Great sound including: rich, full bass without need for subwoofer; clear mid-range and highs; good stereo imaging; plenty of power/volume with no distortion. Well-functioning 5-CD changer in compact size; lots of great features; fairly user-friendly and easy to program. Solid construction. Classy, classic, and understated appearance. Great price and value.

None, unless you absolutely must have balance control and a graphic equalizer, which this system doesn't have.

This is a fabulous system, and would be an incredible value at even twice the price. The first thing I noticed when unpacking this baby was the unusually high quality of construction for a stereo in this price range: the case of the main unit is actually made of METAL, and not plastic. The CD trays are plastic and feel a bit flimsy, but they are motorized, work smoothly, and seem like they'll hold up fine if not abused while CD's are being loaded/unloaded. The appearance of this system is classy, classic, and understated, and would easily fit into even the most formal decor. But what's most important in a stereo system, of course, is the sound. And the sound of this system is amazing. I've tried classical music, jazz, and classic rock, and they all sound great. With the Active Hyper-Bass Pro feature at the higher of its 2 settings, the bass is rich and full, and can be "felt" at the appropriate times without making everything in the house rattle. The mid-range and highs are sweet and clear, and don't distort at all even at the highest volume (and with 74 watts per channel, that volume can be turned pretty high). This system's imaging is also great, as judged with orchestral music--the instruments are properly arrayed across the entire field of sound, and don't seemingly emanate from just the left or the right. While there are digital treble and bass controls with eleven discrete settings, there is no balance control and no equalizer, gimmicky or otherwise. Personally, I don't miss them, and neither should anyone else who simply wants great, straightforward, high-fidelity stereo sound. Having a FIVE-CD changer in a system this compact is phenomenal, and it works quickly and fairly quietly. You can even load and unload up to 4 CD's while a 5th is playing. You can program the system to play specified tracks from up to 5 CD's, and programming is easy and straightforward. This system is user-friendly, with many of the more complicated functions available only on the remote control and simpler functions also available on the unit itself. The remote control is a little busy, but works very well once you learn the layout. The display is well-lit, straightforward, attractive, and even friendly--it says "Hello" when you turn the system on and "See You" when you turn it off! One note about radio reception with this system: I tried the single-wire FM antenna that came with the system, a Terk FM-4000 amplified FM antenna, and a Terk FM+ passive FM antenna, and I was unable to get static-free stereo FM reception with any of them (in mono mode, however, the static disappeared). Finally, I tried not using ANY antenna at all and--much to my surprise--stereo FM reception was just about perfect. I live relatively near the highest point in the city where all of the transmission towers are located, and I assume that is why I get the best FM stereo reception without an antenna. If you have similar stereo FM reception problems, you also might want to try omitting the antenna. For AM reception, I find that a Terk AM Advantage antenna does a bit better than the AM antenna included with the system. In general, this is a great sounding, great looking, feature-rich, and user-friendly system that provides incredible value at a great price.

Similar Products Used:

JVC FS-7000