Great system for home theater use, but not as good a choice when it comes to gaming.
The JVC TH-C50 5-disc Changer 5.1-Channel Home Theater
System is just what it claims to be-- a complete home theater package. Ample
wire and clear instructions make setup incredibly straightforward. Other
systems should be envious of this model's easy setup.
Once I installed this system it was time to test it with a DVD. My
favorite test film is The Matrix, as some of you may well know by now, but I thought I’d
switch things up a bit and go with The Lord of the Rings. This film was
also a good test for the unit's upscaling abilities. I was pleased with the
JVC audio; it wasn't the best, but it was pretty good. The subwoofer was just
right for my moderately sized living room, however people with larger spaces
will want to swap it out for a more powerful sub. The center channel was a real
treat-- it’s not often that a reasonably priced system can accurately reproduce
voices, let alone keep them separated from the other channels.
The upscaling processor in this system worked well. Of
course there is no substitute for actual hi definition signals, but I refuse to
upgrade my entire movie collection. The JVC offers the added bonus of upscaling
to 780p or 1080i so everyone can join the hi definition party with any hi def.
TV.
Sadly, the JVC was not all roses. The included universal
remote was not universal enough to work with any of my AV components, even ones
purchased within the last year. The
headphone jack was also a big disappointment. I am not allowed to watch Dr.
Phil with the volume turned up at my house, so I have to use headphones. For
some reason, the JVC system has a 5 second audio lag between switching from
headphones to speakers, a major annoyance! The single optical input will
force people who have multiple gaming systems to buy a cable selector if they want
their 360 and ps3 to both have 5.1 audio.
The JVC TH-C50 5-disc Changer 5.1-Channel Home Theater
System will work well for people who don’t need headphones or more than one
optical input; the rest of us should
probably keep looking.