JVC RX-DP20V 7.1 Channels Receiver
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- Surround Sound: DTS® DTS ES® THX EX® Dolby Pro Logic II
- THX Certification: Ultra
- Number of Channels: 7.1 Channels
- Type: Receiver
- Surround Mode Power: 120 Watt @ 8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, THD: 0.02%
- Stereo Mode Power: 120 Watt @ 8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, THD: 0.02%
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RX-DP20VBK Review
Pros
THX surround EX Decoding with 7 independent amplifiers, DTS ES, Dolby Pro-logic II
Cons
Distorted sound in THX modes
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
Electronic circuitry has problems when the receiver is used in THX modes, and it generates distorted sound. My recommendation is to stay away from RX-DP20 until JVC fixes the problem.
While I do list some of the technical specs of the receiver in this short review, this is not a technical review of the receiver per se – rather my personal experience with it (since I do not recommend RX-DP20VBK to anyone, I thought it would make no sense to go through the technical peculiarities and all the pros and cons of the receiver).
If you look at all the heavy advertisement for this receiver, you would think you found a golden mine. The receiver boasts a new 32/64 floating-point digital signal processor, it is THX Ultra 2 –certified, and it has all imaginable sound processing fields, including THX surround EX Decoding with 7 independent amplifiers, THX Ultra II, THX surround EX, DD EX, DTS ES, DTS 96/24, DTS Neo 6, DTS Discrete 6.1, Matrix 6.1, and Dolby Pro-logic II. Furthermore, the receiver has DVD multichannel audio-compatible 7.1 channel inputs for connection to multi-channel sources (such as DVD Audio), and it also has a bass management system – a worthwhile feature if you listen to multi channel sources. Moreover, it is possibly the most affordable receiver in this class (I paid about $1500 in February 2004). All this sold me - I owned a 5.1 JVC receiver for about 3 years, and I decided to upgrade it with the RX-DP20VBK. What a mistake. The first RX-DP20VBK I bought worked OK except for the distorted sound in the rear back channel when operated in any of the THX modes using digital inputs (which you would naturally want to use if you connect a DVD player or a satellite dish to the receiver). In all other modes the receiver sounded OK, but the THX modes are the really good ones… The problem was there irrespective of the source. That is to say, I tried two different DVD players and a satellite dish, and they all gave the same distorted sound in the rear back channel. Switching speakers did not change anything, but switching receiver outputs "moved" the distortion from the right back speaker to the left back speaker – indicating that the problem was in the receiver's right back channel circuitry. The unit was in the repair shop for more than 2 months, but they could not fix it. According to the technician at the repair shop, JVC knows about this problem which was apparently common on many, if not all, early release RX-DP20VBKs. The shop was waiting for a special chip or software upgrade from Japan to fix the problem, but this was taking a long time… After three letters and numerous phone calls – and more than two months of my receiver being in the repair shop - JVC finally gave me a replacement, brand new receiver. Guess what: it has exactly the same problem. I suspect the "bug" has not been fixed yet. Obviously, there is no guarantee that your unit will have the same problem – but given my experience with TWO units, I think it is likely. My recommendation is to stay away from this receiver at least for a while, until JVC fixes the sound distortion problem in their flagship receiver.
If you look at all the heavy advertisement for this receiver, you would think you found a golden mine. The receiver boasts a new 32/64 floating-point digital signal processor, it is THX Ultra 2 –certified, and it has all imaginable sound processing fields, including THX surround EX Decoding with 7 independent amplifiers, THX Ultra II, THX surround EX, DD EX, DTS ES, DTS 96/24, DTS Neo 6, DTS Discrete 6.1, Matrix 6.1, and Dolby Pro-logic II. Furthermore, the receiver has DVD multichannel audio-compatible 7.1 channel inputs for connection to multi-channel sources (such as DVD Audio), and it also has a bass management system – a worthwhile feature if you listen to multi channel sources. Moreover, it is possibly the most affordable receiver in this class (I paid about $1500 in February 2004). All this sold me - I owned a 5.1 JVC receiver for about 3 years, and I decided to upgrade it with the RX-DP20VBK. What a mistake. The first RX-DP20VBK I bought worked OK except for the distorted sound in the rear back channel when operated in any of the THX modes using digital inputs (which you would naturally want to use if you connect a DVD player or a satellite dish to the receiver). In all other modes the receiver sounded OK, but the THX modes are the really good ones… The problem was there irrespective of the source. That is to say, I tried two different DVD players and a satellite dish, and they all gave the same distorted sound in the rear back channel. Switching speakers did not change anything, but switching receiver outputs "moved" the distortion from the right back speaker to the left back speaker – indicating that the problem was in the receiver's right back channel circuitry. The unit was in the repair shop for more than 2 months, but they could not fix it. According to the technician at the repair shop, JVC knows about this problem which was apparently common on many, if not all, early release RX-DP20VBKs. The shop was waiting for a special chip or software upgrade from Japan to fix the problem, but this was taking a long time… After three letters and numerous phone calls – and more than two months of my receiver being in the repair shop - JVC finally gave me a replacement, brand new receiver. Guess what: it has exactly the same problem. I suspect the "bug" has not been fixed yet. Obviously, there is no guarantee that your unit will have the same problem – but given my experience with TWO units, I think it is likely. My recommendation is to stay away from this receiver at least for a while, until JVC fixes the sound distortion problem in their flagship receiver.
