May 01, 2012 05:00 PM
48562 Views
(Updated May 03, 2012 02:08 PM)
This is probably not the right category to put a review of a home theatre system, but I cannot find the appropriate category in MS and since I was unable to find any review/post for John Barrel so thought that this might be of some help to someone.
The model bought was JB-2100FM-UM, probably the most powerful as of now in the John Barrel product line with 10" woofer. In Bangalore- SP road it costs rs11000, but should be cheaper depending on where you are.
The size and look is ok and hence first look impression should not be discouraging. 10" woofer produce decent low frequencies. So ok in this category. It produces booming bass and not a deep bass.
The satellites have got good tweeters and midrange. So you can expect good high range and vocals. It's actually sounds sweet when you put SWF settings to high negative, specially for sweet songs.
AC3 input/FM/USB stick and a 5.1 input is there. Dolby prologic II mode is there to give you some surround effect for the typical stereo sources.(not that much effective)
But a proper 5.1 input from sound card or DVD should give you a very good result in this system.(am yet to test that). Stereo input in the form of aux-in is there where you can put your mobile or headphone output and can listen to 5.1 effect with prologic setting.
The look is of light brown(drift wood) Mehgoni color and casing is made of compressed wood totally. So save it from liquid spilling. Else the designer paper paste around the casing would go off.
10" woofer produces enough bass to shake up your neighbor at high volume.
The woofer is actually bottom faced and the sound wave on banging the floor gets out through the 3 open sided casing.
Front LED display is there.
I don't think you will need a very high volume at this. Then sound tend to get a little distorted.(applicable for most cheap music systems). Can't blame. At 60% it gives decent output enough to cover up a 1500sqft area.
Value for money rating is positive, but I would like to see this somewhere less than Rs10000.
This is not a loud system but good for TV's and computers(This will not be suitable for gaming). My feeling is that, this sytem has got frequency response problem. Obviously for a normal user, this might not be of a great setback.
I would like to increase my budget a bit more and go for Edifier systems.
In India, probably there is the assembling unit for John Barrel in Delhi from where it gets distributed. This looks more of a Korean/Taiwanese product. If you take a look at their website, experienced users can feel it.
But if you feel curious, you can definitely try and hear it and I think you won't be disappointed.
best,
