I had one of these 884's for about 30 days... and then returned it to the storeand upgraded to a Yamaha 992. I found the 884 to be a cheaply built unit, very
underpowered, and very crappy sound in Dolby Digital modes. To get any decent
volume out of this thing requires a volume setting of 75-80 (out of 90) and at
that point the hiss becomes so objectionable that you just want to turn it down.
Other things that annoyed me about this unit: No switched outlet for audio
components. Cumbersome remote control... never did get the "shift" button to
work. Overheats fiercely (sorry, but the switch WAS in the right position, but
after five minutes at a decent volume, the resistor smell was all over the room)
The item that killed me was the FM antenna input. In the manual it says, "Strip
the insulation from the coax, fold back the shield..." For a few minutes I
thought I was back in my Heathkit building days. Come on, JVC, would it have
really killed you to put an F connector back there? Compared to the Yamaha 992
the JVC 884 is a total piece of junk. Get rid of it and get a real receiver.
You won't believe the difference.

Lots of features; like the banana jacks for the speakers, like the s-video option on all the video sources

extremely low power. audible hiss. gets warm quickly

I think that this is a good value, but agree with most others that have posted on this site that the power seems to lack for a 110Wx5 rating. I wasn't sure if this was with my reciever, but can now see that others are having the low power like mine. My brother in law has a Sony Dolby Digital reciever (not sure of the model number, Not an ES though) and it would easily get twice as loud for less wattage rating.
I do like all the features that come with this reciever such as the banana jacks, S-video jacks, digital inputs, etc., but feel mislead by the power rating. It is true that you get what you paid for, and at the time when I got this, nothing that had dolby digital was even close. I wish I would have waited though, so I would be able to decode DTS as well.
The hiss is harder to hear in my reciver at anything less than 40, but unfortunately for almost all listening it needs to be above this level. The heat issue seems to be a combination of a warm reciever and a poor cabinet. I currently have it in an enclosed entertainment center and realize that's not the best environment for it. Just purchased a Bell O'ggetti AR-711 though, and hope that will help out alot.
Again this is a wonderful value for the right person, but if you're serious about home theater or music and are more than a casual listener, I'm afraid that you might be disappointed in the low output power of this reciever, regardless of the wattage ratings.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer VSX-455; Older Marantz 1550

Price, Features

Hiss

I have been using this unit for more than a year. I bought it so that I could have money also for a DVD player and a larger television.

When I first hooked it up, I heard the infamous hiss. It bothered me then. I no longer even notice it, and was only reminded of it reading these reviews. The heat produced from mine is not too bad.

For those of you that complain about turning the volume up to 60 to get a decent listening volume, the scale is in dB - I know, I measured it. I actually found the scale to be rather acurate.

I wanted, and use the s-video capability. I think this receiver is packed full of usefull features (aside from the usual gimicky delay effects and 3-D stuff). I think it sounds fantastic for the money ($300). Have heard very good stereo equipment in the past, and this sounds great in stereo mode. It also sounds great in DD, but not so good in prologic or the useless delay effects.

Similar Products Used:

None

People use your ears. This product is awful if sound matters to you. The sound is thin and brittle and has lots of hiss in the surrond modes, including both Dolby modes. The D/A converters in it are also pathetic.
My old Sony sounds better with its own D/A converters than the JVC's. It's not even close. As for my current Denon the D/A converters are head and shoulders better than the Sony's and in a different universe than those of the JVC.

The JVC is a fine boat anchor or receiver for those that prefer gimmicks over sound quality. I will concede that it is one of the few in its price range available with S-video for those that need it, but I doubt there are many that need this feature in this price range.

Before you say it is good or great listen to it in comparison to a unit in the same price range from the likes of HK, Denon, Marantz & Yamaha. You will be amazed at the difference

I purchased my JVC-884 receiver from ubid for $310 about six weeks ago. My overall impression of the product is mixed. First the good: For $310 bucks you get a receiver that fills most novice HT needs. S video, Dolby Digital, and enough amplification to irritate neighbors a block away. The bad: The receiver does get hot, (I might put a small fan in back, to help this.) there's a hissing that gets progressively worse at volumes excedding 60, rear speaker output is lacking some punch, and the FM receiver blows. Overall I think it's OK, but if I had to do it all over again, I beleive I'd spend another $150 bucks and get a HK75.

Can't beat it for the price ($299) which explains my four star rating. For those starting off in Home Theater this is definitely a good start without clearing out your bank account. My wife and son now prefer to stay home and rent dvd/tapes than to go out and put up with the crowds, expensive popcorn, and distorted sound.
I have this unit connected to a Mitsubishi 55 inch TV, AR(Edge) Home Theater
Speaker pkg (w/subwoofer), Fisher HiFi VCR, Toshiba 2109 DVD.

The JVC RX-884vbk is a fine performer. Ive written reviews on the JBL TLX-181 speakers, Velodyne CT-120 subwoofer,which I both gave good reviews. I recently returned the Velodyne though for a Hsu Research TN1225HO true subwoofer because of the sheer difference in power (87dbls@25Hz vs 108dbls@25Hz)and all because its being driven by a very good receiver. The sound in Dolby Digital is superb for Home Theater on a budget. I did have a hissing problem when I first got it but that was because I did'nt adjust and properly calibrate my system. I would highly recommend the DVD "Video Essentials". It's a bit expensive ($50.00) but its worth it and you'll love your receiver for it. You will also need a Radio Shack SPL meter for adjustments. I found that I had the surround levels way too high and adjusted it down to +2db. I also had my surrounds aimed right at the listening position, sort of in a criss-cross set-up. That was obviously wrong, they should be lined up the same way the front right,center and left speaker should be so, the surrounds should be facing directly front of the listening position. That cut out all the hiss. Musically the receiver sounds very clean and clear from bass to treble with the help of Monster reference 2 interconnects.
I have not had a problem with over heating the receiver is in a tall stereo cabinet and ventilation is quite adaquate. Plus my ideal setting is from 68 to 73 out of 90 in home theater mode. I dont like the digital sound effects they have way to much reverb so I run my CD player in the OFF position for the effects and the DVD player in straight Dolby Digital. Even my wireless 25 watt Recoton speakers sound fantastic. I also think its the best looking receiver out there with a clean and colorful display thats on-screen as well.So for the money you cant go wrong with a properly calibrated JVC 884vbk. Except for the DSP fields its a more than satisfying unit.

In one word - VALUE. Featurewise, this thing blows the competition away: it has tons of inputs, including multiple digital ins and s-video switching, a decent Dolby Digital decoder, good solid 5-way binding posts all around, and a fairly intuitive on-screen menu system. A little rough around the edges in terms of build quality and ergonomics, but hey, this is a CHEAP A/V receiver... The only things seriously lacking in this department are a set of discrete 6 channel inputs (for an outboard DTS decoder, say) and a set of 5 channel preamp outs for a big external amp.
For movies, this thing is amazing for the price. With levels, positions and settings calibrated properly, the JVC had no problem driving a midsize trio of JBL fronts and two Paradigm minimonitors in the back. Throw in a baby 8" Velodyne CT sub, and you have a ROCKING micro home theatre system for not a lot of cash. The spinning pink noise on Video Essentials was smooth all around, and the 5.1 soundtracks on Contact, the Postman and Sphere were head-turning.

For 2-channel music, my Nakamichi stereo integrated was noticeably warmer, smoother and flatter, but the JVC is definitely listenable, as long as you match it up with a decent set of speakers. Sure, you can spend more and get a better receiver from Denon or HarmanKardon etc... but think of it this way - buy this JVC instead, and your Panasonic 110 DVD player is basically free! 8-)

I recently purchased this receiver for $329 (demo model). I'm pretty pleased with the sound, in fact, along with a good powered subwoofer the sound is great. Sure you could pay $300 - $400 more and get a Denon or a Sony STR30ESG (which I'd like to have), but for the difference in cost I can almost buy my DVD player. This thing is packed with features (2 optical inputs, 1 coaxial digital input, 5 S-video inputs, on-screen menus) all for much less ($350-$425)? How can you go wrong? Try and get all that in something else for the price. Anyway, I recommend it for an entry-level piece. If you're looking for super high quality sound, then what are you doing reading this anyway? I like it and give it 4 thumbs up.

Great digital sound, more inputs than you would ever need. Price.

Gets hot after extended use. DSP effects are pretty useless.

Overall, this is an amazing reciver for the $230 I paid. I have it hooked up digitally to my Sound Blaster Live in my computer. Mine used to overload and have horrible rear channel sound when I first got it, but I fixed that :) I opened it up and found a spot on the mainboard where the solder had run together and connected two things that weren't supposed to be connected. I used a knife to break the solder, and all the problems went away. It hasn't overloaded since, and the rear channel sounds much better.

I don't know what everyone else's problem is, but it has plenty of power to drive my speakers. I keep the volume at around 40 for normal listening, and 60 to really jam. The people complaing about the power levels must have very inefficient speakers or are almost deaf :P My custom built speakers have 2 10" woofers, 2 mids, and 2 tweeters, and with this reciever, they can really shake the house.

If you can find it for $200-300, this is one of the best deals you can get!