Price Paid:  $100.00 from best buy or hh gregg

Summary:
I love my old JVC, my parents bought it for me when i was younger, so i dont remember the exact price or place of purchase. this thing has done me good though. right now, i have it up at college with me. and im pushing a couple of 3 way 12s. they sound damn good for a cheap, old receiver. they'll pound pretty hard. my receiver competes pretty closely with a newer sony reciever thats supposed to be pushing quite a bit more power. its a good receiver.

Strengths:
reliability, good quality sound for price, decent power, strong highs.

Weaknesses:
no power button on remote, not as much power as i would like.

Similar Products Used:
kenwood receiver

Price Paid:  $55.00 from stock market

Summary:
Well, since i have this receiver it works correctly and didn't need any repairs. I have many sources connected to it such as computer, CD player, tape deck and my TV. Althrough the sound isn't bad, the highs are rather poor. But I think the problems are my speakers. When I connected my father's speakers the sound was good (better than with my set). So generaly i'm satisfied with this amp. As for the tuner - it recieves most stations correctly but sometimes the it goes into mono even when the signal is good. Im using an antena mounted on the roof. Generaly I cannot complain. For this kind of money I can't expect much. As for the remote control i can't say anything because i don't have it. I bought this JVC ocasionally and I didn't get one. If you have a chance of buying this JVC in a low price - why not? For this kind of money it's good enough.

Strengths:
- the bass is good. - big volume knob. - sound pretty good as for the price.

Weaknesses:
- weak highs.

Price Paid:  $100.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
This amp seemed great at the time, a really good deal, right? Well, back then I didn't know there could be a difference between amplifiers, but let me tell you, this is about as bad as they get (for component systems). There is very low frequency range (NOT 20Hz-20KHz). This would be an excellent amplifer for one way speakers, but this can't adequately power the lows of a woofer and the highs of a tweeter. I also find it necessary to turn it up to 12o'clock to get any power out of it, and I don't like turning things any higher than that. Some friends gave us this vintage Sansui 7070 receiver, and it blows the JVC away. Better highs, MUCH better bass, and more power. The only thing the JVC has on it is a remote controller (because they didn't make remotes back when the Sansui was made). The tuner is also much better on the Sansui, it seems much wider (it was like going from mono FM to stereo FM). By the way, I know that I am really spoiled now, but now that I have heard what the JVC doesn't have I can never go back!

Strengths:
Price, phono input

Weaknesses:
Poor sound quality, Remote control is miserable (power button issue), bad tuner (the stereo separation is poor), ugly

Similar Products Used:
Harman Kardon AVR 40, Sansui 7070, Onkyo TX-8511, Nakamichi RE-1

Price Paid:  $20.00 from the gospil mission in Tigard

Summary:
If you ask me, this unit is alot better then the Sony STR - 135, Altough it lacks power its pretty solid. I picked it up not to long ago, I would normally not do this.. I usually grab the older stereo systems. I thought I would give this little JVC a chance. To my suprise it does ok. I almost feel cheated paying 20 bucks for this, but thats life. But if you do see this little unit at a garage sale or goodwill. pick it up if the price is right. All in all, they just don't make them like they used to. :(

Strengths:
Cosmetics, and over all build.

Weaknesses:
the mosfiet heatsync, power output,

Similar Products Used:
Sony STR - 135, Toshiba sc-335

Price Paid:  $140.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
All in all, this is a good little reciever. I recieved it as a gift for Christmas 1996, so I honestly don't know the price. It has performed well over the past 4.5 years, even through my first 2 years of college where I frequently pump my MP3s and DVDs through it at loud volumes.

Raves:
It offers great sound and goes plenty loud if you live in an apartment or dorm (50w x 2) where you can't have it maxed out all the time so you don't annoy your neighbors. The coolest thing is the large volume control in the middle- I don't know why, but it's always been a neat cosmetic feature. It has a strong tuner, and I can pull in a great classic rock radio station 50 miles away with the supplied FM antenna. It has enough inputs to where I can have my CD player, tape deck, and computer plugged in at once, and there's still a couple sets of RCAs left for another tape deck or turntable, if you so desire. Great solid bass and overall clarity.

Rants:
I hate the remote- while good all in all, it's the size of a bookshelf system's... and where's the power switch? Wow, who left out THAT feature? That's been driving me nuts for years. The main thing that grates me is the background hiss, evident at moderate to higher volumes, and it just gets worse as you turn it up. It really blows, but if you keep it at moderate levels, it's not really too noticable unless there is a flute solo or something to where it quiets down the music enviroment to a near-silence. During a Pearl Jam song, for example, you can't hear it at any level really. But if you're into acoustic Clapton stuff or classical music, anything with quiet areas or periods of silence, it will become apparent. If you also turn off your source and turn up the volume, it REALLY becomes apparent. Ick.

Verdict:
Frankly, I'm getting into home theatre now (Dolby Digital/DTS) and need more power/inputs/outputs/features than this JVC can offer. I'm about to upgrade to the new Sony STR-DE675 reciever. If you're looking for a solid, great sounding unit for the money, I don't think I'd look any further. If you find one of these on eBay or at a swap meet in good condition, pick it up! Good speaker wire highly recommended.

-Chris

P.s.: My personal JVC RX-212 will be for sale shortly. Contact me for details. sales@chrisatkinson.net

Strengths:
Build-quality, ease of use, cool large volume knob, awesome sound for the money.

Weaknesses:
No power switch on the bookshelf system-sized remote. Crappy volume levels with 4 speakers. Noticable background hiss at any volume- worse with higher volumes.

Similar Products Used:
Sony, Technics