim.
JBL recreates living room setup so people can experience the Bar series.
Not too long ago, JBL also entered the gaming market, producing the Quantum headphones.
“One of the trusts of JBL is to take a slice of the growing gaming peripherals market, JBL Quantum, the latest addition to JBL's portfolio, is determined to bring the gaming headphones closer to consumers,” Secreto said. “By the end of August, JBL will sponsor esport competitions in several universities, called JBL Quantum Campus Mania. This will include Lyceum of the Philippines University, Adamson University, Mapua University and University of Santo Tomas.”
Secreto added that JBL is aiming to capture the youth. He said: “JBL will continue to be here and in the future to bring the best products, help in the economic activities especially in retail and continue to shape the youth with their love for music. We will continue to collaborate with artists, media personalities, social media bloggers, and many personalities to bring in the latest products and let people experience global quality audio equipment.”
With all these big announcements, it may seem JBL is ready to slow down a little bit as they prepare their next big lineups. However, Secreto teased that may not be the case. He notes to JBL enthusiasts to keep a lookout as more interesting things are coming out soon.
“I would like to request our JBL enthusiasts to keep following our social media channels because there will be more interesting products coming up pretty soon,” he said. “I'm sure everyone will be very excited once we announce the next set of models we are launching.”
Before we ended our chat, I had to ask Secreto, among all the JBL products, which one is his favorite.
“My favorite is Soundbar. I love watching movies and I've been using my Bar 9.1 for the last 3 years, I really enjoy it. I may upgrade soon to enjoy Dolby Atmos,” Secreto said.