Front inputs, including a USB Port. Very good price

ZERO

This is one of the best A/V receivers for under $300. I think its miss price, because I found receivers that cost around $300-400, but are not better then the RX8010VBK. I can honestly say this too because, I spent around a total of 30+hours online and offline looking at various a/v receivers.

This is also my first A/V receiver. I decided to buy an A/V receiver, because the only audio system I was using was my computer. I simply wanted louder sound, with some kind of digital surround sound. So, I was just going to upgrade my speakers, and get a way better sound card. But after looking around I found the best and cheapest way to go, is just to get an A/V receiver and 5 speakers
.

I decided to get the RX-8010VBK, because of the features it has, and of course the price. The main feature that I like the most, and also got my attention, was the front USB port. Other features I like, and also makes this the best A/V receiver in its price range, are the front A/V inputs, 120 watts x2 in stereo mode, Banana Plugs speaker connections, Component, S-video, Digital inputs/outputs, on screen menu setup, the ability 2 have pairs of front speakers, and more. If you want a complete list of features go visit JVC website at www.jvc.com

I have been using this receiver for over 2 months now. The sound, sounds great, on screen display makes it real easy, and fast to setup. USB audio works great with Windows 2000, everything works just fine. This receiver has pretty much everything but,THX. THX would just triple the price anyway so that works out. I can’t wait to try out the digital audio. I recently order a Toshiba SD2715, 5 disc, Mp3 DVD player online. Well, all in all I very happy what this receiver and I, had not, had one single problem yet.

One more thing that I would have like, and would have made my buying decision much easier, is if people took some time and type up some more reviews on this receiver. I found only like 4 reviews on this receiver. So I hope someone find this at least somewhat helpful.

My setup
Sony, SSM-MB300H (front speakers)
Sony, SS-CR170 3 piece Surround speakers
4 year old, Sony Stereo VCR SLV-775HF
8 year old, 20 inch Zenith Stereo TV (will upgrade to a JVC AV27230, 27 inch TV in a few weeks)
Home built, Duel Pentium 3 733 MHz computer.

Expandability, digital inputs, remote, sound quality, one-touch memory for different sources.

Setup, inputs and outputs not clearly marked, very confusing. Connectors too close together.

I was impressed with this unit until the thing just died. I have used this model for about 6 months. The standby lamp lights up after turning on the power, but then the receiver turns itself off. This must be a known problem with the receiver, since it is listed in the trouble shooting guide. The probable cause listed in the manual is that the receiver is "overloaded because of high voltage". High voltage? If there was a high voltage problem in my house it seems like everything else would be blowin up. Their solution is "Consult your dealer".

I should have purchased the Onkyo instead.

Feature/Price ratio

None for the price range

This is a GREAT receiver and, I think, the only receiver to buy in this price range. I have had little trouble setting it up and found most things not clearly explained in the manual are still rather intuitive. I do agree that parts of the manual would be tough for the novice electronics enthusiast.

Everything I have is hooked up to it and sounding fine. Plenty of power for all the listening I do: Classical, Jazz, Classic Rock, Drum and Bugle Corps and now 5.1 Movies on either Vinyl, DVD, VCR, Hi8, CD, CDR(W), MP3, Tape, FM, Analog/Digital Cable.

The only connectivity problem I had was because I didn't know that my digital cable service is still analog audio for the basic service and digital audio only for the channels above the basic service. That meant I had to hook up digital AND analog cable from my cable tuner. I leave it on analog-in most of the time and switch to digital-in if I buy a 5.1 movie. Of course this was my problem and not the receiver's.

If you, like me, are not prepared to spend the bucks on 7.1 THX, HDTV, and a Progressive Scan DVD player of some sort, go ahead and get the JVC 8010 and start enjoying 5.1 with your current TV and DVD player.

- Good sound dispersion in dolby surround modes.
- For the price, you can't beat it's faults
- Features ad nauseum
- Neato cool 3d Action Field
- Lots of convenient hookups
- You've got to love that new electronics smell!

- Inexcusable absence of switchable outlets
- Illuminated remote would be nice
- 120watt system? Hmmm
- Strange calibration on the volume control
- S.E.A. Equalization - Sounds poor to me, I don't use it.
- Horrible hissing noise at higher volumes with Line Direct off.
- With all of the inputs available, there is a strange lack of a Tape 2. Tape 1 is there but you either share is with a minidisc or send your tape deck to the CDR input.

After much debate, I decided to retire my old workhorse, the Onkyo 515 Pro in lieu of getting something that could decode a dolby digital signal. I looked far and wide for a receiver and was going to buy the Sony DB940 (still think that's the best one out there for the money) but was a little slow in my purchase. Money wasn't right at the time and unfortunately, I ended up waiting so long, Sony discontinued it and I couldn't find anyone that carried it anymore. No idea why Sony did that. Does anyone else?!

At any rate, I settled on the JVC simply due to the price. Come on $247 paid on e-bay for a brand spankin new component? I'm there baby! Now, having said that, before I give my review I want to clear up a few things. I'm not one of these people who expects lower end units to compare with higher end brand name units. The build quality of a JVC is not going to be the same as an Onkyo ok?

Ok, now for the review...

STRENGTHS - Like my summary says above,

1) You can't beat the cost. For the money, you're getting a lot in the way of features, hook-ups, switchable digital inputs (that's really cool), relatively clean sound, etc.

2) Features and hookups. Go on JVC's web site and look up what you're getting.

3) Digital decoding. Decodes dolby 5.1 very nicely and I'm real pleased with it's performance.

4) One-touch memory which means that the unit will remember all of the settings that you had the last time it was switched on.

5) Finally, I like the 3d action field. When set, it enhances explosions and other low end stuff on your movie soundtracks. Really for action stuff like Terminator, Star Wars, etc. Sounds very good.

WEAKNESSES - Really personal preference stuff but...
1) Where are the switchable outlets? I can't think of one receiver that doesn't have a switchable outlet and I absolutely can't believe that JVC omitted them. With all of the hookups this thing has this is very inexcusable.

2) Hissing noise at high volumes with line direct off. I think it was a great thing for JVC to inlude a line direct button. For those of you who don't know what this is, it allows you to listen to your source in a much purer form, by-passing EQ and a lot of the other filters and gizmos that come with a receiver. End result, very clean sound, no hissing. However, without this button, the hissing is extremely annoying especially during quiet parts in movies. I like my movies loud too. Sorry, but you can't line direct with dolby digital processing going on.

3) Really poor manual. Buyer beware. If you're not mechanically inclined, the manual is no help. There should be a glossary of terms included to help those less informed (like myself) out about terms that are new to them. PCM for instance. Still have no idea what that is. Probably took me the better part of 5 hours to get all of my connections in place to my satisfaction. Oh yea, no where in the manual does it mention about ohm capacity for your speakers. There is a little switch on the back of the receiver of which you're supposed to set to the speaker rating that you've got. The wrong setting and you'll overload the unit; constantly.

4) Lack of a Tape 2 input. Again, with all the features this thing has, I can't believe that there isn't a tape 2. My minidisc player is connected to the CDR input.

5) 120 watts, no way. My 80 watt Onkyo kicks this thing's butt with regard to wattage. While the JVC has a very clean sound and seems forceful enough, I doubt that it even approaches 120. I think they probably achieved 120 in the testing phases during production but not through the full dynamic range. To me, this number is a sales come-on.

6) Weird volume calibration. The volume is digital with levels ranging from 0 - 90. Normal listening level is at 50. That means that you might as well cut out 0-35 because volume set at this level is quite unlistenable, even through headphones. Most movies, volume is set between 60 and 70. This is just strange. I have read other reviews on this where people have contacted JVC to complain. The answer is that it's just an arbitrary number and to pay it no mind. Ok?!

7) Remote. Could have illumination and the availability to operate a DVD player. Another inexcusable omission.

8) Punishment by JVC. If you don't own other JVC equipment, like tape, md, DVD, etc, many of the features on the remote as well as the text link on the unit are useless. The end result is that your display constantly reads, in large letters for instance, DBS/SURROUND OFF. Why the "surround off" part is showing up is alien to me. Use an icon instead blinding me with useless information.

9) The SEA equalizer. I guess if you don't have full dynamic range speakers, this might be useful to you. To me, the eq doesn't perform to my liking giving a somewhat phoney sound correction. I just leave it off.

10) Bass Boost. The JVC bass boost, I think, is like a loudness button on other system. Most people don't realize but you're only supposed to use loudness at lower volumes because you tend to lose the low end when your source is quiet. Anyway, in my opinion, loud or soft, I think the bass boost makes the low end very muddy sounding. Another feature I don;t use.

11) Sound fields - Comes with Hall 1 and 2, Theater, Paviliion, etc. but can't think of anyone that really ever uses them. Other than that tidbit, they do produce relatively well.


Conclusion

For the money, you really must buy this receiver because right now, it can't be beat. In general I'm very pleased with my purchase although I might still keep the Onkyo in my rack for stereo listening. If considering this purchase, please e-mail me and I will be happy to answer anyting that I haven't covered.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo 515 Pro

Lots of connections & features

High/Low speaker impedance matching switch on rear panel.
A lot of users may not know if they have 8 or 4 ohms speakers. The factory setting of 8 ohms means that many users think that the receiver is under powered.

I've had a lot of really nice feedback emails from my previous reveiw. Thanks everyone for the responses.

Previously, a couple of months ago (3?), I reported my first impressions of this unit. Now, after several months of operation and upgrading the speakers and adding more and more components, here is my follow up review.

Design problem -
JVC MUST make a design change to next year's model - Change the dumb power switch on the rear panel to some better method of automatic impedance matching. This is a problem!! Users just don't understand. If you have a 4 ohm speaker system, then, without switching to the low impedance switch setting, you will think that this unit lacks power.

I started out with a Cambridge Soundworks Ensembe IV system.
It came with a passive subwoofer and five 3 inch mini cube speakers on sale for under $200. I was not sure if it was 8 or 4 ohms. So, I called the manufacturer. Note: Cambridge SoundWorks Customer Service incorrectly reported that the CS Ensembe IV system with the passive subwoofer system was 8 ohms, when in fact, it is actually 4 ohms with the passive in-line subwoofer connected to the front 8 ohm speakers.

JVC Design request - Please add the front speaker selector switch to the remote control in the next model.

Switching front speakers - speakers 1 and speakers 2
I use the CS Ensembe IV speaker system with the passive subwoofer on the speaker 2 connection with a midnight setting after 10 pm so that I don't bother the neighbors. Normally, I use the speaker 1 setting with the big tower speakers.

I sent JVC a question about the fact that I needed to turn up the unit to 50 before getting a reasonable listening level with the little CS Ensemble speakers. JVC responded that the 50 setting was an arbitrary number and it was OK for the 8010 to work that way. I found out that the CS speakers were 4 ohms and switched the speaker switch from high impedance to low impedance and get an enjoyable listening level at about 40. With new Tower speakers connected to speaker 1 (4 ohms), I get an enjoyable listening level at about 40.

Can't leave it alone department -
I exchanged the 500 Watt 12 inch subwoofers that came with the Abstract Acoustics PRO 800 tower speakers with Reactor RW-12 600 Watt speakers. This improved the bass response but causes the receiver to need to turn up to 50 for a enjoyable listening level again. I don't know why. Isn't 4 ohms the same 4 ohms?

Nice Features-
I have found the AV Compu-Link works with other vendor's ON/OFF control links as well. Nice touch JVC!

Lots of connectability -
The rx 8010vbk AV unit more than adequately handles two JVC VCR's (The Sony S-VHS VCR#3 is daisy chain connected to VCR#2). Sony TV, Sharp DVD, Realistic Audio Cassette Tape, Technics Audio CD player, etc.

I could not get some .MP3 files via USB to play from a MAC ibook, but the USB IN works OK with Windows 98 SE. I found that the larger speaker wire really improves the sound at lower volumes. I don't know why this works. I use an Audio Acoustics SW-15 200 Watt subwoofer with the added pillow stuffing. Sometimes, I play the sound a little too loud...

I have not yet been asked to move from the small apartment. So far so good..
NOTE: Speaker Wire size increases as the size number decreases (e.g. #12 AWG wire is much bigger than #16 AWG wire.) I use #12 AWG Lamp cord that I purchased at Home Depot in a spool and saved $100.

Remotes - The 8010 remote control works with several other brands of components and is programmable. JVC uses the same I/R remote control codes on their VCRs, so, you'll need to change the codes on one of the VCRs remote controls from A to B. I've got four multi-brand remotes now. I need to switch between the remotes in order to control multiple units. I like remotes that have lumenescent buttons.
I may have my VCRs connected wrong - VCR#1 should be set to remote control channel A. I'm still trying to simplify this
plethora of remote controls. The TV for example has a switch to select TV, video or S-video.

Nice Hint-
I have added a small piece of luminescent tape to the front speaker buttons on the 8010 and to the eject buttons on the VCRs & CD. The Sharp remote aleady has it.)
Obtain this special tape at your local photography store. It is commonly used on draws and switches inside darkrooms.

DVDs - S-video.
I have not tested the component video. I have never even seen a digital broadcast.

Dolby & THX -
Since I like anime, I have seen few THX DVDs, but, there are more and more film dvds that have THX on them.

Design note:
JVC may want to look into adding an upgraded high end THX AV unit with all of the features of the 8010 to next years models.

I've noticed that some DVDs start with Dolby Digital and some start with Pro-Logic and others start with analog PCM and switch. My DVD player does not always recognize the correct DVD setting. The 8010 I am using the Digital Coax input from the DVD. You can use the digital fiber input as well, but haven't bothered because I can't hear any difference.

HIFI Tapes
I find that the five channel surround setting is my favorite
when watching anime tapes such as Maison Ikkoku.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, Onkyo, Sony

Great frequency response. Awesome channel separation. Compulink.

Subtle click through surround channel when changing volume. Had to relocate surround speaker that was 3 feet from seating position.

Movies are now a different experience.
All the settings are there to allow me to arrange the sound to my liking. Setup for this unit was reasonably clear although it did take a while to go through it, having to negotiate several learning curves at once.

Frequency response of 20Hz - 100Khz brings out subtle aspects of the DTS sound track that really make a big difference in the enjoyment of the movie. I always used to hate not being able to hear the voices clearly and this definately addresses that problem.

Rca sub feed to my old amp driving a 8" sub makes the booms and explosions able to be felt through the seat of the pants, not just loud noise like the old system.

Ability to adjust all speaker levels individually, as well as control frequency cutoff for sub, and sharpness response of center channel negates that "can't hear it VS hurts my ears" midrange voice reproduction dilemna.

Music reproduction is great through 2 speaker or surround. I would say that I would like the ability to have a combination to allow most sound through the mains with the surrounds as a fill in however I realize that most would say this is not a correct reproduction of the music. With the surround on, the problem arises with the voice being through the center channel instead of the mains. My system has deficient midrange response with the mains so it looks like new speakers are now on the menu. Once that happens, there will be no need to "clarify" the stereo reproduction of voice music by employing the surround. I'm still working my way through getting comfortable with all the options so this may come out in the wash.

Overall, very happy with this product.

Similar Products Used:

Older JVC Surround Reciever.

Alot of connections, good price.

Doesn't have a CompuLink wire.

Quite afew of my co workers have JVC recievers and they are all very satisfied with it. They have home theater ..I just use two big Jbl's ND310's and the sound is great. Might add some more speakers later.

Definately a good reciever.

Similar Products Used:

Sony.

Front USB Port, 120wX2 in stereo mode,on screen menu.

Can't find any.

I decided to get the RX-8010VBK, because of the features it has, and of course the price. The main feature that also got my attention was the front USB port. Other features I like, and also makes this the best A/V receiver in its price range, are the front A/V inputs, 120 watts x2 in stereo mode, Banana Plugs speaker connections, Component, S-video, Digital inputs/outputs, on screen menu setup, the ability 2 have pairs of front speakers, and more. If you want a complete list of features go visit JVC website at www.jvc.com

I have been using this receiver for over 2 months now. The sound, sounds great, on screen display makes it real easy, and fast to setup. USB audio works great with Windows 2000, everything works just fine. This receiver has pretty much everything but, THX. THX would just triple price anyway so that works out. I can’t wait to try out the digital audio. I just order a Toshiba SD2715, 5 disc, Mp3 DVD player online. Well, all in all I very happy what this receiver and I, had not, had one single problem so far.

Similar Products Used:

n/a