JVC TH-BA1

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JVC TH-BA1

For absolute home theater simplicity, it's hard to beat a sound bar home-theater-in-a-box (HTIB) system. One long speaker, no AV receiver required, and no long pesky wires running all over your living room. The JVC TH-BA1 does the standard configuration one better by including a wireless subwoofer, so the only cables you'll need are behind your TV cabinet. Aside from the wireless subwoofer, the TH-BA1 includes a standard assortment of features, but it stands out from the pack with its better-than-expected sound quality and ease of use. The lack of HDMI connectivity is the major knock against the TH-BA1--and you'd be wise to check out the Sony HT-CT100 if you need HDMI ports, but otherwise it's one of the best deals we've seen, especially compared with the more expensive Yamaha YSP-900 and Denon DHT-FS3.

Design
The TH-BA1's exterior design isn't its main selling point. Its style is bland, and the red indicator lights and basic LCD display make it feel less than cutting-edge. The long polelike shape is designed to fit under your HDTV; it's worth checking the dimensions of your own set to make sure the 4.9-inch-high TH-BA1 won't obscure the screen.

There's a black speaker grille covering the drivers, although it's transparent enough that you can still make out the four 3.19-inch drivers. The TH-BA1 is self-amplified and delivers 30 watts per channel. (If that sounds low to you, don't fret, as most manufacturers inflate their power specs.)

The TH-BA1 has some front panel controls, although the styling is somewhat lacking.

We appreciate that the TH-BA1 at least has a basic LCD screen on the front panel, unlike some of the TV add-on speakers we review. The screen is dark in most scenarios, but lights up when you adjust the volume or switch inputs, then goes dark again once you've made your adjustments. We also liked that you could dim or turn off the blue light in the center of the unit; unfortunately, the smaller red lights are unchangeable.

JVC's simple remote is easy to use and covers all the major functions.

The included remote is excellent. It has just enough heft to feel like a step-up from those cheap credit-card-style remotes, and the button layout is refreshingly basic. There are separate buttons for each input, a button rocker, a mute button, and individual controls to adjust speaker levels. If ease of use is a big priority, the TH-BA1 fits the bill nicely.

Setup
The JVC TH-BA1's setup chores are nice and easy. First, hook up up to three sources to the two optical digital inputs and the stereo analog input. Next, either wall- or table-mount the TH-BA1 speaker. We did the latter, placing it directly on the shelf that supports our display.

Our review sample's wireless subwoofer didn't automatically "pair" with the main speaker, so we followed the straightforward instructions on the single-sheet instruction page. It worked in about a minute.

The sub's volume is adjustable using the remote.

The sub doesn't have a volume control, but you can adjust its level directly from the remote. It's not a particularly powerful sub, and it sounded too lightweight when we first started listening to it. The sub was around 4 feet from the front and sidewalls; moving it within a few inches of the front wall significantly improved its sound. That means that just because the sub is wireless, it doesn't mean you can put it anywhere; place it too far away from the speaker and you'll start to become aware that all the bass is coming from the sub. Try to keep it within 5 or 6 feet of the speaker.

Like we said, the TH-BA1's remote can also directly adjust the speaker's center and surround channel volume levels. That sort of adjustability is nice to have, and we regularly took advantage of it with movies and music.

Features
The HT-BA1 is what we call a "sound bar home-theater-in-a-box system (HTIB)." That's a mouthful, but all it means is it's self-amplified (no AV receiver needed), uses a single speaker cabinet, and includes AV inputs for connecting external devices.

The JVC's connectivity options should be enough for simple home theaters, but the lack of HDMI ports makes the TH-BA1 feel a little outdated.

Like most products in this category, the TH-BA1's connectivity is limited to audio inputs--there are no video inputs. That means you need to run separate video cables directly to your HDTV and fumble with multiple remotes to make sure the TV and TH-BA are on the right input. (Of course, a quality universal remote can take a lot of the pain out of this.) There are two optical digital audio inputs and a single stereo analog audio input. It's worth pointing out that none of those inputs are "shared" inputs; it's possible to connect three separate devices and select them from the remote. This connectivity package is a little less than competitors offer; the Yamaha YSP-900 can handle four devices at once, and the Denon DHT-FS3 can handle five. And like we mentioned before, if you need HDMI connectivity, the Sony HT-CT100 is the best option if you're looking to spend less than $500.

Performance
As soon as we started watching "The Taking of Pelham 123" DVD, we knew the TH-BA1 had the right stuff. The plot is standard thriller material: Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) is a New York City subway dispatcher who finds himself in a battle of wits with subway train hijacker Ryder (John Travolta).

But the soundtrack is superb, and the subway cars' screeching metal wheels echoing through underground tunnels is a sound I hear every day in my real life. The film's mix put me right in the thick of it, and the TH-BA1 did an amazing job recreating the clamor of the subway. When Ryder and his gang fired their weapons, the sound bar didn't muffle or stifle the gun blasts.

But that's exactly what we heard from the film when we played it over a Polk SurroundBar SDA IHT. The Polk dulled the subway's metallic shriek and the police cars' sirens. The Polk's subwoofer did a better job than the JVC's in terms of power and oomph. Neither sound bar produced anything like a room-filling surround effect, but the JVC was slightly better in that regard. It was also better with dialog intelligibility during action-packed scenes.

The TH-BA1's Dynamic Range Control compressed movies' soft-to-loud volume swings without overtly forfeiting sound quality. You can turn the Dynamic Range Control on and off via the remote.

The TH-BA1 is a very clear-sounding speaker, and it even handled brute force dynamic range assaults like the naval battle scenes in the "Master and Commander" Blu-ray reasonably well. The TH-BA1 is above average in that regard, but it's nowhere as powerful sounding as Zvox's Z-Base 575 speaker.

The TH-BA1 again surprised us with CDs. Few sound bars sound as good with music as they do with movies, but the TH-BA1 bested the Zvox with CDs. Acoustic jazz and even hard rock came across well.

Summing up, we were very impressed with the TH-BA1's performance, but it's still not the equal of a 5.1-channel speaker/subwoofer system. Then again, no sound bar, even high-priced models, can do that.

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