Home > Consumer Reviews > JVC RX-6030VBK Receiver

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.

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.

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.

This is a professional sounding receiver at a low end price. It produces wonderful sound when connected to a good set of speakers.

I first used the receiver with a pair of old Bose 301 speakers. I can honestly say that I have never heard the Bose 301 speakers sound better! There was clearly more definition and overall response than with my old Sony receiver.

Finally, I connected the receiver to my Cerwin Vega AVS-5.1 speaker set (reviewed separately). I set the front, center and surround speakers to "small" on the receiver and then I was completely amazed by the sound. There is absolutely no audible distortion. The unit sounds really fantastic with the best DVDs - like "Pirates of the Caribbean". In my opinion, even better than the sound in a movie theater.

Although low on features, this is a great sounding unit which and I am extremely pleased with it. It looks, feels and - most importantly - sounds like a professional unit. I highly recommend the JVC RX-6030V or the higher-end units in the series (the RX-7030V and RX-8030V).

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.