Home > Consumer Reviews > JVC RX-6030VBK Receiver

This receiver has fantastic sound for the price, and gobs of inputs and outputs. The only downside is that it does not have a phono input or groundwire terminal. You can plug your turntable into one of the other composite inputs, but without the ground it doesn't sound quite right. CD, TV, VHS and DVD all sound great!

Let me start off by saying I mix sound for movies and TV. I am very aware of how my shows should sound and I'm very impressed with the sound of this unit. The Dolby Pro Logic II is outstanding! This unit is easy to use and is simple to set up. The remote is very small, it could be larger, but it works well. If you want a fine sounding unit at a very reasonable price with a fair amount of options look no further.

I can't imagine going for an upgrade later. The sound is crystal clear. Setup was easy. The multi-function remote is not perfect, but it is the best one of the six that came with my components. One feature that I'm particularly pleased with is the ability to clean up the sound from less than great sources (like local TV programing). An excellent buy for the price.

I had high hopes for this inexpensive but powerful home theater receiver as the foundation of my new home audio and (eventually) home theater system -- a repleacement for my 25+ year old Sherwood 7250CP audio-only receiver.

No go. After unpacking and sorting out which features I needed to initialize first, I got it plugged in, connected and fired up an audio CD on my trusty Sony carousel player and piped the sound through a pair of reliable Ambient bookcase speakers ...

After two minutes I shut it off, rechecked the connections and tried again. Same results: the audio was playing fine but the sound itself was harsh, brittle and not at all the listening experience I expected -- a far cry from the warm, smooth sound of the lower-power 40watt Sherwood. The JVC's FM tuner seemed incapable of holding a station, another disappointment as the Sherwood handled this task just fine in the same location.

Subsequent tests didn't improve matters, and the incredibly complex and hard-to-read remote (when will the ADA weigh in on the design of remote control handsets?) made opertating the receiver an exercise in frustration.

Sorry, JVC. I sent it back.

This is just a warning -- I've read great reviews about the receiver, but you might want to know that the "Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours" part is a bit off. I've been waiting about 168 hours so far, and I just got notified that there's an even longer delay. If you can actually get a hold of one of these receivers, I'm sure you'll love it, but the 'getting' is the tricky part.