Yamaha have been building soundbars for at least 10 years. That's before the word "soundbar" was even invented, and also before the time when TV speakers were so weedy that some form of sound reinforcement became almost a necessity. Back the they were called "Sound Projectors" and they were an alternative to a full surround system.
If you want this for movies and you want pseudo-surround then the Yam is the one to go for. It is far cleverer in the way it steers sound. By comparison, the JBL is a far more basic design. Although it has multiple speakers and it attempts to produce a "bounced surround effect" it's only one step up from angling some speakers away from the listener.
The What Hi-Fi review cites the sub as being large, and that's possibly why they thought it was impressive compared to similarly priced soundbars. What's interesting though is the specs. JBL quote a minimum frequency response of 38Hz. The Yam sub is far more compact, yet still manages a quotes 40Hz. In practise you wouldn't be able to tell the 2Hz difference.
If it was me, and if I had to have a soundbar, then it would be the Yam. For a start it comes from a much higher price point c. £700 at launch. This means along with the advanced technology comes better quality components.
However, for the JBL/Yam money (£350-£600) you'd have to work very hard to persuade me not to buy a proper AV receiver and 5.1 speaker kit. That, running in 3.1 mode (front LCR + sub) would be my preferred choice.
Lithuania, but never mind ...
