This system is definitely a high quality product.
It gives a very good clear sound and its design is just excellent.
There are some obvious minor drawbacks:
- bass and treble adjustments could have more range than just 7 gradations (-3 .. +3)
- it is not possible to pause the CD using remote control,
only the button on the CD player
Anyway, they don't spoil overall great impression. This system is worth buying.

Very compact, easy to fit even onto a desktop

Too many functions are remote-only accessible. Bass and treble adjustments don't have very much range. Amplifier produces a lot of heat when played at loud volume levels.

A surprisingly nice micro component system.

Unlike many micro systems which are gussied-up boombox innards, this JVC appears to be well engineered from the ground up to be an honest miniature stereo system in a shelf-sized package. I have it perched on my desk, which also holds a 17" monitor,keyboard, mouse, phone, lamp, and one of the two speakers for my system. I still have plenty of room left over for the normal desk stuff - books, paper, etc. etc.

I do have some quibbles about the units operation, and will outline these at the end of my review.

The included speakers are really quite good if you don't push them too hard. They have a natural open sound to them, and are quite transparent at moderate volume levels. At very high levels, the highs remain sweet, but the low end suffers from distortion and "whooshing" from the dual ports.

The receiver (whoops, JVC calls it an integrated amplifier/tuner) is very simple in design, and packs a very sweet amplifier. When I mated it to my home-made powered sub and Energy eXL 16 speakers, the sound was superb. The unit is rated at a fairly optimistic 20 watts per channel. Running at moderate volume levels, the sound was rich and detailed. At very high levels (which I admit I only tried to test the unit) there was no distortion at all from the Energy speakers, unlike the factory supplied units. I take this to mean that the amp is indeed well engineered.

The CD changer is also simple in design, and works as advertised. The tray mechanism is plastic and appears to be lightweight, but I don't see that as a problem.

Now for the quibbles:

High volume levels generate lots of heat. I popped in the Rush CD Moving Pictures, and turned the volume up to an indicated 40 (goes to 50). The surface temperature of the metal casing above the heatsink got close to 120 degrees F. Yow! Class A amplification, anyone? My ancient 15 watt Marantz 2015 does not generate anywhere near that much heat, and plays louder to boot. (Delivers more current, with more distortion than the JVC, certainly.)

Note that even at an indicated volume of 50, there was no audible distortion from my Energy speakers.

You cannot access the bass, treble, and balance controls from the amp, only from the remote. The bass and treble controls don't have enough range, either. However, leaving them flat and using the SA Bass (loudness) is fine for low-level listening.

You also can't set the clock or wake-up timer, program the radio stations, choose FM mono mode, or the sleep funcion from the amplifier.

You cannot PAUSE or FAST FORWARD the CD player from the remote! I find this to be a serious flaw - if I have to answer the phone, I want to be able to pause the CD. You must use the PLAY/PAUSE key on the CD changer itself.

In summary:

Superb sound from a tiny package. If you don't need ear-rupturing sound levels and want clean sound, look at this unit. A major step up from the JVC FS series desktop units.

If you don't mind having almost all the controls on the remote, you'll love this setup. Very clean looking.

Despite my quibbles with the operation of the unit, I'd give it 4.5 stars, it's audio delivery is fantastic. I got mine from Circuit City's online catalog, not available in their stores. $299 US, plus tax. It's a "limited quantity" Web special.

Will I keep it? I don't know yet. I'm thinking of the Teac Reference 130, an all-in-one 3 CD desktop stereo. The Teac has all of the controls accesible from the front panel, but seems to lack a subwoofer output. (You could get a powered sub with a high-level pass through).

VERY GOOD SOUNDING FOR THE PRICE. GOOD DEPTH AND CLARITY ARE QUIT NOTICEABLE AT RESPECTABLE VOLUME SETTINGS. IT LOOKS VERY SIMPLE AND AT THE SAME TIME GIVES A SOPHISTICATED LOOK. THE REMOTE CONTROL FOR THIS UNIT IS A PLEASURE TO USE AS WELL. A SMALL SUBWOOFER WOULD ADD EVEN MORE DEPTH IF YOU WISH TO GO THAT ROUTE.

BASS AND TREBLE SHOULD NOT BE AT THEIR HIGHEST SETTINGS BECAUSE I NOTICED JUST A BIT OF DISTORTION AS IF IT WAS OVER WORKED. I NOTICED THIS AT A HIGH VOLUME AND WITH CERTAIN TYPES OF MUSIC.

MY OVERVIEW OF THIS MICRO SYSTEM IS GREAT FOR THE PRICE BUT DO NOT EXPECT A $10,000 SYSTEM FOR ONLY $299.00.

Similar Products Used:

NONE

See my review below

CD player started skipping badly - FIXABLE!

Well, after who knows how many hours of playing CD's, the CD player finally went bad on this unit. This was after several summers with no air conditioning, which may have had a detrimental effect on the unit.

The good news is that the laser pickup has an adjustment!

I wasn't going to pay to get it fixed, so I took a look, knowing that some CD laser assemblies are adjustable. It was! First, I marked the position of the adjuster with a fine-point Sharpie marker. Then, a tiny tweak with a screwdriver in one direction yielded no focus at all - a tweak in the other direction and it was working *better than new*! When I first got the unit, it wouldn't play certain CD-R media. Now it does!

The amplifier is still as clean-sounding as when the unit was new.

I'm still glad I bought it!

Similar Products Used:

See my review below

I researched mini systems for about 2 months...extensively...a real pain in the ass when the thesis kicked in. I bought this system for its all around capabilities without the extra bell and whistle crap that no one ever uses. I don't have tapes so I don't want a tape player. It plays cd's continuously with a three play & exchange disk unit. It also works as a good alarm clock with sweetly programmable sleep and alarm programs...fall asleep at one volume and wake up at a different volume to a preselected cd, song, station, etc.This unit was very hard to find so that would probably be its downfall...I guess some people decided not to market it for some illogical reasons.

Bottom Line: Buy this...it is well worth the money. I have had it now for 6 months and it performs beautifully, sounds like a $2000 system in any bedroom, looks sweet as hell (small and elegant), very versatile (has aux hookups, amp hookup, MD hookup - everything you need to upgrade down the road). Plain and simple: this is one quality system that combines form and function and does it for under $400.....no way you will find a better system for the money...and if you do...email me because I frankly won't beleive you. Good luck shopping.

Look really cool. And sub-outlet is a plus. OK sound(I will explain this later)

can't fast forward with controller.

I love this stereo system. It look really cool and produces pretty good sound especially bass. I am a techno freak and even without pulgging a subwoofer, I still enjoy the bass this machine is producing(with S.A Bass on). One time, by chance, I connect the 3CD player and the speakers from this system to a Denon amplifier. Man, I can't no longer be stisfied with the original amplifier comes with the system. But, since this is not a multi-thousands Denon amplifier, I think it's a really great product and everyone should get it.