JVC RX 318BK A/V Receivers
JVC RX 318BK A/V Receivers
USER REVIEWS
[Feb 19, 2005]
Craig_C
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Good value, big power transformer. Adequate sound. Plenty of power. Quick connect speakers. LCD display is pretty good.
Weakness:
Red standby light on all the time. Front panel is hard to read. Should have AUX1 & AUX2 inputs on back. Midrange frequencies a little attenuated, but boosting treble too much will make the highs too loud. It's just something you have to live with about this receiver, but it isn't too bad. I compared this JVC RX-318BK receiver to an old Sansui 5050 receiver built in the mid 70's. Sansui made great amps. I listened to both speakers and Grado SR60 headphones. The sansui receiver is a better unit and has better sound, but this little JVC rig isn't bad. It was made in Malaysia. I'm almost sworn to never buy any audio/video gear made in China again. Chinese gear is just made so cheap for the bottom dollar. O.K. the unit runs the bass a little too loud. It sounds good, but I had to attenuate the bass with the bass knob about 30 degrees. The main difference between this amp and my old sansui is that the mid range (vocals) are not as sharp and loud on the JVC unit. Also the JVC does not image quite as well because of this. When listening to the Sansui 5050 with the headphones it sounded as though the vocals were coming from the top of my head, but on the JVC it sounded as though the vocals were coming more from the sides of the headphone. So this unit does good on bass (you'll have to turn it down a little) and good on high frequencies, but the mid range could be stronger. 110 watts/channel is plenty of power for most of us. I was drving both receivers with a cheap CD player. Overall I would say this is a good value for $129.00. The loudness button is nice for watching movies. It is better than a similar cheap Onkyo unit (made in China) that I bought about 2 months ago at Fry's Electronics in Dallas and took back. So if you can't afford a good amp now or if you can't find a good Sansui on Ebay, I think this will work just fine for the time being. I guess they use tape input #2 as an input for VHS cassette tapes. I wish it would of had an aux input, but not a big deal. Similar Products Used: Sansui 5050 |
[Sep 13, 2004]
Mark of Cenla
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Overall sound, price, features
Weakness:
It is very hard to tell when the tape monitor is engaged. I wanted to replace my Sony STR-VX22, a 50watt/channel 80s receiver. So I bought the JVC RX-318Bk because it has more power and more inputs. I did not expect it to sound better, but it does. The highs are much smother, yet still detailed. The bass is stronger, and the overall detail is good too. For a while I had my Hafler preamp and power amp driving this system. The JVC sounds closer to the Hafler stuff than it does to the Sony. I am very happy with this receiver. Similar Products Used: Sony STR-VX22 |
[Dec 20, 2001]
Rick Cusa
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
110 watts/channel, stright forward controls, "rotory" style volume bass and treble, very good power supply, looks very good, built strong, very simple, HUGE heatsink
Weakness:
needs a cooling fan for the HUGE heatsink, i have a little boxer fan pulling air through and it helps alot, this thing gets very hot, very hot, but if you have a way of getting rid of the heat, your good ( when its cranking i notice about a 3 degree rise in the room temp.--> really--but its all good)and this is only a audio reciver, not video, there are no video inputs/outputs, but this is a audio reciver, its ment for listening to music, not video stuff. I bought this off eBay, in the listing it said that half the buttons on the face plate dont work. i bought this, was going to fix it then try and make $40 off it. but i fell in love with it before i even fixed. my dad (he is much better at sodering) fixed it. someone pushed the treble knob in and it craked the circut board, he bridged 3 wires and it works great. for $90 its awsome, for the $250 it was new its awsome. its not dolby surround, but has a "surround" feature. i use my KLH floor speakers model 9912 (did a review on them) and its awsome. Similar Products Used: Aiwa mini-theater (my JVC 500watt dolby DTS should be coming from anyday now) |