As a home cinema expert, I review a whole lot of soundbars. While no model can quite match the truly immersive experience of a good, full-fat multi-speaker setup, the category has grown considerably over the years, and for good reason.When soundbars were first introduced in 2005 with the Yamaha YSP-1, they boasted an all-in-one, compact design that packed surround sound into a single product that sat neatly in front of your TV. And there's a lot to like about that simplicity.But I have been testing more and more soundbar packages that are adding extra elements to the mix. One of the most extreme examples is the Nakamichi Dragon soundbar package, consisting of two subwoofers, two surrounds and a main soundbar which creates a whopping 11.4.6-channel configuration. You may think that adding extra subwoofers and surround sound speakers would immediately make for a more immersive listening experience. I've tested my fair share of soundbar packages, however, and the most recent system to be put through its paces proves that this is not always the case.As always, the devil is in the details, and it depends heavily on the specific models you're considering.Enter the JBL Bar 1000MK2, which sports one of the most versatile soundbar package designs we have had in our test room.The Dolby Atmos soundbar launched at £1000 / £1200 / AU$1600, although in the UK you can pick it up for £900 at a variety of retailers.Offering a 7.1.4-channel configuration, the JBL model features two detachable surrounds that deliver “immersive, cinematic surround sound” for movie viewing, according to the brand.Inside each surround, you will find one up-firing driver as well as a racetrack driver.They can also be used with JBL's Broadcasting feature, which means you can take one of the surrounds into another room and transform it into a surround speaker, so you don't miss out on the action. The speakers provide a claimed 10 hours of battery life, but when you need to give them some juice, you can connect them to the main soundbar's magnetic ports on each side.
This all makes them sound great. But upon actually using it, the JBL shows that having lots of clever functionality and wireless surrounds doesn't garuntee it's the best product available, or that it'll be better than equivalently priced single bar solutions.While the 1000MK2 delivers a reasonably precise and wide soundstage with its detachable speakers, they fail to pack the punch we were hoping for. We say in our review: "Even when they are cranked up to their maximum volume, they don’t create as much scale as rival systems and struggle to generate a truly immersive dome of sound above us."Their versatile design is still a big draw, giving the package a flexibility that rivals simply don’t have. But class-leading single soundbars can offer a more immersive listening experience without the extra kit.Take the Sonos Arc Ultra, we compared it against, for example. The Award-winner comes in at roughly the same price as the JBL model, costing £999 / $999 / AU$1799. When we put the two soundbars head-to-head, the Sonos surprisingly manages to produce a more convincing surround-sound experience, despite it being just one soundbar. While watching Thunderbolts with both models as gunshots fire all around the soundstage, the Sonos delivers a wider yet more precise experience that the JBL can't match.Despite including a clever, innovative design with its detachable speakers, the JBL's surrounds don't make enough of an impact, especially when compared to the Sonos' more compact build. It seems that less is more, in this case. Which is why I felt the need to pen this warning, letting readers know, just because something has surrounds, doesn't make it automatically better. Trust me, I've done the side-by-side comparisons to check.MORE:Here's our review of the JBL Bar 1000MK2These are the best Dolby Atmos soundbarsAnd this is our review of the Sonos Arc Ultra
