Digital Decoder Delight
Written: Oct 31 '02 (Updated Feb 20 '03)
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Pros: 100 Watts x 5 Channel, DTS-ES, Dolby Digital-EX, surround-back speakers thru pre-amp out.
Cons: Published THD of 0.8 for 5 Channel and intimidating remote.
The Bottom Line: I couldn't have asked for more from a receiver at this price. I recommend this product without reservation to the average surround sound consumer.
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| tklung's Full Review: JVC RX-8020V 5.1 Channels Receiver |
After having spent about a week doing research on receivers for under $300 (that's dollars spent, not MSRP -- MSRP for this is receiver is $450), I found myself always going back to the JVC RX-8020VBK receiver. It is the only receiver that I found that has 100 Watts x 5 Channels RMS, supports DTS-ES and Dolby Digital-EX decoding, has 4 digital inputs, supports self-amplified 3rd pair of speakers for 6.1 digital playback, USB connection to computer and has received mostly great reviews from the consumers. I eventually bought mine from etronics.com for around $280. What a steal for a receiver with so many features and support!
This receiver is pretty much at the top of the food chain for the JVC RX-x020VBK models, excluding the 9010 model which only adds multi-room support. In fact, since the 9010 isn't really a 9020, it is an older model and does not support the decodings that the 8020 supports. So if you're looking for the latest decoding support and don't care for the multi-room feature, this is the receiver for you.
FEATURES & SUPPORT
There are a whole list of features and support that you get with this receiver that can be found on the JVC website so I'll just mention some noteworthy ones.
(Taken directly from the JVC site with updates in brackets)
* 120 watts x 2 min. RMS, both channels driven into 8 ohms from 20Hz to 20kHz with no more than 0.08% THD
* 100 watts x 5 min. RMS, into 8 ohms, 1kHz, 0.8% THD
* DVD Multichannel Audio Compatible (5.1 channel analog input and 5 separate amps) for connection to existing and future multichannel sources such as DVD Audio
* Dolby Digital Ex and DTS-ES and Dolby Prologic II decoders built-in for theater quality surround from digital sources
* Dolby Pro Logic II in Full Digital Processing
* Digital Acoustics Processor (DAP) with 7 preset sound fields
* 3D-PHONIC Virtual Surround Sound creates dramatic home theater sound with just two front speakers
* Line level Sub Out [pre-amp out for all channels, including a surround-back speakers channel for 6.1 support]
* 5-band Digital S.E.A. equalization with separate presets for each source to give you flexible tone control and minimize sound degradation
* High Bandwidth Component Video Switching compatible with standard definition TV and all High Definition TV formats
* 5 Composite Video Inputs, 5 S-Video Inputs, 2 Component Video Inputs
* Front A/V Input with S-Video (Gold Plated) for the convenience of hooking up any A/V source quickly and easily such as a camcorder or video game
* Front USB Audio Input
* 1 Assignable Coaxial Digtial Input that you can designate to any digital source
* 3 Assignable Optical Digital Inputs that you can designate to any digital source, 1 Optical Digital Output for use with digital recording devices
* 3 Composite Video Outputs, 3 S-Video Outputs, 1 Component Video Output
* 2 Main Speaker Terminals [Speakers 1/Speakers 2 selectable]
* 15 AM and 30 FM station memory
As you can see, this receiver supports pretty much all current digital surround sound formats with the exception of being THX certified. However, you will not find a receiver with THX certification anywhere near these prices. It has tons of input and output to your existing home audio/video components. Since it pumps 100 Watts x 5 RMS, it has plenty of power for those bigger speakers that require it. One nice thing that is has is the front panel USB. Although I haven't used it yet, it allows the user to plug their computer directly to the receiver to play back any audio source.
CONNECTIONS
The audio output connections that will be used by most will be the amplified speaker connections for the front pair, center and surround pair speakers. 2 different front pair speakers can be connected as the receiver has selectable front pair speaker toggle buttons. A powered subwoofer can be connected to the pre-amp output connection. As a matter of fact, all speakers can be self-amplified as it allows all 6.1 speaker channels to be connected this way. Using the amplified output method, you can only connect the speaker sets mentioned above. There is one digital audio output for recording to digital devices. There are plenty of composite audio outputs to cassette deck, VCR, etc.
The audio inputs vary from digital coaxial, optical digital and composite audio (left, right). You can connect up to 4 different digital audio sources. Again, there are plenty of composite audio inputs from cassette deck, VCR, etc.
Video inputs include 5 composite video, 5 S-video and 2 component video inputs. My VCR is connected through the composite video and my DVD and XBOX is connected to the receiver using the S-Video inputs.
In terms of video output, there is one composite video out, 1 S-video out and 1 component video out. My receiver is connected to my TV using both the composite and S-video out.
Obviously, due to all its connection options, I don't think you'll be starving for more inputs and outputs.
REMOTE
This remote is quite intimidating. It has tons of buttons on it. The top features an LCD indicator that tell you the current selection or button press. Below the LCD are all the source selector buttons, i.e. TV, CD, DVD, etc. The bottom half is riddled with the sound processing, volume control, menu selector buttons. Just looking at it will leave you sighing. However, after playing with it a bit, it becomes quite intuitive. There is an entire section in the manual dedicated to using the remote. You can also program other manufacturer's remote codes into this remote to operate their units.
SIGHT & SOUND
The look and feel of a component is always subjective. I've always found the Harmon Kardon's clean and simplistic design to be the most appealing to me. This receiver looks solid however the little source buttons on the front clutter up an otherwise nice looking receiver.
As for the sound, I have the receiver hooked up to a JBL SCS150SI. These small speakers can amazingly produce big speaker sound and can handle the power delivered by the JVC receiver. I think for the price, these speakers are a bargain. Enough about the speakers.
When watching DVD movies, the surround experience is very real. Digital 5.1 surround sound is really brought to life by this receiver. Without comparing it to other setups, you probably won't notice anything lacking in the sound. However, once you compare it to other higher end receivers and speakers, it is clear that the midrange reproduction is a little weak. However, this may not be attributed to the receiver, but rather the JBL speakers that it is hooked up to. To the average surround sound consumer, I don't think this will be a problem at all.
The same problem can also be observed with 2 channel CD music reproduction. The midrange seems to be bottled back and not allowed to spring forward to its full potential. But again, with a set of better speakers, this problem will most likely disappear.
A little explanation of the importance of Dolby Digital and DTS and its newer encoding schemes EX and ES, respectively. To enjoy true digital surround, all 5.1 channels should have discrete audio signals feeding them. Both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS Digital Surround Sound do this. The discrete signal is sent to all 5 channels, the front left and right, the center and the surround left and right. A sixth channel for low frequency sounds is pumped to the subwoofer adding the .1 to the name. The difference between Dolby Digital (DD) and DTS is that they use different encoding algorithms and different bit rates. DTS is known to have the higher bit rate but it does not necessarily translate to better sound because it uses a different encoding algorithm as discussed above. It would be like comparing apples to oranges. Personally I cannot tell the difference between the two and enjoy both formats equally. To know more about this, there is a good DD vs DTS article on soundandvisionmag.com (http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/SoundAndVision/Article/0,1653,130_2352_1,00.html)
Recently, DD-EX and DTS ES have made it to the home audio/video scene. What this does is it adds a sixth channel (or 7th channel if you count the subwoofer) which is known as the surround-back speaker channel. Because of this sixth channel, it is known as, you guessed it, 6.1. It can be 2 speakers or one but only one discrete signal is sent. To be specific, in DTS ES format, 6.1 is truly discrete, while in Dolby Digital EX, it is matrix encoded for the sixth channel. However, because DD EX is matrix encoded for the sixth channel, you can still enjoy 5.1 surround without data loss under the DD EX format. You can enjoy 7.1 channel surround via matrix decoding of the 6th channel input in both DD-EX and DTS-ES. 6.1 (or 7.1 for that matter) surround more resembles that of the front speaker set up and therefore produces better surround sound.
To enjoy the surround sound described above in movies, your receiver (or separate decoder for that matter) must support either DD 5.1 or DTS. What really adds icing to the cake is if it supports DD-EX and DTS ES, which this receiver does support. These audio encoding schemes produces the audio effects heard in movie theatres once they are decoded. With these decoded signals, airplanes flying around actually sounds like airplanes flying around the room.
To be comprehensive, Dolby Prologic II also does this 5.1 channel decoding. However, it takes any stereo source (2 channels, whether or not it is Dolby encoded) and matrix decodes it into 5.1 channels. Because the original source of the sound was not discretely encoded for 5.1 channels the decoding process results in inferior sound when compared to the DD and DTS standards.
Back to the receiver and more on the sound. The receiver seems to be able to deliver relatively good sound at this price range. The highs and lows in DVD movies are clearly articulated and the JBL speakers are able to produce good highs and lows. The subwoofer is able to produce tight bass that rattles the room with relative finesse. Popping The Matrix into my DVD player really brought it to life, hearing bullets whizzing by the room and explosions that are true to life. I do not proclaim to be an audiophile but I could not discern any noticeable distortion in the lows and highs, however as discussed, the midrange seems to be held back (again this is probably due to the low end speakers).
CD music seems to play at the same fidelity. You can even play back 2 channel CD music in DTS Neo 6 format with sounds that engulf the entire room. I'm sure you can buy receivers (and speakers) that produce better sound but to the average consumer, I don't think the sound fidelity in those receivers will justify the price difference.
In terms of surround, if DD-EX, DTS ES and Dolby Prologic II isn't enough, you can add to that list with 7 other surround fields that JVC creates through its DSP chip. It also supports DTS NEO 6.1 decoding. DTS NEO 6.1 is similar to Dolby Prologic II except it simulates a sixth channel that Prologic II does not. I really don't care for these however many may want to simulate sound coming from Live and Hall sources. In any case, they all sound great and lifelike.
OVERALL
The features and support on this receiver will last for quite some time, even if you decide to update to better components and speakers. With all the digital surround sound formats that it supports, you are able to enjoy all the current DVD movies and also have the ability to support DVD-audio in the future. It produces good audio fidelity at this price point. My 2 gripes about this receiver is the remote and the THD in 5 channel mode. The remote with all its buttons can be quite intimidating to use. As a matter of fact, because of all the buttons on it, I haven't even read the manual for using it. Having fussed with it for a few hours though, it becomes quite intuitive. You just have to get over the hurdle of all its buttons. The published THD of 0.8 is one of the higher ones in its price range. However, having heard the sounds produced through my speakers (besides the midrange), I can't tell the difference between THD and ABC or 123.
Given its digital decoding galore, abundant features and support, and future compatibility as well as its relatively good audio fidelity, you cannot go wrong with this receiver at $280. It is a steal! Go out and buy one today to start enjoying cinema surround sound at home.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 280
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Epinions.com ID:
tklung
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Reviews written: 20
Trusted by: 5 members
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