Product Description

JVC THL1 5.1 Channel Home Theater Surround Media System includes 5 Cubic Front/Center/Surround Speakers and Subwoofer which deliver theater-like audio/video experience. It features HDMI Input (1080p Pass - Through)/Output for smooth and high resolution pictures. The built-in Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby Pro Logic II Decoders provide high quality audio. It is compatible with various play formats including MP3/WMA/WAV/JPEG AND MPEG-4 (ASF) / -2 / -1 (USB).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48101 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: Black
• Brand: JVC
• Model: THL1
• Dimensions: 13.58" h x 13.03" w x 20.20" l, 21.90 pounds

Features

• 2 x HDMI Input with 1080p Pass-Through
• Ipod Connection
• USB Host
• 306 Total Watts
• Plays MP3/WMA/WAV/JPEG/MPEG4

Customer Reviews

Not Bad For the Price
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.

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.

Good little system, but the HDMI feature is stupid.
I've got no complaints about the audio quality, but this shocked me-- the system does not intercept or process audio coming in via HDMI-- the HDMI ports only function as a video switch... which would be nice if you needed an extra HDMI input, but it's just kind of pointless. With this system, I have to send audio to the home theater system on a separate cable than the HDMI, making the whole point of HDMI moot. Additionally, "input 1" only pairs with the toslink optical (or RCA analog) input whereas "input 2" only pairs with coax digital audio (or RCA analog)... Buyer beware. If this system works for your needs, it's a great value; if it doesn't fit your needs, you should definitely keep looking.