JBL Authentics 500

The JBL Authentics 500 is the flagship of the retro-styled Authentics range: a large three-way system in a cabinet that deliberately recalls JBL’s 1970s studio monitors, with the Quadrex foam grille and leather-effect wrap.

Unlike the smaller models it processes Dolby Atmos music, using its driver array to add height and width to Atmos mixes from streaming services.

What Apple Home actually does with it

This is an AirPlay 2 speaker rather than a HomeKit accessory.

• It appears in the Home app as a speaker you can play to, and as an AirPlay target in Control Centre.
• You can assign it to a room and group it with HomePods for synchronised multi-room audio.
• Siri can send music to it by room name.
• It can be the audio output in a scene or an automation.

You cannot switch it on or set its volume from the Home app the way you would a light. Those stay with the speaker itself and its own app.

Both Alexa and Google Assistant run simultaneously, which is unusual.

Before you buy

It is heavy and wide. Measure the surface it will stand on.

Dolby Atmos music is still a small catalogue and the effect varies enormously by mix. Do not buy this speaker for that feature alone.

The Authentics 200 is the smaller and cheaper model in the same style.

Specifications