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JVC TH-BA1 Soundbar System with Wireless Subwoofer Review

By Greg Robinson
Edited by Chris Boylan

JVC TH-BA1 Review

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.

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The TH-BA1 features a wireless subwoofer for terrific placement flexibility.

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?

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The front panel features buttons for surround mode plus indicators for volume and sound format.

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.

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Great remote featuring simple controls for the center, surround and sub levels.
The bad thing about soundbars is that there isn't much to tinker with. However, the good thing about soundbars is that there isn't much to tinker with.  If simplicity is what you're after, look no further. The TH-BA1 features only two surround modes, cryptically titled "Surround 1" and "Surround 2."  (Try to stay with me here.) Surround 1 is used to decode and enjoy multi-channel source material (i.e. most of what you'll be watching) and Surround 2 is for stereo sources. That's it. Did we lose anyone? Good.

One nice feature that seems like an obvious must-have, but you'd be surprised at how many soundbars forego it, is a 2-digit indicator that tells you which surround mode you're using, what the volume level is, etc. It's also welcome that you can dim and even disable the bright blue power LED and the aforementioned numeric indicator to minimize distractions during showtime.

Sound Effects

Multi-channel soundbars seek to emulate the performance derived from five strategically-placed speakers scattered around your room. However, by their very nature they're forced to do so using only a small cluster of speakers located mere inches, not feet, apart from one another. Some soundbars have better luck with this sizable challenge than others, but having heard more than a few of them, here's what I've learned: they can only do so much. 

But that's OK.

With Blu-ray and DVD source material, you'll most likely be dealing with a Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 soundtrack coming out of your player's optical digital output. Using Bitstream output, the TH-BA1 accurately identified and decoded both formats and I left the soundbar in Surround 1 mode for the bulk of my testing.

Watching The Dark Knight's opening bank heist, the TH-BA1 created a reasonably wide sound field for this Dolby 5.1 mix. Dialogue amongst the Joker's clown henchmen was firmly anchored in the center and always intelligible. The wireless sub provided adequate thump when the vault drill was attached and each blast from the bank manager's pump action shotgun registered with my midsection considerably better than when I was only using the plain old TV speakers.  Bass was a bit on the muddy side, but one look at this system's price tag makes such a complaint seem almost petty.

Switching over to the opening sequence of Master and Commander - a great scene not only for bass during the cannon fight, but also for the plethora of subtleties in the surround channels leading up the battle - I was again impressed by the TH-BA1's handling of dialogue and bass information. The mono surround sound on the other hand left a bit to be desired.

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

  • Much better sound than standard television speakers
  • Simple to setup, simple to use
  • Wireless subwoofer a welcome addition at this price point
  • Indicator for volume and surround mode
  • Simple adjustment of center level on the remote is a crowd pleaser

Turn-Offs

  • No HDMI input
  • Somewhat muddy bass from the subwoofer
  • Boring and unattractive design

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:

  • MSRP: $399
  • 3-3/16" full-range drivers (4)
  • Max Total Output: 220 W
  • Dolby Digital decoding: Yes
  • DTS decoding: Yes
  • Color: black
  • Dimensions: 35-7/16" W x 4-15/16" H x 3-3/8" D (soundbar); 8-1/2" W x 13-7/8" H x 10" D (subwoofer)
  • Net Weight: 7.8 pounds (soundbar); 11 pounds (subwoofer)
  • Warranty: 1 Year, Limited Parts and labor

Inputs/Outputs:

  • Optical Digital Inputs: 2
  • Analog Stereo inputs: 1 (RCA-type)

What's in the Box?

  • Soundbar
  • Wireless Subwoofer
  • Remote Control
  • AC adapter/power cord
  • Subwoofer power cord
  • Analog stereo cable
  • Setup Guide

Manufacturer Contact Information:

JVC U.S.A.
1700 Valley Road
Wayne, NJ 07470
(973) 317-5000

On the Web: www.jvc.com

What did you think?

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View all articles by Greg Robinson
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