Price Paid:  $350.00 from online

Summary:
This receiver is absolutly amazing. I love this receiver because it does everything that I want. It has a ton of inputs and has good power. Plus you can have 4 front dpeakers on at the same time which is what I like the most

Strengths:
4 fronts at the same time, tons of inputs

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
other jvc receivers

Price Paid:  $247.00 from Vanns.com

Summary:
This is a followup to my January 2001 posting. First of all, thank god I'm not crazy. Nowhere in these postings does it mention a very definite glitch in the digital processing hardware where the center channel just drops completely out of the mix. While watching DVDs in either DD or DTS, the 5.1 surround suddenly and inexplicably switches to a 4 channel surround. To correct the problem, you have to pause the DVD and resume play. It doesn't always happen and seems to be about every third movie or so. Very weird. I was going back and forth trying to determine whether it was my JVC DVD player or the 8010 receiver and was still not convinced until I was reading the reviews for the 9010vbk. There are many many postings regarding this glitch with the 9010. It's always nice to know other people are sharing your pain since the glitch appears to be indicative of the entire xx10VBK platform. I guess it doesn't really matter for me anymore due to some recent problems I've had. Read on... Other than that, the reciever was working flawlessly until I blew it up last week. I'm not sure if I can blame JVC on this one. My wife and kids were away for the weekend and I was playing the life of the bachelor for the first time in about 2 years. I had the stereo cranked and, I mean cranked. I think the volume indicator was on like, 82. Anyway I'm listening away and suddenly, the music just kicks off and when I open the cabinet up, all of my components areas hot as a driveway on a summer day. I could fry an egg on the receiver. Now, you may ask, why can't I completely blame JVC? Well, it's due to the way I have my equipment arranged. The receiver was sandwiched in between the rack shelves in my cabinet with little room for heat sink cooling. I guess I just fried the thing, literally. So, given the fact that I think I caused the problem, I'm only going to lower the overal rating down one notch and, that's for the DD/DTS center channel issue. I have decided to continue with JVC and recently put an order in with CDW.com for JVC's latest 80xx version, the RX-8030vbk. Now the middle of April, it hasn't been released for sale yet so, I'm anxiously awaiting its arrival. It's supposed to have full 6.1 decoding cabability, CC circuitry for cleaner sound and a lot of other higher end features. For the price of $319.88 it can't be beat.

Strengths:
Just about everything for the price. Clean sound, good dispersion

Weaknesses:
- When the Owner's Manual tells you to leave space above the vents for cooling purposes, it means it! - After a year and a half, I just never grew to like the remote layout. Too complicated and messy. Buttons don't stand out from one another and you find yourself endlessly hunting for the right one. I never really used it. - The DD/DTS center channel drop out. Obviously an entire xx10 platform issue that hopefully they've ironed out in successive models.

Similar Products Used:
Onkyo 515Pro

Price Paid:  $129.00 from sears

Summary:
This little guy is awesome. I got it to augment my mini theatre and it has done that with relish. This was an open box item so I had to set it up with no manual. Not a problem. Got all my dital devices hooked up along with the satellite receiver and vcrs and I love this machine!!!! I have a sony STR-DE835 which this puts to considerable shame just on the sheer amount of inputs. I'll be tweaking the sound for a few days to feel it out more, but right now, I'm a happy puppy. Sorry for all the cats out there trying to make it too complicated. It isn't that hard, really. Patience and planning ajead of time.

Strengths:
Ease of setup and array of inputs

Weaknesses:
thd a bit high, though for the price, thd be damned!!!

Similar Products Used:
Sony, Pioneer, Mitsubishi, Sony ES, Technics, Denon, Onkyo

Price Paid:  $375.00 from local dealer

Summary:
I purchased it in8-2001. In early feb. 2002 it died. shipped back to factory in March. Today's date is 5-25-02. still no receiver. When it worked it was ok. with the way jvc is there may be better choices

Strengths:
Had clear sound

Weaknesses:
It died

Price Paid:  $383.00 from Direct from JVC

Summary:
I moved into my new house about a month ago and was ready to create my own little home theatre set up. The 8010 has surpassed my expectations. It provides lots of clean power and is very intuitive to use. I can''t help but chuckle while reading some of the reviews on this site. Some people couldn''t see the large ohm selection switch on the back, some people can''t read the manual properly. It''s funny how the receiver gets blamed for their mistakes. I have been very impressed by the surround sound this thing puts out. I have listened to many other higher-priced units and their sound doesn''t exceed this unit to justify their higher price. One thing I was worried about was the component switching. I''ve seen units that snap, crackle and pop with every switch. However, this unit changes from satellite to DVD to VCR without a sound. It is so smooth! I am also impressed by how well it detects the type of signal being input. I pop in a DVD like Gladiator and select DTS sound. The menus come on and it reads "ProLogic". As soon as the movie starts it slides right into DTS mode. Same with DD. I will echo what many others have said about the quality of inputs and connections, especially the digital connections. I use it primarily for HT/TV stuff but any music I''ve put through it has been very sweet. If I paid $500 - $600 for this unit I wouldn''t complain about it''s quality or sound. I can''t imagine why I''d need to buy another receiver, except for a new type of technology. For now - and the foreseeable future - this baby will give me a solid and high quality sonic experience. Highly recommended!

Strengths:
Inexpensive for the features, clean and quiet, great inputs and connections. Great functionality at a great price!

Weaknesses:
It makes my friends angry when they realize that this unit is just as good as their higher priced receivers.

Similar Products Used:
Sony, Pioneer, Onkyo