JBL BAR 800MK2 – 7.1 surround sound system with virtual Dolby Atmos (review)

The JBL BAR 800MK2 is part of the new MK2 range from 5.0 to 11.1.4 – all with JBL’s impressive home theatre and music chops.

Before you ask what chops are, it’s not a lump of meat on a bone, but means skill, talent, technical ability, and expertise, suggesting proficiency gained through practice and experience. It’s informal slang, meaning high levels of competence.

And the MK2 range is the 2025 update on the already excellent original JBL BAR  series launched in March 2023. The main additions over the original include:

• Wi-Fi 2.4 and 5GHz streaming, Google multi-room speakers, and broadcast.
• Pure Voice 2.0: JBL goes further and analyses the metadata to automatically increase the voice based on ambient room sound and the video scene’s sound. It’s noticeably better than a crossover centre channel.
• MultiBeam 3.0 is part psychoacoustics and part discrete rear surround speakers. The soundbar calibrates and adapts to deliver virtual Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.
• AI Sound Boost analyses the incoming signal in real time to lift dynamics and low-end punch, giving action scenes more energy and music greater drive — all without edging into distortion.
• Room calibration optimises the ‘listening zone’ based on your room characteristics. Before and after made quite a difference to our experience
• Roon Ready technology, for an incredible user interface, simple setup, rock-solid daily reliability, and the highest levels of audio performance. This requires a subscription (not tested).

Not gone is JBL’s wonderful neutral sound signature (the nirvana), allowing presets, EQ and Dolby Atmos metadata to produce the best possible sound from its 7.1 speakers.

The 2025 JBL BAR MKL2 range includes:

	JBL Bar 1300MK2	JBL Bar 1000MK2	JBL Bar 800MK2	JBL Bar 500MK2	JBL Bar 300MK2
CyberShack Review	JBL Bar 1300MK2 – Impressive and immersive 11.1.4 Dolby Atmos sound bar	Similar to 899MK2 but with two front and two rear up-firing speakers.	This review	Same as 300MK2 but with a subwoofer	CyberJBL Bar 300MK2 – 5.0 Virtual Dolby Atmos soundbar with Wi-Fi and calibration
Channels	11.1.4	7.1.4	7.1	5.1	5.0
Max PEAK Power Output	2470W	960W	780W	750W	450W
Dolby Atmos®	True Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.	True Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.	Virtual Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.	Virtual Dolby Atmos	Virtual Dolby Atmos
MultiBeam3.0	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PureVoice 2.0	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
SmartDetails	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Night Listening	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Connectivity	Wi-Fi Bluetooth AirPlay 2 Google Cast Amazon Music HD Roon Ready Spotify Connect Tidal Connect	Same	Same	Same	Same
Detachable speakers	2 detachable, wireless speakers with Bluetooth function	2 detachable, wireless speakers	2 detachable, wireless speakers	No	No
Subwoofer	Dual 8” compact sub with AI Sound Boost	10” Subwoofer	10” Subwoofer	10” Subwoofer	No
JBL One Commander	Yes	No	No	No	No
RRP Price*	$2299.95	$1599.95	$999.95	$769.95	$549.95

* Check JBL’s website for any promotional pricing and shop around.

JBL BAR 800MK2 speaker configuration

It’s important that you know what speakers are inside and what they do.

• Left forward-firing stereo (all 440 x 80mm full range racetrack drivers)
• Right forward-firing stereo
• Centre forward-firing voice
• Left side-firing surround
• Right side-firing surround
• In addition are two 25mm tweeters (reinforces mid/high treble. Crossover type for left/right stereo) and one extra racetrack likely for the centre chanel.

Rears

• Left forward-firing surround (All 44 x 90mm full range race track drivers
• Right forward-firing surround

Sub Woofer

• 250mm Down-firing

Peak Watts versus RMS

JBL claims 780W Peak (BAR 400W, Rears 2 x 40W and sub 300W). This roughly equates to a total of  390W RMS @THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) 1%.

Australian Review: JBL Bar 800MK2 7.1, 780W (peak), as at 16/12/25

Firmware: OneOS 3.0 (25.26.53.82.00) App version 2.2.9.

Website	JBL AU Website Product Page Manual Quick Start guide
Price	$999.95 but seen as low as $699.95
From	JBL Online, Harvey Norman
Warranty	2-year ACL (Details)
Made in	China
Company	JBL (founded in the mid-40s) is short for James B. Lansing. (Yes, he was the Lansing in Altec Lansing.) It is now part of the Harman group of companies owned by Samsung.
More	CyberShack JBL news and reviews

Ratings

We use the following ratings for many of the items below. CyberShack regards a score between 70 and 80/100 as a fit-for-purpose pass mark. You can click on most images to enlarge them.

• Fail (below expectations), and we will let you know if this affects its use.
• Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be.
• Pass (meets expectations).
• Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good, but does not quite make it to Exceed
• Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader).

First Impression – Unique

JBL introduced the detachable speakers with the original 2023 BAR. In essence, this 7.1 soundbar gives convincing rear surround sound when placed behind your seating.

It is pretty big at (W x H x D) 1163 x 52 x 128mm x 6.4kg with the rears and 854 x 52 x 128mm x 5.7kg without. The sub is also large at (W x H x D) 325 x 400 x 325 mm x 8.1kg. Each rear is (W x H x D) 169 x 52 x 128mm x .7kg. It is perfect for 55” to 75” TVs.

We tested with the rears attached to the soundbar and the rears detached and placed behind the seating position. It is two entirely different soundbars!.

Attached, it’s front-centric (as expected of an all-in-one) with a wide sound stage that suits larger TVs.

Detached, and when the rears are correctly placed and calibrated, you get a decent representation of 7.1 surround. I would not go so far as to say a Dolby Atmos (DA) ‘envelope’ because this bar lacks any up-firing speakers. You get a slight sense of DA, not the precise placement you get with the JBL BAR 1300MK2 11.1.4 system.

Placement and Virtual Dolby Atmos

As far as a straight 7.1 all-in-one soundbar goes, you place it in front of the TV and can sit three or more metres away. Sound will be, as expected, front-centric as it cannot create a Dolby Atmos envelope (as it has no rear, forward-firing, side-firing speakers or up-firing speakers).

Virtual Dolby Atmos requires Dolby Vision or HDR/10/10+ content with metadata.

It can use psychoacoustics for virtual (faux Dolby Atmos or DA), where all-in-one soundbars fool your ears into thinking that sound is coming from around, behind, or above you. To do this, they bounce sound off the ceiling and walls. That is fine if you have lower ceilings and close walls to bounce off – otherwise, you lessen or eliminate the effect. Very few homes are suited to psychoacoustics.

After calibration, MultiBeam 3.0 does its best to give hints of faux DA. In our test area (2.8m ceilings and no side walls), we did not get any 3D height, but some realistic ‘surround’ to about 3m and a wider sound stage.

PureVoice 2.0: Pass+

This is where it shines over the original. Voice is cleaner and crisper. But more important is that it does not substantially alter the audio genres like many soundbars that recess bass and treble to accentuate mids for clear voice.

Calibrate: Pass+

It has an inbuilt microphone to calibrate the soundbar and rear speakers to the room. You first place the rears where two viewers would sit, and the tones establish the DA sound envelope. Then you move the rears behind and beside where the viewers sit and calibrate for surround. It makes a huge difference.

How does it sound?  Pass+

I have listened to many 7.1 soundbars, including dedicated home theatre Amps/speakers. For an all-in-one, it is pretty good. Used with the rear speakers detached, it is even better. While I would spend a few hundred dollars more on the BAR 7.1.4 or 11.1.4 (as I love true DA), this is fine for Joe and Jane Average, who want vastly better TV sound.

Low Bass starts at 40 Hz, and settles into a quickly building mid-bass 50-100 Hz. This is where the JBL Bar 800MK2 subwoofer makes a difference, being able to add that ‘room’ shaking bass.

Then it is well controlled and flat from 100 Hz to 10 kHz, and then slightly choppy upper treble (above human hearing).

Bass is thump, not whump, mids are clear (vocals), and treble is crisp and airy.

Volume is huge – 90dB, but you won’t listen anywhere near that.

Audio music is PCM 2.0, and it does not try to upscale (good).

Rears – Pass

Each of the rears has a 3.635V/3.283A/12W battery that can be charged by docking wth the BAR or via a USB-C PD 10W or higher charger.

JBL claims up to 10 hours of use, but over two weeks, we found that varies between 6 and 8 hours at 70% depending on FTA SDR TV content or Dolby Digital 7.1 or Dolby Atmos.

If you plan on permanently placing the rears behind you, get two USB-C chargers or a powerboard with USB 5V/2A/10W or higher outputs.

BT 5.3 smartphone to soundbar: Pass

It does not appear to support multi-point, but does reconnect to the last paired device.

Multi-room Audio: Pass

You can pair the App with most voice assistants. It can then be part of multi-room audio (Wi-Fi or Ethernet).

Music: Pass+

MP3 Test tracks are clean, bass is thumping, instrumentals are crisp, and the stereo separation is excellent. It does not matter whether it is via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The soundbar supports MP3 16-48kHz and 80-320 kbps, so you can play hi-res music. Music is best played with sound effects off.

One caveat. It does not upscale PCM 2.0 to faux surround (good). It handles surround sound formats, including Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Plus (7.1) and Blu-ray or 4K streaming (HDR/HDR10+/Dolby Vision and DA).

Cast – Pass+

• Google Home (tested) supports multi-room.
• AirPlay
• Spotify Connect
• Tidal Connect
• Roon ready
• JBL One App

Ports – Pass

Optical in

• HDMI ARC 2.0b CEC 18Gbps
• HDMI In 4K@30fps (no VRR/ALLM)
• Bluetooth 5.3 (pair with last device), not multipoint (you have to clear BT to connect a new device)
• Wi-Fi AC 2.4 and 5GHz via App
• USB-A 5V/.5A/2.5W (USB playback is available in the US version only.)

Power Use – Pass

It uses a maximum of 18 W at full volume. Minimal.

In Box – Pass

• 1x Main soundbar
• 2 x Wireless rear speakers
• Wireless Subwoofer
• Remote control with 2 x batteries
• Power cord
• 1 x HDMI cable
• Side caps (for bar and rears)
• Wall-mount brackets (main bar and rears)
• Quick start guide
• Safety instruction and Warranty card
• Wall mount template

CyberShack’s view: JBL Bar 800MK2 offers you great TV surround sound at a reasonable price

I like that the JBL BAR comes in five models because not everyone can afford 11.1.4 (they should 😁but I am a Dolby Atmos snob) and some only need 5.0 sound to immersively improve a TV’s substandard speakers.

If your budget is <$1000, then this is the strongest 7.1 surround sound contender bar none!

Competition

The JBL BAR 800MK2 RRP is $999.95, and there is no better soundbar in that price bracket.

But it’s on JBL’s website at $699.95 and has no peer at that price. So while we will use RRP for comparisons, you would be crazy not to bag a bargain if 7.1 is for you.

JBL Bar 800MK2 Rating

Rated as a 7.1 all-in-one with virtual Dolby Atmos (psychoacoustic room dependent)

• Features: 90. A fully featured all-in-one soundbar with remote control, Wi-Fi, an app and even more features than the original.
• Value: 95. It presents exceptional value for the features offered. Remember, its strength is sound quality.
• Performance: 90. It has an impressive neutral sound signature, loads of volume and a wide sound stage.
• Ease of Use: 90 – It is easy to set up and use; the App is simple, and calibration compensates for most room types.
• Design: 90. It is well-designed and made.

Please note that the JBL BAR 800MK2 has no upfiring front or rear speakers as shown in the video. It can create a 2D sound envelop, not a 3D spatial height envelope.