I BOUGHT MY ON 1998 I USED FOR 5 YEARS I BOUGHT A SONY BECAUSE IT WAS DD ES AND DTS ES I PUT THE JVC 3 YEARS IN A STORAGE I HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE SONY GET MY JVC BACK TO WORK IS WORKIMG PERFECT THE BEST ITEM I EVER BOUGHT

No 5.1 in stereo mode

I've read a few comments on this amp overloading between 40 and 50 on the volume dial. I had the same problem and corrected it by buying good speaker cable. It cost me about a buck 20 a foot but the well worth the money. The price I paid is in Canuck dollars

Dolby 5.1 and DTS decoders, flexible audio/video assignments, looks, power, number of inputs/outputs, informative FL display

No tape loop or preamp out, some on-screen programming is a pain, remote not the best at duplicating VCR/TV functions

Review JVC RX-8000VBK I've owned my JVC RX-8000VBK for about 20 months now and I have to say it was one of my better investments in audio/video gear. In that time, I have yet to experience any of the "drawbacks" mentioned in other reviews. The FL display is just the right brightness for me. I guess I can see where a hardcore movie buff might like the room pitch black for watching movies, but it's fine for me. A number of folks complained about the volume control, saying something like, "Unit A shakes the walls with the volume knob at 11 o'clock but you can hardly hear the JVC with the volume at 11 o'clock," and gave the RX-8000 a low rating. Jeez, that's like comparing apples to coconuts. For example, you could go to Home Depot and buy two light dimmers, one cheap, one not so cheap. The cheap one gives you a lot less control over the degree of brightness, much like a volume control that "shakes the walls" at a relatively low setting. I personally love the degree of control with the JVC at lower settings since my wife works a different shift and I can find that "just right" volume point that makes me happy and lets her sleep without resorting to headphones. There are tons of inputs and outputs (analog and digital) for all manner of audio/video gear, and speakers. The JVC has built-in Dolby 5.1 and DTS decoders, as well as the cheesier Pro Logic decoding. Presently wired to the receiver are a Toshiba DVD player (using digital coax for audio and S-Video to the Zenith 27" TV), Two VCRs (one Sharp, one Toshiba), Echostar DBS receiver (DishNetworks), 25-year old Sansui direct-drive turntable, Pioneer open reel tape deck, and a Numark mixer/amp that I use for running a light show off the audio sources (just call me an old hippie, haha!). Next spring I hope to add a Toshiba 32AF42 32" flatscreen TV with component video inputs. I started out 20 months ago with the receiver wired to a pair of huge, 25-year-old Speakerlab S7 studio monitor speakers, which sounded great. For surround (rear) speakers, I dug out a pair of 6x9 car speakers, put them in enclosures and placed them in the rear of the room. Not the best sound on earth, but it was a great poor-man's solution and I had a "home theater," albeit homemade. Since then I have replaced all the speakers with a set of JBL NS1 matched surround drivers and a Sony 8" powered subwoofer (contributed by my stepson one Father's Day). One of the really nice features of this unit is you can assign a different video source to a typical source selection. For instance, I have a wireless surveillence camera hooked up to the video input on the front of the JVC. Using the remote and on-screen programming, I can have the audio from FM or a CD channel on the Dish receiver and the video from the camera. Pretty slick. The 5-band equalizer is OK, but it could be better. When adjusting it through the on-screen programming, you can only "slide" three of the controls, which nudge the other twoin the process. A great feature of the RX-8000 is that the equalizer settings are retained for each source individually, so once you have it set for each source, you can pretty much forget about it! My only complaint is that of some others here -- no "tape loop" or preamp outputs. Guess you can't have everything with such a great value in a receiver. Overall, I think the RX-8000VBK is an EXCELLENT value for anyone in the market for a home theater receiver and I give it a 5 all the way around. This puppy REALLY rocks the house, whether listening to music or watching movies on DVD. System at the moment: JVC RX-8000VBK home theater receiver Toshiba SD-2710 DVD player Sharp VC-H992 4-head Hi-Fi VCR Toshiba W-627 4-head Hi-Fi VCR Echostar Model 4000 satellite receiver Numark MA-4000 Studio Monitor mixer/amplifier Sansui SR-525 direct-drive turntable Pioneer RT-707 open reel deck Zenith A27B33 27" television JBL N24 speakers (front) JBL N24 speakers (rear) JBL N-Center speaker (center) Sony SA-WM20 powered subwoofer

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power & sound

nothing so far, besides the ac3 thing!

great so far, dolby digital and DTS dvd''s sound amazing i only wish it would play my ac3 laserdiscs. does anyone know where i can get a rf demodulator? or know what jvc''s models have ac3?''cos i don''t think this jvc 8000 will decode the ac3 signal?

Full function remote, great cinema sound, fairly easy set-up, POWER 100 X 5.

No really good FM/Am reception even with a powered AM/FM amplifier. No 5:1 Stereo sound. Lack of backlit remote.

Power! It blew my Klipsch. It blew my Polk''s. Or should I say my wife blew my Klipsch and Polk''s. She loves techno and dance music loud....I mean loud. This is a good receiver. DVD movies sound fantastic, the stereo function sucks though. No 5:1 stereo! Dooh! If I had to do it over again I would have purchased a Denon 1802 or 2802. My mistake. I have a new pair of Klipsch''s on the way. If my wife blows these I don''t know if the receiver is going to go or her!

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Harmon Kardon HK 3300 for 10+ years, Klipsch KSB 1.1''s, Bose 141''s(Upgrading soon), Bose model 500, yeah model 500. Try to find those on e-bay!

hey, does anyone know if this jvc rx8000 will play ac3 laserdiscs? i have a chance to pick up a good used laserdisc palyer and a bunch of movies,however most of the discs are ac3. thanks for any help. astroboy (hanna22_2@yahoo.com)

DTS, power, number of features for price

FM reception is no good

Love the power, and the DTS feature is great. Haven't really used it just for music yet, but the FM radio reception is lacking.

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Options,price & features

Remote control

I realize a lot of audio enthusiasts think little of JVC receivers and will mostly recommend Yamaha,Onkyo,Denon or Marrantz(at least on this board)but we're talking about a $289 price point here.This receiver has all the options and features anybody could ever want.It has plenty of power,
sounds great,does not distort and is an overall great value.Does it sound as good as the previous receivers mentioned?Probably not,but for it's price and features a lot of people will not hear any difference.This is a great value for a DD/DTS budget receiver!The receiver has NEVER gotten hot-even when running all day-it barely even gets warm,so I don't know about the other comments regarding the receiver running hot.The only weakness I've experienced so far is that analog sources seem to have some hiss when the volume is cranked up pretty far-which is the case with MOST receivers.All in all very satisfied for now.

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Good sound, good quality, OSD, av-compulink, many features, a lot of digital connection, DD5.1 and DTS = WOW!

Complex remote, complex setting, no 5-channel stereo mode, hissing at very high volume but who cares...

Overall I'm very satisfed, all my equipment is JVC (including car audio) and no problem at all in 2 years. The 8000vbk is a very versatile unit but I think it's more adequate for home theater than music in general. I know there is better choice but JVC it's good for the mainstream always at a good price.

I have no problem of hissing sound in the rear channel, DSP mode is useless but PROLOGIC 3D-PHONIC ACTION and THEATER is very interesting in general. I would like to have 5-channel stereo sound but someone tells me it's becoming dull at time.

Don't buy very expensive cable, it's worthless, mine are Premium Radio Shack and there is no diff from my Monster cable. Another thing...A/V compulink...HO BOY! I love this! If your wife want to listen a DVD and your are not at home so all you have to tell her is "insert a DVD and press play!"... You don't have to write a manual for teaching how to setup these electronic equipment ....Oups..s'cuse me to all woman on the Earth.

S'cuse me for my poor english! I'm a french canadian living in Québec.

Receiver - JVC RX-8000VBK
DVD - JVC S60BK
TV - JVC 27D201
CD - JVC FX158BK
All speaker including sub - DBOX made in Quebec (proud of it!)

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high power consumption,good response from fm tuner,nice remote

stiff price,and a few aspects not specified

Its a reciever with good features and I get a kick out of cranking it loud.I could put it for hours cause it sounds chill.And defenetliy loud enough for a party.sure its allright for any occasion you know.movies sound terrific and music is surplus.Just tends to get hot,and but I took it back the day after I bought it and got a sony strde935,but still I recommend anyone to get it just dont pay more than 330.00 tops thats what its worth. SO-LONG y'all Peace

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