RoQuEr

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-sx9e74t...p?i=257RXDV3SL

anyone have this or know where I can read a review? I tried www.audioreview, but they had nothing.

RoQuEr

bump

RocShemp

I've had this for a few months now and am very happy with it. I still haven't figured out all the VFP functions (can someone explain the use of Y-delay and what an appropriate Gamma level would be?) and I've only had a few problems. The Ghost and the Darkness refuses to read and Beauty and the Beast has one ver minor glitch but, all in all, a very good budget A/V receiver.

RoQuEr

are you using it as your main setup? I searched dvdtalk & avsforum, but you never mention what equipment you use.

Did you ever find out if you can hack it?

audrey

I recently set up a budget bedroom system and the JVC was one of the receivers I brought home to try. I mated it with Def Tech Pro Cinema 80s.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by both the sound quality and ergonomics of the unit. In fact, I found the JVC far more engaging than the Onkyo 500, which produced lifeless, two dimensional sound. Dialog is intelligible, surround effects are convincing. Sonics lean toward the bright end of the spectrum, but except for some harshness on loud transients (say when a character is shouting) the system is not fatiguing. The JVC performs ok on music; acceptable, not remarkable. It’s not a receiver I would choose if music playback is important. Video quality was excellent---though I did find the image to be a bit dark compared to other DVD players I’ve used. Discs load fast. The remote is a tad small and not backlit—but serves the purpose.

The JVC does pack a lot into a $350 package: selectable crossover points, DPL II, and a decent DVD player. It’s rated at 100 watts, but that’s an extremely optimistic rating. I would not pair this with speakers below about 89DB in efficiency.

In the end, I decided to go w/ a HK 320 which I found for $430 (open box). If I had not run into this deal, I would have kept the JVC. BTW: CNET does have a brief review of the unit (do a search at www.cnet.com)---overall they liked it. If you are looking for an all-in-one, Onkyo makes 5 disc changer/receiver combo that retails for about $500. I did not listen to that model but you might give it a try.

Good luck.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention that the JVC runs HOT. It needs quite a bit of breathing room and should not have anything stacked on top of the unit.

RocShemp

Yes, I am using it as my main setup and I'm very happy with it. It looks and sounds very good and the VFP (video fine procesor) helps when you want to make a few extra tweaks but don't want to mess too much with how you have already calibrated your TV.

Yes, that's true, I've never mentioned what equipment I use as, to be honest, this is my first 5.1 system. Both lack of money (at times) and not wanting to spend my money on the first thing I saw were factors in this. Now I know this is not the best you can get but for the price (I got mine for $300) and what it includes I thought it was a good deal. the only drawback that really bugs me is there are few inputs. Only two video inputs (both composite and S-Video) and only two digital inputs (both optical and coaxial). Makes it kind of hard when you want to hook up game systems that have the option for 5.1 sound and have your sattelite receiver and VCR hooked up at the same time. There are ways around this but I've seen other receivers that simply have a few more A/V inputs for just-in-case.

I've yet to find out if it can be hacked but I'm sure it's possible. I don't want to void my warranty and therefor am not going to have it modded but it's been my experience that most (if not all JVC) players can be hacked by unplugging them for five seconds and having a few buttons depressed before you plug them back in to access a type of menu (that appears on the player's display rather than your TV) that has some numbers and letters. You switch those around to the values for a particular region or just set it all to zero and the player can access all other regions. I did this one with an XV-1000BK but the the number and letter combination I was told to input were not available on my player (it was a US JVC DVD player and the site was UK based). Still, if others can do it I'm sure I can one day too.

But, like I said, it's not the be all end all DVD/Receiver out in the market but for the price and for what it offers, I'm very happy with it.

audrey

I stumbled on this review when I was looking for something else and thought you might find it of value:

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/art...&page_number=1

hmurchison

The Specs are nice I almost bought one but I was turned off by the 90 Day Labor Warranty. If I am going to buy a combo unit like this I want at least a year.

These type of units should really take off soon. I had my eyes on the Sony combo unit which plays SACD but at $799 it was more than I wanted to spend.