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What Hi-Fi?
What Hi-Fi?
Technology
Joe Svetlik

Save £400 on this hidden gem of a soundbar

JBL Bar 1300 soundbar system.

And now for something a little different. True, Black Friday sees some stunning deals on all kinds of Award-winning products, but there are also great bargains to be had on lesser-known devices. This is the latter.

Because while the JBL Bar 1300 might not have the prestige of the Sonos Arc Ultra or Samsung HW-Q990D, it is a solid four-star effort. And it's now £400 off, bringing it down to just £899 at Peter Tyson.

JBL Bar 1300 Black Friday deal

The JBL Bar 1300 isn't your typical soundbar. It has two detachable speakers that can either stay attached to the 'bar, or be taken off and placed around the room to act as satellites. They can even work as standalone Bluetooth speakers, playing back whatever's on your phone.

They have rechargeable batteries, so you don't need to run power cables to them, and there's a wireless subwoofer too for adding some low-end grunt.

The detachable speakers feature the same type of drivers as the main 'bar, providing uniformity of sound. JBL's Multibeam tech is onboard, alongside Dolby Atmos and DTS:X to create virtual surround sound.

So how does it sound? Very good indeed. Dialogue is clear and direct, with none of the flatness inherent to some soundbars. High frequencies are handled admirably, as are textures and incidental sounds. Crank it up loud and a little abrasiveness starts to creep in, making the dialogue less clearly intelligible. But that's a minor gripe.

Given that the rear speakers don't contain side-firing drivers, the soundfield is impressively seamless and three-dimensional. "Even with the rear speakers disengaged, the bar is very capable of projecting audio with a sense of spaciousness," we wrote in our review.

The sub integrates with the soundbar well, with no unpleasant separation between low-mid and bass frequencies, though it could sound a little more precise.

Overall, this is a great sounding, versatile system that should do you proud. Now it's just £899, it's better value than ever.

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