Even with my low-slung 50-inch LG C9 OLED TV, the JBL Bar 9.1 only blocked a sliver of the set’s bottom edge, and the (barely there) obstruction didn’t bother me in the slightest. That’s actually relatively compact compared to similarly priced soundbars I’ve tested, and in particular the soundbar’s 2.4-inch height won’t block the bottom edge of most TVs.

The main soundbar unit measures 34.8 x 2.4 x 4.7 inches with the wireless surround speakers detached. Not all ceilings are ideal for the upfiring trick, however for its part, Dolby recommends a flat ceiling that’s between 7.5 and 14 feet high, and a vaulted ceiling won’t work. The idea behind the upfiring drivers is that they bounce sound off your ceiling, which makes for an easier alternative to installing height speakers in your ceiling. Those (total) four upfiring drivers provide the height effects for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, the two competing immersive audio formats that the JBL Bar 9.1 supports. The two remaining height channels come from the upfiring drivers in the two wireless surround speakers, each of which comes equipped with one-inch tweeters. On the main soundbar unit, the left, right, and center channels are powered by four racetrack (or oval-shaped) full-range drivers and three one-inch tweeters, while a pair of upfiring drivers supply audio for two of the four height channels. JBL bills its Bar 9.1 as (natch) a “9.1-channel soundbar,” but it’s more accurately described as a 5.1.4 system: In addition to the traditional left, center, right, rear surround and low-frequency effects channels (the “5.1” part), you also get front and rear height channels (the “.4” at the end).

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