Owners of JVC receivers (1 Viewer)

[SteveTomassetti]

I have a JVC RX-7010VBK receiver. The reviews I read were good ones and I had a ton of gift certificates to the online store selling it so I purchased the unit. As a stand-alone reciever with just 2 speakers it was fine... when I finally added the surround package I thought the quality was lacking. I notice a static or graininess in voices when listening to surround sound. It is very obvious to me. I took it to a technician for warranty service and he yelled at me saying it was performing to spec. He told me my speakers were the problem so I bought a new center, still unacceptable. I've done every possible internal setting thru the receiver and alot of tweaks as well, but this is ridiculous. Does anyone else have any experience with this or this brand of receiver? Is this a common problem or just a low-quality receiver? Thanks

 

[JohnDG]

I've got an older RX-8000VBK with no complaints.

A few questions:

1) Is the CC "timbre matched" with the fronts? That is, the same manufacturer and line? If not, maybe the CC "tone control" settings can help.

2) Is this all surround modes? Or just Dolby Surround? Versus DD 5.1 or DTS? I've found the CC voices to not be as clear with Doubly Surround.

Maybe (guessing here) one way to see if the CC speaker is the problem is to toggle between CC "yes" and "no" settings. For "no," the CC sound will be sent to the two front speakers for make a "phantom center."

jdg

 

[Scott Pagac]

I currently own a JVC 884 (just pre-DTS vintage) and I thought it was nice at the time, but I am now noticing its weaknesses.
1) I get very loud hissing from all speakers at anything near reference. In fact, I can not even calibrate the system for fear of damaging my speakers.
2) The DPL is nice on soundtracks from the VCR, but does nothing but collapse the soundstage to the center channel with any other audio input.
3) The DSP modes are terrible.
4) I have also noticed the center channel does not sound anything like the rest of my speakers, so I upgraded to a complete Phase Tech Teatro 7.5 system, but I have not heard an improvment. :frowning:
5) The other night, I found out that my headphone jack does not disable the output to my speakers (I think my neighbors were a bit annoyed until I realized why the floor was vibrating ).
The unit does sound quite nice in stereo mode, however. For that reason, I will not be getting rid of it. Instead, I will be using it to power my 2 rear surround speakers when I get my H/K 520 receiver (someday...).

 

[Scott Pagac]

I forgot to mention that, at random times, all of my speakers pop in DD. This is with 2 different DVD players, using the optical hookup. It will happen once, maybe twice during a movie. Then again, sometimes it does not happen at all. I have checked all offending discs and sometimes it happens, sometimes not, so it is not the software or the player.

 

[John DeSantis]

I tried to respond yesterday but had trouble posting and sent an E-Mail. But let me repeat.... I have the 6010vbk (similar ) for a second HT setup downstairs and I have the same problem with the CC. It sounds like crap! Tried different speakers, wire, settings etc. I didn't want to bother taking it in for repair cause I know I'd get the same lame answer you got. So, I will just never buy JVC again (without listening first ) You get what you pay for. I play movies on it with the center off and it sounds pretty good. As I said, it's not my main setup and I use it for kids or others who really don't care all that much about sound!

 

[SteveTomassetti]

JohnDG,

Answers to your questions...

1.) The speakers are not matched, they were the same manufacturer before I upgraded the center. I plan to continue to upgrade using the same line as the new center I bought.

2.) This problem occurs with all the surround modes... I did a series of tests last night and all have a weak center channel.

I took your advice and disabled the center channel... it sounded great after I did that. I also isolated the center channel and once again got the grainy sound. After tweaking a little I got the complete system to sound acceptable, but not great. When I isolate the center again, it sounds poor. I may try a different local authorized dealer but i have a bad feeling its poor quality I have.

Thanks

 

[JohnDG]

JVC quality seems to be variable. Some people have problems; I've been lucky.

I'm running a RX-8000VBK (120x2, 100x5), with Paradigm Monitor 7's and a Paradigm CC370 across the front (same drivers). The sound is seamless across the three, other than the bass roll-offs. I've got the CC sound level set at -2 to get matching SPL level's from all three -- which makes sense, as the CC370 is a bit more efficient than the Monitor 7's

As for hiss in the rears (a couple of JBL N24's), I don't get any problems until the system goes to 85-90dbs.

This is not a good answer, but I'd suggest dumping the JVC on Ebay and buy a better (THD < .1) receiver.

jdg

 

[Larry Hoffman]

Hi, I also have an 8000. Maybe it's one of the better JVC models. I'm quite happy with it. I found my center sounded a bit bright, but not grainy... it's a Mission with smaller drivers than the fronts. (that's one reason I purchased the Missions, we, my wife mainly, didn't want a large speaker sitting on the TV).

The 8000 has a center tone control which allows you to soften or sharpen the sound. I decided to give it a try and went to "center soft 1". This made a definite improvement in the sound of the center, without changing the overall timbre of it.

If your unit has this feature, I recommend giving it a try.

Larry.

 

[SteveTomassetti]

No, my unit doesn't have the center tone control feature, I can only set the level on the different cahnnels. It sounds like it would do the trick though. I noticed the same "brightness" with my center channel. Thanks for the input.