JBL Cinema Base Review

JBL has been around since 1946 and it is not unlikely you´ll find their professional products in your local movie theater and concert hall. They also use their pro audio expertise to make product for the home, and in this review we specifically take a look at JBL's Cinema Base - a soundbase priced at $349.95 (MSRP).

​The Cinema Base is 23.6" (600mm) x 15.8" (401.6mm) x 4" (102mm) (W x D x H) with curved edges and a non-removable metal grille on the front. Like many speakers from the U.S, it looks beefy and powerful. It can handle TVs with a weight up to 150lbs (68kg) as long as the TV stand fits the 23" x 13.5" (585 x 342mm) top surface, although JBL recommend sizes up to 60". The speaker only comes in black and is mainly made of high quality plastic, giving it an overall solid impression.

​With a HDMI (ARC), optical digital and analog minijack inputs, and an output for an external subwoofer, the Cinema Base cover the most common connectivity options, although it would be nice to see some additional HDMI inputs. JBL is however nice enough to include cables (except USB) for all the different input types.

Speaking of USB, there´s an USB port on the right side of the speaker. It is unfortunately only for charging USB devices, not for signal transfer, but it complements the other connectivity options nicely. If you want to play audio from your computer, tablet or smartphone, you can do so by streaming it via Bluetooth. Add to the above a Dolby Digital decoder, volume and bass level controls, and various audio features like Harman Display Surround (surround sound processing), Harman Volume (helps you keep your sound levels consistent and reduce extreme volume transitions), and of course regular Stereo.

Unfortunately JBL omitted any display​ or indication of volume or subwoofer level, and if you like to slouch in the couch it´s hard to see the LEDs on top of the speaker and thus you won´t get any visual feedback when you press the remote buttons.

Unpolished But ​Powerful Sound

JBL has placed the 3.5" (65mm) subwoofers next to the 2.5" (90mm) full range drivers on the front of the Cinema Base. Most of the sound bases/plates we´ve tested have the subwoofer placed at the bottom, but JBL's approach have some benefits when it comes to precision as it´s easier to get a correct phase/timing when the drivers are placed more closely together. The frequency response and efficiency of the woofers is further improved by reflex ports on both sides of the cabinet, and the Cinema Base reaches a respectable 45 hertz - which is quite impressive considering the size of the speaker.

The slightly recessed midrange and the somewhat emphasized bass and treble gives music a nicely rounded loudness curve. While not being completely neutral and flat, it still manages to sound fairly balanced, mainly thanks to the full range drivers - what it lacks in accuracy, it compensates with power and energy.

Turning the Harman Display Surround processing on will widen the sound stage and gives movies and music an increased sense of space. You will however not hear sound effects coming from behind you like in a proper multichannel system, but that is of course not expected. Compared to the Stereo mode, speech intelligibility and detail resolution will suffer, and it comes down to if you want a big sound experience or a more focused and detailed one.