JVC BA1 vs Sony CT-350,,, my personal at home Shoot Out !!!

Ok,, so I had to do it,,,,, I have my JVC BA1 and love it but I kept wondering how the Sony CT-350 compared (I already owned the CT-150 in the past).

Anyhow,, this review aint going to be to exciting,,,,,, the winner was/is,,,,,, to be honest, Im not sure,,,, they both sound great and so close I cant really pick a winner.

One of the main things I look for in a soundbar is the faux surround effect and both of these bars to a really nice job with filling the room with a big room filling sound,, if I had to pick I "guess" I would say the CT-350 puts out a bigger more room filling sound.

I recently moved into a new condo and the living room is made for a soundbar, reflecting walls on each side and a back wall,,,, so my room is the perfect room shape and size for any soundbar (one of the reasons I rented the condo).

Anyhow,, I thought I would mention that as its important to have a good listening room when using a soundbar.

Both the JVC and the CT-350 sounded very good tone wise and both subs performed very well.

As far as which one I am going to leave set up,,,, the CT-350 as I really need the HDMI inputs,,, I just bought a new 65" Panasonic plasma and for my set-up the HDMI's work better for me than the optical's of the JVC.

How long will I keep the Sony,,,, I will keep it until the new Yamaha YSP2200 come's out,,, thats the one Im thinkin is going to be "the" bar,,, heres the link,, http://www.whathifi.com/news/Yamaha-...nd-3D-support/

Cheers
Davyo

Yes, the Vizio does do a better surround as it should as it has rear/side speakers.

Yep,, I had read that you had both on order,, matter of fact when I read your post it kinda was the kick in the ass I needed to go get the CT-350.

I will be very interested to read your thoughts on these two bars to hear your take on them.

When are they getting delivered ???

Cheers
Davyo

Yes,,, I do have a soundbar purchasing sickness.

I will try and fix the confussion,,,,,, yes,,, the Vizio 510 is still my favorite as far as a surround sound and I would still have it if not for the LED's going out and Vizio CS being such BS'ers when I asked them about the LED issue's,,,, Im willing to pack up a few soundbars to exchange them for a problem free one but I dont want to make a habbit of exchanging 510's,,,,, so I returned the 510 for good.

Got the Sony 150 a while back ago and yes, I was quite happy with it but I always wondered if I was missing something by not getting the 350.

Some reasons I went thru a few soundbars in the last few months,,, I was moving into a new condo,, doing a threater room and installing a projector, in the end I got rid of the projector and replaced it with the 65" Panasonic plasma,,, anyhow, Im saying all this beause my set-up/installation needs changed depending on if I was going to be using a projector or a plasma,,(soundbar placement, HDMI switching and other reasons),,,, Im making a long story short,,, or tring too.

Also,,, what else has changed is moving into the new condo,, since soundbars are very dependant on room shape and size, each soundbar I tried out recently is going to react differently (to some degree), in my new place, other than it did in the place I just moved from,,, with that being said I was curious how a Sony CT would sound in my new place.

Since I had already had, and liked very much, the CT-150 I decided to get the 350 instead of another 150,,,,, as far as how they compare,,,, I honestly cant really say ,, the 150 I had in my old place and not in the new condo I just moved into,,, and going by memory would be unfair,,, the only way I would want to offer an opinion is if I had the 150 and the 350 set up at the same time side by side.

As I have said in the past,,, if you need the HDMI switching go with the Sony CT's, if you dont need HDMI go with the JVC,,,,,,, and as I said in my compaison of the JVC and the CT350,,,, its pretty much a draw,,, its a tough call to say which bar sounds the best when I did my side by side in the new condo a few days ago.

In the end though,,,, what Im more interested in is the soon to be released Yamaha YSP-2200,,, having owned YSP's in the past I know what they can sound like when properly set up in the right shaped room,,, with the new YSP they have made some changes that are things that I hated about the the current YSP's,,,, it looks like the new YSP-2200 wont have the confussing menus, the cluttered remote and some of the other things I disliked.

Anyhow,, I hope that clears up some of the connfusion.

Cheers
Davyo

One thing that bothers me is was the extra money I spent on the 350 worth it,,,with the new place I moved into would the 150 have sounded just as good as the 350 I just purchased,,, did I need to spend the extra money or not,,,, that does bother me a bit.

That review "claimed" the 350 sounded better than the 150, but would I have heard a difference in my room set-up.

Cheers
Davyo

Dammm,,,,, I knew I forgot something I was suppose to last week,,,, I was suppose to learn how to read and speak Japanese last Tuesday.

Cheers
Davyo

Ok Nenito,,,, you made me feel better about spending the extra money,,,, I had forgot about those remarks made in the CT150 vs the CT-350 review.

Thank you.

Cheers
Davyo

Ok,,, a soundbar up-date (for those of you keeping track)

I spent some time today doing more side by side testing of the JVC BA1 and the Sony CT-350,,,, played a bunch of my favorite reference BluRays (new Star Trek, Avatar, Iron Man 1, and a few others).

Im ready to anounce a clear winner,,,, drum roll please,,,,,, the JVC.

I know in my first review I said it was almost to close to call and that is still kinda true,, but after really sitting down and spending more time doing the side by side listening the JVC beat out the Sony.

Things the JVC does better,,,,, a better surround sound, more user friendly, bigger LED's that can be seen,,, and here is a biggie for me, the DRC (night listening mode) works far better on the JVC than on the CT-350,,, and thats important to me as I live in a condo and share a common wall with a neighbor and do most of my movie watching late at night.

Matter of fact the JVC really blew the Sony away as far as the DRC mode,, with the Sony in night mode the sound was just a bit muffled overall,,, with the JVC in night mode everything is still there, the surround, the punch and most importanly the dialog comes through just a tad better while still maintaining a very impressive surround effect.

Things the Sony does better,, HDMI inputs.

So there ya have it,,,, the JVC wins again.

My soundbar plans as of now,,, returning the CT-350, and waiting for the release of the new Yamaha YSP-2200 and the release of the new JVC replacement/upgrade to the BA1.

Cheers
Davyo

You would have much better luck getting answer to your question by posting it in the correct thread,,, here is the link.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1236597

Cheers
Davyo

Hey Doc,,,, ya,, the JVC has beat out every soundbar I have had !!!!!

If someone need's the HDMI switching then yes, by all means get a Sony CT,, but in reality,, the best soundbar out there is the JVC,,,,, too bad more people dont know about the JVC or have heard it,,, they are really missing out on an amazing soundbar !!!!

And yes,,, packing up all these boxs and tring out all these bars is kind of a pain in the ass,, but a bit fun at the same time.

Next up,, will be the YSP-2200.

As far as my new 65" Panasonic S2 plasma,,,, Im still loving it,,, it has a killer picture,,, it has been a bit of an adjustment going from LED/LCD to plasma but I think it will be Ok.

I highly recomend the 65" S2 Panasonic plasma !!!!

Cheers
Davyo

Yes, I have changed my opinion a few times on some bars I have purchased but I have always felt that if I had a change of opinion I should post it and be honest about it.

Actually you have it backwards,,,

I used to own and only buy the more expensive soundbars,,, I have owned just about every Yamaha YSP ever made,, starting with the very first YSP-1 (which cost a huge chunk of money back in the day when it first came out) some of the other YSP's I recall owning were the YSP-500, YSP-800, YSP-900, YSP-1100 and the YSP-4000 and I think I also had a YSP-3000 (Im pretty sure I have most of the model numbers correct,, but there's been so many YSP's I have owned I cant keep track).

And most of the YSP's I purchased I got the day they came out,, meaning I paid full MSRP for them as they had not even been out long enough to be discounted yet.

Anyhow, I went from buying the "big boy" soundbars to buying the budget soundbars as I got burnt out out spending way to much money.

Cheers
Davyo