OK i am sorry i listened to the sterio and there is a hiss. But i know what the hiss is caused from. Ok the sterio is not causing the hiss the hiss is from he component (like CD player) If you don't beleave me find a source on the receaver that has nothing plugged into it and turn up the volume and presto no hiss (except if have bad or somewhat good speakers the hiss there will come at level 83)(if you have a compomemt hooked up the hiss will come at level 40 unless if you are 2 inches away from the speaker)

Ok I have read all the reviews below mine, all the good ones are mostly correct. But the bad ones are all wrong! Don't listen to them even if they say they know what they are talking about. They just set them up wrong. So i plan to say how they screwed up. But there are some bad points that i will also point out. Jeff Preferos an Audiophile wrote about bad banana plugs and he is conpleatly correct about that but to solve that problem just don't use banana plugs.
Every one writing about the over heating problem don't worry about that JVC made a switch on the back of the receaver to select the anount of ohms your speakers have if it is set incorrectly the receaver will get very hot.
Jeff Prefors an Audio Enthusiast wrote about how he hears clipping well if he is realy an "Audio Enthusiast" he would relize that he has bad, week, or blown out speakers.
And THERE IS NO HISS. Your speakers are bad, week, blown out, or setup wrong if you get one of thoes. Or the problem could be the wires like the wire is not in correctly or your wire is made up of many wires put togeather poorly.
If you want base go get a powered sub woofer if its not powered it has no power in the first place. (IT'S NOT THE RECEAVER!)
Now many people have been complaining about the DSP modes. Yes it all true they are bad. Only three are even remotly good. But thats NOT a reason why not to buy it.
Now there are tons of more great points but i won't get into them. All I am going to say is buy it if you think the price is in you price range.
P.S. Sorry for all my grammer and spelling mistakes and if you have any more questions just E-Mail me pyth@lycosemail.com

I purchased the 884 a some time ago and believe it is great value for the money, I have it hooked to an Enegy speaker system, 200-CD 334 with optical out and a JVC VCR & TV. Sound matters and this receiver is pretty darn good for the price. I could find nothing even approaching it and in features too. The Compulink feature is way cool. By simply inserting a video tape the VCR, TV and Receiver power on, the TV inputs are set, the Receiver switches to the VCR and retores all my settings for it: volume, SEA, DSP, sub-woofer ... all automatically. I never have to press a button! Your wife will love this feature! On the CD side it is the same, press the play button (notice I never have to press the "on" button on *anything*) and everything's on with the CD playing. This is pretty darn convienient stuff! Also, where the CD can read the CD text it is passed to the TV screen -- pretty nice to scroll through the artists and song-titles! All-in-all I would say great value for the money, I have no problems with heating or hiss, there must be something wrong with the setup of systems which do. I'm a bit old-fashioned but my last system was a Quad II. My friend has a harman-kardon system and I could give him a good run for his money at what? 25% the cost! Maybe if JVC charged more for this receiver people would think more of it!

This receiver is really a mixed bag. A receiver with S-VHS switching in this price range is unbelievable. For music, it's great. For Digital Dobly (or anything else digital), it sucks. Basically, if you listen to an analog input and turn off DSP (including Dolby Pro Logic), it sounds great. However, turn on the Dobly Pro Logic and the noise appears. This noise also appears with any digital source (Digital Dolby or a digital feed from a CD player). In fact, the CD player sounds much better via the analog connection (no noise!). I don't understand how anyone can not hear that annoying noise... It's worse than just a hiss; it reminds me of listening to an AM radio station (well, maybe not quite that bad, but it's that kind of noise). It's so bad that I thought my unit was defective... Until I tried a demo in the store.

Ease of use and setup is just awesome.Sound quality is good. Not great.
I have tried everything and still get the hissing sound
at medium and higher volume settings.
Connections for everything except a 6 channel input.

It is a good entry point reciever. Youd have to spend double
$300 more to get better. But I would say it is an exceptional
value for money.

I just recently got this A/V receiver @ $307 from UBID. I don't understand what all the hoopla is about. For a receiver that retails for $499, this unit has a lot more than others rated in a higher class. I checked the Onkyo, Kenwood and Pioneer before buying this unit. It seems that many audophiles are trying to go beyond the scope of the equipment to make it sound louder. Plain as day it reads the information about the Ohm specs and the speaker circumference specs. If you are overheating, you obviously aren't paying attention. This info is even listed in the Quick Setup. Although I have a HTS w/powered subwoofer, I only have this hooked to a pair of 8Ohm RCA fronts (150W max) from my old system. I have power and NOOOOO hiss. I have only my CD player connected (analog) and I am not having a problem. Recording the user with the clipping problem--You're probably listening in Pro Logic Theatre--it's supposed to sound like that. And for those of you that are having the optical problems, word of caution, ALL OPTICAL WIRES MUST BE HANDLED WITH CARE--ANY INFRACTION TO THE CLADDING WILL CAUSE DISTORTION (These are NOT copper wires, Remember?) For those crying about the remote, you probably want dials for everything. Sorry this one has buttons. I myself think this is a great unit for the money. 2 optics as well as coax (assignable), OSD, multi S-video - a must buy and try for yourself. But don't overdo your setup!!! It's made to keep it simple.

I have been buying recievers and carrying them back to the stores for the last 30 days or so. In that time I have had the opertunity to become familier with the technics 725/500 combo unit, the Sony 825, the Pioneer 607 and the JVC in question... the 884VBX. The sound quality in stereo mode is more then just better on the JVC then the other units, it was a lot better... The units contruction is much more solid then the others and has a very good osd.
You guys with the bad reviews have been smoking something that effects your ears. JVC has excelled at making a lower priced effective reciever that will outperform all other IC based amps currently available.

I'm not sure where this "hiss" some reviewers are talking about is coming from. The only times I consciously note unacceptable levels of noise (in the surround channels only) is in Pro-Logic mode - probably because of so-so steering circutry. In Dolby Digital, the noise floor in the back speakers is incredibly low for a budget receiver. I've had the rear channels hooked up to thousand-dollar Paradigm minimonitors with audioquest cable, and I'm pretty sure that any hiss would be pretty apparent on this setup.
but i'd have to agree with everyone on the DSP modes. They're pretty tacky. 8-)

I think for the money that this is not really a bad receiver. I think it is much better in stereo mode then surround. I do notice hiss in the rear speakers at moderate sound levels, and the DSP(DAP) isnt really all that great. If you set the DSP(DAP) for music, I set it to a min.(Effects 1), anything higher is to fake sounding. I have had no heating problems using 8 ohm speakers, dont know about 4 ohm. The amp sounds clear to me, even at high levels in stereo mode. Most places I checked are selling this unit for around 499.00, but I feel its more of a 399.00 receiver. I'm happy with it as it is, everthing works pretty good but for the noise in the surround modes and the digital inputs which are noisey in stereo mode, but ok in surround mode. Should be the other way around.

Hey, just connected the 884. First unit since my Technics I bought in 79 while in Okinawa. I was a little curious about all this hissing and moaning in the other reviews. It seems obvious that some of them must be competitors to JVC.
I have never really been a JVC enthusiast but I am very happy with this unit. Since my S-VHS VCR was limited in it's switching capability I have not really used it in "S" mode for a couple of years. Now I have everything wired together and "WOW" it almost like watching HDTV.

I have a pair of Pioneer HPM 100's for the fronts (don't need a subwoofer wih those baby's), JBL control1's for the surround and center. Teamed up with my Dishnet 4000 receiver the only thing I need now is the Dishnet D-VHS receiver decoder with AC-3 outputs.

I borrowed a DVD over the holidays and am now almost videoded out. I have come to the conclusion that DBS is as good, if not better than DVD as long as you havethe Dolby Digital outputs. There is definitely a difference. Blows Pro-Logic away!

If you want home theater with S-Video switching, this or the RX-1024VBVK is the one to buy. I paid $368 at my local retailer but may have bought the 1024 if I could have found one.

My only complaint is that the remote is limited for my Dishnet receiver and is not backlit.

My comment about HDTV is geared to those of us who are watering at the mouth. It is not really close to HD,but fits my current budget. Maybe next year.