JVC RX-888V 5.1 Channels Receiver
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- Surround Sound: Dolby Digital® DTS®
- THX Certification: No
- Number of Channels: 5.1 Channels
- Type: Receiver
- Surround Mode Power: 100 Watt @ 8 ohm, 1 kHz, THD: 0.8%
- Stereo Mode Power: 120 Watt @ 8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, THD: 0.02%
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JVC - The Center of my Home Entertainment System
Pros
Good power, good implementation of the 5.1 and DTS standards, lots of features
Cons
Gotta read the manual... so many bells and whistles it has to be programmed for your needs.
Recommended it?
Yes
I had been drooling over the Bose AM-10 speaker system for quite some time. Finally, I had saved up the money and sprung for the $1000 set of speakers. 5 speakers, one bass module, and a regular surround receiver to plug into. It didn't take me long to realize the shortcomings and lousy Signal-to-noise ratio of my receiver. The speakers were showing me just how muddy the sound was.
So, I called up my friend Jon, who owns the local Radio Shack franchise. He carries a bunch of stuff besides Radio Shack gear, and I asked him what would be a good receiver to get. I knew what I wanted:
1) My CD Player and my MiniDisc player both had optical digital outputs. I wanted to use them.
2) My speakers had 5 channels. I wanted them all distinct.
3) I wanted full Dolby support, including Dolby 5.1
4) I wanted enough power to rattle the walls when I watched "Jurassic Park". ;)
The JVC RX-888VBK had just been released. Jon showed it to me in a catalog, saying "I've ordered them, but they haven't started shipping yet. You want me to hold one for you?" I told him yes, and several weeks of anticipation began.
When I first got the system, I hooked up my speakers, and was impressed with the on-screen display. I should have, however, read the manual. I turned it on, and got nothing. It lit up, the "A" speaker switch was on. I checked all my connections. Well, I found that to use the digital inputs, I had to tell the receiver that. You couldn't just set it to "CD", you had to set it to "CD DIGITAL". Not a big deal, but I had to do the un-techie thing and actually consult the manual. What a blow to my ego. :)
The other thing that I found out is that while both my Satellite Receiver (and later my DVD player) had SVHS outputs, it won't convert. In other words, I ran SVHS from the JVC to my Sony Trinitron 27" TV. But if I play my VCR (which only has an NTSC/Video) output, and I have the TV set on SVHS input, there's no conversion that goes on. The solution was that I had to have two video cables, one SVHS, and one NTSC, running to the TV. To watch the Dish, I set the receiver, and then set the TV to SVHS. If I want to watch a video tape, I set the receiver, and then set the TV to "Video In".
It isn't a big deal, and not really a negative point, but it was something it took me a little while to figure out (OK, primarily because I hadn't read the manual....)
Overall, the sound is CRISP (100 watts x5 discrete amplifiers for 5.1 mode, plus a line-level subwoofer output... but I don't use that for the Bose.) it has 2 optical digital inputs and 1 coaxial digital input, SVHS and NTSC inputs and switching (so the entire system acts as an A/V switcher for your entire entertainment center), Dolby 5.1 and DTS, as well as JVC's A/V Compulink and Text Compulink. (If, for example, you have a JVC VCR, the A/V Compulink will allow you to simply insert a tape into the VCR, and it will turn on the receiver, set it to the VCR input, etc. etc. etc.)
Overall, I'm very happy with the system. There's more features than I can list. The only thing I can think of that another user might want is the ability to have "Zones". In other words, you can be watching TV in the living room, and the missus is listening to CD's from the same receiver in the kitchen (on a different set of speakers.) This feature, however, is available in the 1088. :)
So, I called up my friend Jon, who owns the local Radio Shack franchise. He carries a bunch of stuff besides Radio Shack gear, and I asked him what would be a good receiver to get. I knew what I wanted:
1) My CD Player and my MiniDisc player both had optical digital outputs. I wanted to use them.
2) My speakers had 5 channels. I wanted them all distinct.
3) I wanted full Dolby support, including Dolby 5.1
4) I wanted enough power to rattle the walls when I watched "Jurassic Park". ;)
The JVC RX-888VBK had just been released. Jon showed it to me in a catalog, saying "I've ordered them, but they haven't started shipping yet. You want me to hold one for you?" I told him yes, and several weeks of anticipation began.
When I first got the system, I hooked up my speakers, and was impressed with the on-screen display. I should have, however, read the manual. I turned it on, and got nothing. It lit up, the "A" speaker switch was on. I checked all my connections. Well, I found that to use the digital inputs, I had to tell the receiver that. You couldn't just set it to "CD", you had to set it to "CD DIGITAL". Not a big deal, but I had to do the un-techie thing and actually consult the manual. What a blow to my ego. :)
The other thing that I found out is that while both my Satellite Receiver (and later my DVD player) had SVHS outputs, it won't convert. In other words, I ran SVHS from the JVC to my Sony Trinitron 27" TV. But if I play my VCR (which only has an NTSC/Video) output, and I have the TV set on SVHS input, there's no conversion that goes on. The solution was that I had to have two video cables, one SVHS, and one NTSC, running to the TV. To watch the Dish, I set the receiver, and then set the TV to SVHS. If I want to watch a video tape, I set the receiver, and then set the TV to "Video In".
It isn't a big deal, and not really a negative point, but it was something it took me a little while to figure out (OK, primarily because I hadn't read the manual....)
Overall, the sound is CRISP (100 watts x5 discrete amplifiers for 5.1 mode, plus a line-level subwoofer output... but I don't use that for the Bose.) it has 2 optical digital inputs and 1 coaxial digital input, SVHS and NTSC inputs and switching (so the entire system acts as an A/V switcher for your entire entertainment center), Dolby 5.1 and DTS, as well as JVC's A/V Compulink and Text Compulink. (If, for example, you have a JVC VCR, the A/V Compulink will allow you to simply insert a tape into the VCR, and it will turn on the receiver, set it to the VCR input, etc. etc. etc.)
Overall, I'm very happy with the system. There's more features than I can list. The only thing I can think of that another user might want is the ability to have "Zones". In other words, you can be watching TV in the living room, and the missus is listening to CD's from the same receiver in the kitchen (on a different set of speakers.) This feature, however, is available in the 1088. :)
