Can the JBL Cinema SB 450 deliver the high-quality sound to meet modern demands?

IN an attempt to deliver the best product to meet modern demands, JBL has created a product to match 4K Ultra-HD devices.

JBL's soundbar works seamlessly with 4K Ultra-HD displays and devices

JBL has become synonymous with quality sound, having been responsible for some of the most successful Bluetooth speakers on the market.

The company has also proved it’s highly capable of creating excellent soundbars to meet the home entertainment need of consumers, with its latest Cinema SB 450 being no exception.

In an attempt to deliver the best product to meet modern demands, the SB 450 has three HDMI ports which are 2.0a/HDCP 2.2 compliant — meaning they work seamlessly with 4K Ultra-HD displays and devices.

The ability to pass 4K signals is not the only new feature, with the SB 450 also enabling Bluetooth restreaming to other JBL devices — like the JBL Charge 3 — for an amplified listening experience.

DESIGN

The soundbar measures 44-inches wide and is covered in a fine steel mesh, with a small JBL logo attached in the middle of the product.

There are adjustable feet on the bottom of the product, while the top is home to a number of controls such as input, Bluetooth and volume — these are also found on a small remote.

On the rear of the bar are the three HDMI inputs mentioned earlier and a fourth HDMI output to link everything to your TV.

Other connections include optical, a USB for firmware updates and 3.5mm auxiliary.

I found the product design to be nice, although when positioned in front of my Hisense 50-inch Series 7 ULED Ultra HD television, the soundbar blocked the bottom of the screen — something that became increasingly frustrating.

Admittedly the product comes with a wallmount, but because I am renting this was not a viable option.

Although, it’s hard to be too critical as a lot of soundbars on the market would have the same annoying feature.

The soundbar also connects wirelessly to a subwoofer with an 8-inch, 200 watt driver.

With the whole sub measuring around 13-inches square, it is one of biggest on the market.

The wireless connectivity of the subwoofer is helpful as it allows users to position it anywhere within range, however it would be wise to not hide it away too much as the unit pumps out a lot of air and will require some fine tuning during the early stages.

The JBL Cinema SB450 Soundbar works to fully immerse your home in high performance sound thanks to a powerful 240W soundbar and 200W subwoofer.

PERFORMANCE

In order to test the soundbar in a variety of conditions, I used in both my large, open living room and in my smaller bedroom.

I found the sound dynamically alive and very powerful when using the device for video games and movies — especially during moments with large explosions when the subwoofer could shine.

However, the large subwoofer took some time to balance the heavy bass with the soundbar.

In terms of rooms, I found it performed much better in the smaller environment, although it was still more than sufficient in the larger living area.

While easy to set-up, I found the unit struggled to connect with my devices and TV every so often — only offering me either sound or video.

This required me to restart the sound system and my devices until it registered and while it only happened a handful of times it was still enough to frustrate me.

And while the unit enables Bluetooth restreaming to other JBL devices, it doesn’t automatically reconnect to them, meaning you will need to do it manually every time the connection is lost.

OVERALL

Having been a fan of multi-speaker surround sound, this was one of my first introductions to a soundbar and I was very impressed with what I saw.

The $998 soundbar offered big, bold sound to enhance my gaming and movie experience.

While there were some minor issues, I believe they were not enough to put me off the soundbar entirely, however I would recommend a good comparison to other products in that price range to see how it stacks up before making the purchase.

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