JVC RX-8020VBK A/V Receivers

JVC RX-8020VBK A/V Receivers 

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 10  
[Oct 10, 2009]
Ajndrews
Audio Enthusiast

Ive had this product since 2003 and it STILL works.. to despite what these other guys say this thing is STILL ALIVE and kicking.. Its been dropped, kicked around a bit when moved moved and it STILL works.. after 6 years. This was my 3rd decent reciever i have used as a modest one .. around $300 bucks at Ultimate Electronics in Fairview Heights, IL. I have it hooked up in my Living room for a 5.1 setup. All the features work with JVC products also.. like the onscreen w/e menu's for there tvs, But only for there brand of tv's. Its a tough lil unit. Unlike these other guys i havnt taken it apart cept a few times to clean out the dust. I think your supposed to get parts replaced on it BUT I HAVNT lol .

So if you need a solid working unit i recommend this one for the price under $350.. otherwise get a Denon or a Yamaha for over $600. However i bought this for $300 so dont get oversold make them mark it down.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Oct 11, 2004]
nycguy2004
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Satisfied with wattage.

Weakness:

Poor remote, BAD build quality, I think contributing to failed BI-Wiring.

Can not Bi-Wire with this unit although it has 2 speaker capability. Only plays one Treble when playing Speaker One - Does not play Speaker two (Base)on Bi-wire. Did a switch on Treble and Bass, same thing occured. Does not show 2 sets of speakers in display when Bi-wired. Have used Denon and Yamahaa and both receivers recognized Bi-Wiring.

Similar Products Used:

Belles Pre-amp and Amp, Denon Receivers, Yamaha Receivers, Snell Speakers, Dynaudio Speakers.

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
2
[Mar 28, 2004]
poolorpond
AudioPhile

Strength:

All the bells and whistles- Good sound control, base management, USB, ES/EX, PRE-OUTS, connections, OSD etc. . .

Weakness:

Poor remote, BAD build quality, I think contributing to failed channel.

Junk. I have had bad experiences with JVC products. They often have all of the bells and whistles but lack build quality and power. This was no exception. The features are great- DTS-ES, OSD, USB. It was the cheapest unit I could find with Pre-outs. I have always run a preamp and separates. I tried it without the parasound amp and it was pathetic. This is OK since I have no intention of using it independent of external amps. The build quality is poor. I opened the thing up because one channel keeps fading in and out and I wanted to see if a solder had broken (thingk that it is mechanical problem because knocking on the bottom makes the channel come in and out). As a took off the cover, the whole chassis twisted. Not a big deal if you never take off the cover, but a limp chassis does have a significant effect on mechanical connections- solder can break pretty easily. Moreover, the RCA connectors are all a bit loose from the chassis from periodic reconnection. Looking inside the first thing that I noticed was the lack of guts- not much there to produce power for 5 channels. The multiple PCBs are connected with weak junction blocks and they all creak and twist with the chassis. Lastly, in setting up the sound levels of each channel with a meter, All of the channels had to be set to different gain settings in order to match the output. I have not had a receiver (using an optical source) where pairs of outputs (L/R or SL/SR) needed different levels of gain. They have always been at least matched from left to right. Not a big deal, but indicative of the overall attention to detail. I was not expecting anything other than what I got. I would not have bought this if I could have afforded a more expensive processor. I would not recommend this to anyone who intends to use the integrated amps. In spite of the fact that I knew I was buying a BUDGET component, I would have liked it to last more than a year+ for the $300 I spent. I still have a fisher quadrophonic set from the seventies that works. I would rather just buy a different receiver than send this one out to be repaired.

Similar Products Used:

More than I care to get into.

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
2
[May 22, 2003]
Kidhorn
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Low price. Lots of features for the price.

Weakness:

Not the best sound. Difficult setup. Likely poor quality since it's made by JVC.

I've had this for about 6 months and so far I haven't had any problems. I had trouble setting things up initially and had to call tech support a few times, What a waste of time that was. I finally figured out how to get things working. This is my 4th DD receiver, so I know what I'm doing when it comes to setup. The default settings on this thing made no sense whatsoever. It sounds OK. Not great. Compared to other DD receivers, this is near the bottom in terms of sound quality. based on my past experience with JVC, I don't expect this thing to last more than 3 years. My Marantz sounds much better than this so I can't rationalize giving this any more than 3 stars.

Similar Products Used:

JVC 884VBK(Died after a few years, just like my JVC VCR and JVC DVD Player). Marantz SR-7000. Yamaha HTR-5550.

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
3
[Mar 06, 2003]
Ray
Casual Listener

Strength:

Power Price Performance

Weakness:

As stated previously...weak remote/

Bought this unit online. Great transaction and price!! Set the unit up in one afternoon--no problems. Played my copy of Ice Age ( OK I know it is animated ) and was blown away by sights and sounds. I have a 5.1 surround system and older Toshiba 32 inch TV so had to use the s-video connection. Had a 100W Pioneer prior and was forced to use "max" volume to drive the speakers... With this unit, half power works wonders!!! What a great unit for the dollar.. 

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 23, 2003]
rbrown597
Casual Listener

Strength:

Lots of bells and whistles. Price was a major reason for my purchase. Very pleased with performance.

Weakness:

Set up a little intimidating. Remote needs a little ergonomic work. Keys could be a little larger with backlit keys.

Well, after 6 months, this JVC 8020 is still alive and KICKING!!! To say I am VERY pleased with this unit is not necessary to say. I got the idea of how everthing works (with the help of the manual) and a little playing around. I even hooked up my DVD with digital optical wiring. This is my first experience with digital hookups. After I got it all figured out, I am really pleased with the crispness of the sound and the clarity. My dog barks at the front door due to my rear speakers. I keep trying to find my cell phone when its really in the DVD I'm watching. I have to agree, the remote could be better. A little backlite on the keys would be a large help when the lites are low and the phone rings and it needs to be muted. Once it is all set up, this is a very nice piece of equipment.

Similar Products Used:

JBL 10 PSW subwoofer, JBL Northridge Center Speaker, JBL 24 Northridge Speakers.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Dec 14, 2002]
cold_state
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Price for features: Component switching 5 s-video inputs USB input for a CPU Midnight Mode DDex, DTSes, PL2, NEO:6

Weakness:

Only 100w x 5 channels so for 6.1 (DDex and DTSes) you need to add a powered speaker. for 7.1 you need an external amp.

Bought the RX-8020V to replace an old school Kenwood Pro-Logic receiver. It has great features for the price, 3 digital inputs, 1 coax input, 2 component video inputs, 5 s-video inputs, and a USB input to connect to your CPU (works with mp3's and games). haven't had any problems with it, the power 100w x 5 is good suffucient. Also, having DDex, DTSes, PL2 (movie and music modes), NEO:6 (Movie and music modes) and many DSP modes is a plus. I also use the "Midnight Mode" witch makes loud noises on DVD's not as loud but leaves the talking where you can hear it (very good for a teenager like myself for late hours in your bedroom or for someone in an apartment).

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood Pro-Logic Receiver My RX-8020V is hooked up to Kenwood KVS speakers, the fronts are 2-way bass reflex sitting on speaker stands, the center is medium sized 2 woofers w/ a tweeter in between,

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 09, 2002]
mrinferno
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

USB Port!, among many others

haven't got it yet, but i tried it out in a store. the thing i was most concerned with was the front usb port & how it worked with a computer. i brought my laptop into the store and plugged it in. it autodetects in WinXP as "USB Speakers" (basically it's used as a second sound card). the sound coming from the usb port to the receiver was beautiful, no distortion or emi noise from the laptop. i compared it with analog output from the headphone jack on the laptop. for reference, i was listening on a $200 set of headphones. the other receivers i looked at were very comparable to the JVC rx-8020vbk. a large portion of my music collection is in mp3 format, hence the front USB port pushed me over the edge. plus i've been a JVC fan for a long time. (note->price above doesn't included s&h & tax) i'll post an updated review once i get the unit and explore it's capabilities more fully.

Similar Products Used:

compared against H/K AVR125, Sony STR-DE985 , Denon AVR-1603

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 07, 2002]
rbrown597
Casual Listener

Strength:

Lot's of clean sound, enough hook-ups for what I have, great price.

Weakness:

A little intimidating to set up at first. Play with it a little while and the unit explains itself.

After reviewing the 8010 for several months, I had decided to purchase that model. However, the 8020 came out before I was ready to purchase, so that is the model I bought. Needless to say, I am very pleased with the whole package. Lots of bells and whistles, and the thing makes my system sound...well...Let's just say, I feel like I am really in the middle of the stadium when I watch a ball game on Satalite, my DVD sounds like it's supposed to, and my subwoofer really rattles my windows with Independence Day. I don't claim to be any kind of expert, I just know what sounds good to me.

Similar Products Used:

JBL Northridge Center speaker, JBL PSW10 subwoofer, JBL Northridge surround speakers.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 11, 2002]
Polakken
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Many graet things to say, overall a good one.

Weakness:

No one yet

This is a great one. 5x100W. No problems

Similar Products Used:

Eltax 500 Millenium

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 10  

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