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JVC THL1 5.1 Channel Home Theater Surround Media System |
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| Editorial Reviews: | | |  | | The JVC TH-L1 is a compact entertainment surround system designed to bring surround sound to virtually any device and digital format, from video gaming systems to iPods .The TH-L1 is comprised of five small, cubic speakers, a subwoofer and a main unit that features 360 watts, 5.1-channel surround decoding and a full complement of inputs and outputs, including USB Host and an iPod audio and video connection for iPod control and charging. In addition, it has three AV inputs, including two HDMI inputs. | |
| Custom Reviews: | |
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| | I bought this product after seeing it reviewed on Cnet. The one thing that appealed to me about this product was that it was a 'system in a box' and did not have a DVD player (since I already have one). Also, my entire home set-up (except TV) is JVC, so I thought it would allow me better integration and fewer remotes.
I agree with another reviewer. The speakers are cheap and come prewired, so the distance and placement of the speakers is pretty well set. So if you have a room that is greater than 10x10, you'll end up sitting behind the speakers and miss the surround sound.
As for connections, the connections are not that great for home theatre. Basically there are only 2 audio inputs for surround sound/home theatre. There are a whole slew of connections on the back, but you probably won't use half of them.
The hookups work like this: You get surround sound through Audio 1 via an Optical Cable and through Audio 2 via an Optical Coaxial Cable. If that sounds confusing, it is because the video inputs are passthrough only - you can only get surround sound by using an Optical Cable or an Optical Coaxial Cable. In other words, despite there being two HDMI inputs, two Component Video Inputs, etc., here are only two audio inputs for surround sound.
What this means is that if you have two units (i.e. a TIVO and a DVD player) that don't have each of these types of connections, then you can't hook them up to the JVC Unit at the same time. Luckily in my case, my DVD has both an Optical Cable Jack and a Optical Coaxial Cable Jack, so my TIVO is hooked up to Audio 1 and my DVD is hooked up to Audio 2.
Also, I left my TIVO's HDMI cables plugged directly into the TV because even though the Video Jacks on this unit are passthrough, I didn't want to turn the system on every time I wanted to watch TV. So this way I can watch the TIVO or regular TV without turning on the JVC unit.
As for a universal remote - forget it! This thing won't even work my JVC DVD player or my JVC receiver, let alone my Panasonic TV. However, the sound is pretty good. It fills the room, and I can actually now decipher the dialogue from the background noise. It has an automatic surround sound feature that picks the best option. It seems to work pretty well. MTV-HD through the system sounded fantastic. So from that point of view, I am not disappointed.
The bottom line is that this is a pretty good unit for the price. It would be way better if the video wasn't just pass though (since then you could have at least four different digital audio input options - 2 HDMI, 1 Optical Cable and 1 Optical Coaxial Cable) and if the speakers weren't prewired. But if you know these limitations going in, then I think you'll be happy.
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| Great features, iffy build quality, crappy speakers | |
| | I bought this very excited about the advanced features it supported, such as iPod connectivity (without purchasing some ripoff $100 "adapter") and HDMI switching.
The features are great but wow, the whole thing feels so lightweight and cheap! Really cheesy plastic; it does not feel like a $300 product. The amplifier unit sounds fine with my existing speakers, but I was really disappointed by the included JVC speakers. They are sad, cheap little boxes with limited range output.
Overall I am disappointed and am returning it.
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