JBL knows theater surround sound
Written: Dec 20 '01 (Updated Dec 21 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Tiny surround speakers, true center-channel, incredible subwoofer, world-class receiver, quality DVD changer
Cons: To be REALLY picky...large components, somewhat squirrely remote, speaker mounts only adjust horizontally
The Bottom Line: For this price, you can't get a better Home Theater system. The combination of great sound, tons of connections, and an excellent DVD player with component outs is HTIB perfection.
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| dtonkin's Full Review: JBL Cinema ProPack 600 |
Before I tell you why The JBL Cinema ProPack 600 is the best Home Theater in a box (HTIB) system that I have ever seen or, more importantly, heard let me explain why I decided to buy an HTIB in the first place.
Background
In July, my wife and I moved into our new custom-built home and I started to hook up my old Dolby surround system. My wife saw me and immediately said, "You can't crowd my new living room with those big speakers...put those things in the garage." You see my old system was composed of two 15" four-way KLH front loudspeakers, two 12" four-way Pioneer rear loudspeakers, a 400 watt Optimus receiver, a five-disc Technics CD changer, and a RadioShack tape deck. It had huge sound but that was because it was huge. I told my wife that was fine but that it meant we would have to get a new system. Luckily I married a woman who likes gadgets as much as me so she said okay.
Decision-Making
For the next four months I went to Best Buy every sunday to check out the Home Theater systems and to see what deals they were running, I read HTIB reviews from all over the internet, and I argued with my wife over how much was too much to spend. I decided on this system in the third month and finally found it on zero-percent interest for 18 months at Best Buy so I convinced my wife and we got it.
System Overview
The JBL Cinema ProPack 600 is made up of three main pieces:
DCR600 Receiver
DVD600 DVD-Changer
SCS135 Surround-Sound Speaker Package
The system also includes all of the wires necessary to hook the system up (speaker wire, RCA audio and video cables, coaxial digital cable, 70 ohm FM antenna, and AM loop antenna) and four satellite speaker mounts. I'll go over each piece individually.
DCR600 Receiver
The DCR600 contains the most extensive amount of connections that that alone is reason enough to buy this system. Here are all of the connections available:
Input Type..................# of Connections
S-Video.....................5
Composite Video........5
RCA Audio.................5
Coaxial Digital Audio...3
Optical Digital Audio....2
Output Type...............# of Connections
S-Video.....................2
Composite Video........2
RCA Audio.................3
Coaxial Digital Audio...1
Optical Digital Audio....1
The DCR600 outputs 100 watts per channel in surround mode and 75 watts per channel in stereo mode. It is important to note that JBL measures power output much more precisely than their competitors. For instance the power output of this system is measured at a Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of only 0.08% (lower numbers are better) whereas a common competitor, the Sony HT-5100D, claims 100 watts per channel in surround mode at a THD of 0.8%. That is ten times the distortion of the JBL system. My point here is that the power of the JBL receiver is considerably greater than that of the Sony system despite the fact that both systems state 100 watts per channel in surround mode. All of this results in the JBL system outputting the cleanest sound I have ever heard.
Another important feature of a surround sound receiver is the ability to decode soundfields. There are a few industry standard soundfields that any surround sound receiver should be capable of, Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby Pro-Logic. The JBL system does a wonderful job of decoding these standard soundfields and also adds several JBL unique soundfields. The DCR600 can create surround sound from old VHS tapes through three different modes: Logic7-C (which I prefer), Hall, and Theater. Additionally, the DCR600 can create surround sound from old cassette tapes and CDs through the use of Logic7-M. Furthermore, JBL includes two modes, VMax Near and VMax Far, that I do not find very useful. These modes attempt to create a surround sound effect by using only the left and right front speakers and the subwoofer. I doubt that anyone who buys this system with its six speakers will elect to use only three of them. There are tons of other features of the DCR600 like Night Mode but this review is already too long.
DVD600
The five-disc DVD changer included with this system is top-notch. The DVD player features component video, S-Video, composite video, optical digital audio, and coaxial digital audio outputs. I do not have a TV with component video inputs (or S-Video for that matter) but I can say that using just the composite video the visual output is much better than that of the Samsung DVD player I had before. The DVD changer outputs Dolby Digital and DTS when available and has a nice, easy to use menu system. The DVD changer also serves as a really nice CD player.
SCS135
The surround sound speaker package is composed of four matched two-way satellites, one dual-woofer two-way center channel speaker, and one 100 watt 8" ported subwoofer. The most remarkable aspect of these speakers is their size. The satellites measure only 3 5/8" x 5 3/4" x 4 1/2" which is smaller than any other system that I have seen (including Bose). The center-channel is only slightly larger. The small size of these speakers results in a very inconspicuous appearance. The subwoofer is fairly large but can still be hidden rather easily. Of course the most important aspect of the speakers is the sound and in this department the JBL system delivers in spades. The sub provides wonderfully full, deep bass and the satellites and center-channel provide perfect highs and excellent mids.
Other stuff
The system comes with a nice, very functional remote but it has a few drawbacks. First of all, although it is compatible with almost every other brand it is somewhat difficult to program. Additionally, the layout of the numerical buttons (0-9) is non-standard and some of the buttons are rather small.
The wires supplied with the system are all top-notch and are sufficiently long. They provide 40' of wire each for the rear speakers and the center-channel, 20' of wire each for the front speakers and 15' of wire for the subwoofer.
I particularly appreciated that JBL included the speaker mounts made specially for the satellites as they normally cost about $50 per pair.
Competition
At this price point the JBL is being compared to the best HTIB from Sony, Yamaha, and Bose. I have personally heard a Sony/Bose surround system composed of a very nice Sony receiver (I would guess it cost $399) and a Bose Acoustimass speaker package ($1299) and I can honestly say that it did not provide the solid bass or the clear surround effects of the Cinema ProPack.
Also, if you are thinking that the difference between this system and one of the budget HTIB systems, let me just say that my wife can and she is no audiophile. We had heard an RCA system that boasted 700 watts (100 x 5 + 200 watt subwoofer) before we installed our system and she kept saying when I bought this, "It's going to sound better than that RCA one, right?" Once she heard it, she was very pleased with my choice.
Overall
JBL states at the beginning of the manual that they provide the equipment used by most recording studios, theaters and concert halls and they have put that knowledge to great use in this system. I honestly feel like you cannot buy a better home theater system without spending two to three times the price. I highly recommend it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dtonkin
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Member: Derek Tonkin
Location: TX, USA
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
I drink a lot of Dr. Pepper because it's good for life.
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