Sound Bar, Sound Value
Painful Fact #1: Some rooms just don't need a full-blown home theater system.
Painful Fact #2: Some people don't want or need the added cost and complexities associated with a complete surround sound rig.
Painful Fact #3: 95% of all stock television speakers sound weak, anemic and all kinds of awful.
To combat this trio of inconvenient truths, the soundbar speaker category was born. Delivering up to five channels of sound (some of which are "virtual") in one wall-mountable speaker array, the soundbar has become a popular option for those seeking improved audio without breaking the bank or cluttering the room with a half dozen speakers and speaker wires. JVC's TH-BA1 system delivers precisely on that promise, providing four channels of sound (left/center/right/mono surround) from its hefty soundbar, coupled with a wireless subwoofer for low-end oomph.
Although the soundbar component of JVC's TH-BA1 system isn't terribly attractive, it does have quite a few things going for it that warrant your attention. Its list of pros includes niceties such as a 2-digit LCD volume and status indicator, a terrific remote control, a wallet-friendly price tag and a couldn't-be-easier installation. There are a few cons worth mentioning too, but we'll get to those in a moment.
The Hook-Up
Setting up the TH-BA1 speaker system doesn't take more than a few minutes. With two optical audio inputs and a single analog input, the expectation is that consumers will connect their Blu-ray Disc (or DVD) player directly to the soundbar. The same is true for your cable box, satellite receiver or OTA tuner. The analog connection could certainly come in handy for wiring up a CD player or video game console, but I didn't have much use for it. It would have been nice to see JVC give us HDMI as a connection option, but no such luck. For testing purposes, I connected my Panasonic BD-35 Blu-ray Disc player to Optical Input 1 and called it a day.
As for the wireless subwoofer, pairing it with the soundbar took mere seconds thanks to the simple "Pairing" button on the rear of the sub. The pairing process is much like setting up a cordless mouse or bluetooth headset. Hold a button for a seconds and presto change-o, one discovers the other and your dynamic duo is ready for business.
With a traditional A/V receiver and subwoofer installation, one of the biggest sources of stress and improper configuration is subwoofer crossover setup and bass management. The TH-BA1 removes that potential stress (and arguably, the flexibility) by only giving you a fixed crossover with no subwoofer adjustments beyond bass level (i.e. volume). While I would certainly complain about a receiver that didn't offer an adjustable crossover, the TH-BA1 is a duet act and these two components have been tuned to sound the best that they can when working with one another. So who am I to argue?
Control Freak
Unlike the credit card-style remote controls that come with many soundbars on the market, the TH-BA1 offers a slightly beefier remote and it's perfectly suited to the task at hand. Although it's not backlit, the buttons are large, well spaced and intuitively labeled. More importantly - and this may be my favorite feature of the TH-BA1 - the remote provides separate (and simple!) controls to independently raise or lower the surround, subwoofer and center channel speakers.
Thanks to the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks adorning many prime time TV series, dialogue often takes a back seat to music and effects sounds when it gets down-mixed to stereo for playback on your TV's built-in speakers. The net effect of this is that you're forced to choose between a reasonable overall volume featuring barely-audible dialogue or intelligible dialogue coupled with bombastic music and sound effects. With its convenient CENTER + / - buttons, you can keep the overall volume at a reasonable level and just punch up the center channel dialogue when find yourself leaning forward in your chair.
As I said earlier, soundbars can only do so much when it comes to creating convincing surround sound. It's better than nothing, but don't expect to be looking over your shoulder as you might do with a traditional 5.1 speaker system. With the TH-BA1, surround sound effects did get a bit more convincing when I raised the bar above the image, so you may want to consider an above-the-TV mounting location if you have that option available to you.
As a final listening test, I watched a few re-runs of "Seinfeld," a little Weather Channel and the evening news. You know, the stuff you watch every day. On each of these, the TH-BA1 made its raison d'etre ever clearer. This is first and foremost a respectable replacement for the tin can speakers that came with your flat panel TV.
Turn-Ons
Turn-Offs
Final Thoughts
Like all soundbars, JVC's TH-BA1 is not going to outperform a traditional 5.1 speaker system. However, it's not really trying to. The primary goals with a system such as this are simplicity and improved audio performance when compared with stock TV speakers. On those two fronts, the TH-BA1 handles itself quite admirably.
For those of you looking for a sleek and sexy soundbar to complement your new flatpanel, it should be noted that the TH-BA1 is not going to win any beauty pageants. But remember that it's what's on the inside that matters most. And there's no getting around the fact that JVC's TH-BA1 delivers solid sound quality and terrific value for your hard-earned dollar.
Manufacturer's Specifications:
Inputs/Outputs:
What's in the Box?
Manufacturer Contact Information:
JVC U.S.A.
1700 Valley Road
Wayne, NJ 07470
(973) 317-5000
On the Web: www.jvc.com
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