Craig_C

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Price Paid:  $129.00 from J&R Music World

Summary:
I compared this JVC RX-318BK receiver to an old Sansui 5050 receiver built in the mid 70's. Sansui made great amps. I listened to both speakers and Grado SR60 headphones. The sansui receiver is a better unit and has better sound, but this little JVC rig isn't bad. It was made in Malaysia. I'm almost sworn to never buy any audio/video gear made in China again. Chinese gear is just made so cheap for the bottom dollar. O.K. the unit runs the bass a little too loud. It sounds good, but I had to attenuate the bass with the bass knob about 30 degrees. The main difference between this amp and my old sansui is that the mid range (vocals) are not as sharp and loud on the JVC unit. Also the JVC does not image quite as well because of this. When listening to the Sansui 5050 with the headphones it sounded as though the vocals were coming from the top of my head, but on the JVC it sounded as though the vocals were coming more from the sides of the headphone. So this unit does good on bass (you'll have to turn it down a little) and good on high frequencies, but the mid range could be stronger. 110 watts/channel is plenty of power for most of us. I was drving both receivers with a cheap CD player. Overall I would say this is a good value for $129.00. The loudness button is nice for watching movies. It is better than a similar cheap Onkyo unit (made in China) that I bought about 2 months ago at Fry's Electronics in Dallas and took back. So if you can't afford a good amp now or if you can't find a good Sansui on Ebay, I think this will work just fine for the time being. I guess they use tape input #2 as an input for VHS cassette tapes. I wish it would of had an aux input, but not a big deal.

Strengths:
Good value, big power transformer. Adequate sound. Plenty of power. Quick connect speakers. LCD display is pretty good.

Weaknesses:
Red standby light on all the time. Front panel is hard to read. Should have AUX1 & AUX2 inputs on back. Midrange frequencies a little attenuated, but boosting treble too much will make the highs too loud. It's just something you have to live with about this receiver, but it isn't too bad.

Similar Products Used:
Sansui 5050

Mark of Cenla

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $130.00 from J&R Music and Comput

Summary:
I wanted to replace my Sony STR-VX22, a 50watt/channel 80s receiver. So I bought the JVC RX-318Bk because it has more power and more inputs. I did not expect it to sound better, but it does. The highs are much smother, yet still detailed. The bass is stronger, and the overall detail is good too. For a while I had my Hafler preamp and power amp driving this system. The JVC sounds closer to the Hafler stuff than it does to the Sony. I am very happy with this receiver.

Strengths:
Overall sound, price, features

Weaknesses:
It is very hard to tell when the tape monitor is engaged.

Similar Products Used:
Sony STR-VX22

Price Paid:  $90.00 from eBay

Summary:
I bought this off eBay, in the listing it said that half the buttons on the face plate dont work. i bought this, was going to fix it then try and make $40 off it. but i fell in love with it before i even fixed. my dad (he is much better at sodering) fixed it. someone pushed the treble knob in and it craked the circut board, he bridged 3 wires and it works great. for $90 its awsome, for the $250 it was new its awsome. its not dolby surround, but has a "surround" feature. i use my KLH floor speakers model 9912 (did a review on them) and its awsome.

i dont use my remote because 2 buttons dont work on it (power and volume up) but it is not like the new recivers where you NEED the remote to use all the features on the reciver, eveything works off the face plate. has a 2 color floursent display (which is perfect size and not full of crap you dont need, it does the job.) has a motor driven volume with a LED light on it. (i like the rotory knobs better then the new ones that turn forever) has the compu link thing (all JVC's do) to connect it to other JVC products, although i dont have any other JVC stuff, (want to, JVC is the best for recivers and KLH is the best for speakers) has a 1/2 headphone jack for good headphones (i think its 1/2 its the bigger of the two)you dont even need a equlizer, this has great sound the way it is.


This thing will really crank, i have not brought it all the way up yet (with my KLH floor speakers)i have a Realistic power meter, it only goes to 100 watts and this JVC dishes out 110 watts/channel, i use the meter, not only dose it look cool so see it go back and fourth, but when i have it cranking i turn the bass down, the neddle will be pinned at 100 and thats not good, because it starts distoring (JVC cant keep up with the KLH floor speakers, turn the bass down and i'm fine)


I would recomed this to anyone that wants a great reciver for having fun, or that does not want dolby surround. if you want surrond dont get this, because you wont find it here, anything else GET THIS. i saw it on ebay for $50. its a great reciver thats built to last. has alot of protection. i mean like when you turn it on, it waits a few seconds then turns the speakers on, (so you dont get that "crak" sound when you turn the amp on that can damage the speakers) and if you crank it too high and the speakers cant take it, it will temparay shut its self down so you dont damage them. alot of that kind of stuff. i plan of keeping this JVC and never getting rid of it. it is just somthing thats simple, and powerful, and somthing you wont grow out of.

Strengths:
110 watts/channel, stright forward controls, "rotory" style volume bass and treble, very good power supply, looks very good, built strong, very simple, HUGE heatsink

Weaknesses:
needs a cooling fan for the HUGE heatsink, i have a little boxer fan pulling air through and it helps alot, this thing gets very hot, very hot, but if you have a way of getting rid of the heat, your good ( when its cranking i notice about a 3 degree rise in the room temp.--> really--but its all good)and this is only a audio reciver, not video, there are no video inputs/outputs, but this is a audio reciver, its ment for listening to music, not video stuff.

Similar Products Used:
Aiwa mini-theater (my JVC 500watt dolby DTS should be coming from anyday now)