JVC RX-9000VBK Dolby Digital/DTS Audio/Video Receiver

by JVC

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 31 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B00004SSRP
• Item model number: RX9000VBK
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #247,717 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

A superb of example of what today's audio-video receiver can be, JVC's RX-9000VBK scores a two-run homer with its striking combination of features and performance. Included is a muscular 100-watt output for all five channels, Dolby Digital and DTS surround decoding, a future-ready 5.1-channel input, S-Video switching, 30 FM and 15 AM tuner presets, and enough connections--including a phono input--to keep even the most crazed home theater enthusiasts happy for years.

A unique feature of the RX-9000VBK is that its remote control transmits via both IR (infrared) and RF (radio frequency) signals. Most receivers get their signals via IR transmission. But fact that the RX-9000VBK also transmits and receives RF commands means you can control the receiver from other rooms--which, when you consider the fact that the RX-9000VBK also sports a dedicated "subroom" stereo speaker output for a second room, starts sounding pretty darn convenient.

On a more basic level, the RX-9000VBK's controls are intuitively arranged, and the two jog-shuttle controls are a godsend. One selects inputs, while the other governs multifunction settings for speaker balance, channel output levels, speaker crossover points (bass management), assigning source names, and customizing the DSP modes. Setup is further simplified by JVC's fine onscreen display menu, which lets you manage settings from your couch instead of from a crouch.

Five audio/video inputs (four of which include S-Video) and three audio-only inputs provide plenty of room to grow your system, and JVC wisely elected to use binding posts for all speaker terminals, a boon to those using (or planning to use) banana-terminated speaker cables for all channels. JVC's Text Compu Link shows CD track and title information (with CD Text-encoded discs) on both the receiver's dimmable florescent display and the on-screen display.

The RX-9000VBK's four digital inputs correspond to DVD, CD, TV/DSB, and minidisc, and you can also rename them to suit your needs.

While these features are all great, the best is yet to come: the RX-9000VBK's sound is superb. With stereo music the top-to-bottom balance is remarkable, thanks no doubt to the receiver's fully discrete amplifier outputs and JVC's legendary K-2 digital processing. High frequencies sound open, extended, and silky smooth. The bass has speed (dynamic precision) as well as impact. And in the critical midrange area, vocals sound expressive with a good sense of body, while pianos, horns, and string instruments exhibit fine texture and presence.

Things get even more exciting with Dolby Digital and DTS music and movies. As we went through our discs, our room became an ever-shifting soundscape--ranging from an intimate recording studio to Carnegie Hall, from a New York street to an outer-space battle zone, with our speakers seeming to vanish into the ether.

What more can we say? Good stuff, JVC! --Wayne Garcia

Pros:

• Excellent sound
• S-Video switching capability
• Binding-post speaker terminals for all speakers
• "Subroom" output (for a second room)
• Onscreen display
• RF/IR antenna

Cons:

• No main A/B speaker switch

Amazon.com Product Description

JVC takes the clean sound of Advanced Super A design to five channels in its flagship multiroom, multisource, audio/video control receiver, the RX-9000VBK. Advanced Super A design eliminates the crossover and switching distortion normally associated with high-efficiency class AB amplifiers.

The RX-9000VBK, with built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, is compatible with multichannel audio and has 5.1-channel analog inputs and five separate amplifiers. Tested under all conditions, the fully discrete 120-watt-per-channel (stereo) and 100-watt-per-channel (surround) amplifier section is FTC rated into either 8 ohms or 4 ohms.

Built-in multiroom/multisource capabilities are conveniently controlled by an RF/infrared multibrand audio/video/cable/satellite remote unit. The RX-9000VBK can send different programs to separate locations--for example, video sound to the den while CD audio is playing in a bedroom. The remote also controls TV auto on, for use with any brand of TV and all JVC audio-video Compu Link one-touch home theater automation systems.

JVC's RX-9000VBK has a multitude of video switching capabilities, with five video inputs (including four S-video) and four audio inputs. In addition, one coaxial and three optical digital audio inputs are assignable for digital satellite, CD, minidisc, and DVD as needed.

The digital inputs feed JVC's legendary K2 interface, which compensates for the inherent jitter and distortion found in digital information. The K2 interface completely re-creates the incoming digital signal before it reaches the digital-to-analog converter. This new exact copy allows the D/A converter to create a more expansive and resolute sound stage on all six channels: front right, center and left; rear left and right; and the ".1" subwoofer.

The JVC RX-9000VBK has many ease-of-use features. Text Compu Link displays CD Text or programmed title information on the receiver's fluorescent display and multicolor onscreen display. Users can select and categorize titles via the onscreen display and remote and can see title information even when CD changers are placed out of sight.

Other notable features include the 1-bit P.E.M. D.D. audio converter for all six channels and banana plug speaker terminals with five-way binding plugs for added integrity.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings, February 4, 2001

By 

Jonathan Hunt (Westport, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JVC RX-9000VBK Dolby Digital/DTS Audio/Video Receiver (Electronics)

The JVC RX-9000VBK is apparently JVCs flagship reciever, and while it is a nice reciever, it does not present itself as boldly as some of JVCs other flagship equipment. This receiver is big and complicated, so I will try to divide it up into the different aspects that I feel are important for a reciever to have.

Frist and foremost, this is a reciever, so lets look at audio quality. I have hooked this unit up to a seven piece two-thousand dollar THX Technics speaker system, and it has very nice sound. Because this particular system has two active subwoofers (a left and a right one), I found the Subwoofer level adjustment a godsend. All of the speakers had individual level adjustment (less the mains which had balance control), which is very nice. The noise level is as it should be in any reciever in this class, non-existant. The unit has many audio inputs: One COAX PCM [or SPDI/F], three optical TOS-LINK, and 3 sets of standard analouge connectors. This does not include any of the sets that are coupled with video. The optical and coax digital inputs are software routable, which is good. The unit does have sub-room output with a second set of stereo speakers as an option, but I will not be using this setup. I also found the DSP effects to be genuinely lowsey. The Pro-Logic mode is VERY quiet and VERY noisy, and the other modes don't do much for me. The built in 3-band EQ on the other hand, I find quite useful, but 5 band would have made me like it a little more.

Next video and the like. The unit has inputs for DVD, TV, an I/O for VCR, also a front video input jack and in addition a VCR2 that is virtually useless. All of the inputs except VCR2 support both S-Video and Composite. Here is one spot where the unit looses points. The S-Video and Composite video are on seperate busses in the unit, i.e. if you have a video camera the uses composite video, all your output devices need to be wired for composite video. Its utterly redicilous. In addition, what is the point of a second VCR connector that has only composite video in? There is none. Very disapointing.

With DVD input you have four ways to connect your audio, you can use Coaxial Digial, Optical Digital, 2-Channel Stereo, and a 6-channel descrete mode with inputs for each of Center, Sub, Left and Right, and Rear Left and Right. I myself could not get my JVC DVD Player to send 5.1 Channel audio over optical and have my JVC Reciever recieve it, so I'm stuck with the 6-channel mode. I am still discussing this issue with JVC, but this is also disapointing that there seems to be prodcut compatibility issues between the same brand.

The unit does have an optical digial out, a feature I'm not using now, but mabye I will some time in the future. Its nice to have there.

Of corse there are AM and FM radio modes, but I don't have an antenna, so I don't get a single channel. Its probably a good tuner. I really don't know.

The manual is an abomination of technical writing. I recomend having a tech-savy friend help you install it rather than resorting to the manual. It only explains how to change settings without the remote, which leaves out the entire on-screen system. Thankfully, the design of the unit itself is good and relivelty easy to use, with a surprisingly small number of options.

The remote is well designed, but has no support for DVD players of any kind. This is unfortunate, because if not for that, I could have actually used one remote for the whole setup. JVC has invoatve technology called compu-link, and once you get by its primitive stages, its very impressive. All of the components in the system I was setting this up in (less the speakers which I've already mentioned) were JVC, a JVC D-Series 32" TV, an older (but still AWESOME) JVC-S9500U VCR, and a JVC BX2000 DVD Player. When you turn the reciever off, everything else shuts right down. When you power on the reciever and pick VCR, the VCR powers up. Good design here. JVC does include a remote sender to add a smiliar feature to non-jvc equipment, but it must be placed so that it can "see" all the other compoents, which can be very awakard. The switching can be annoying occasionally. Changing mixing modes on the DVD player often made the reciever switch to stereo analouge mode for DVDs insted of the 6 channel mode.

Its obvious that JVC still has alot of work to do in the reciever market. They should really invest more time into manual design. Also, at the retial price, its fairly expensive for what it does. If this unit were about $500, it would be a bargin.

The reason I bought this reciever is I thought it would impress me, and to be frank, it doesn't, but I'm not an easy person to please. I probably should have saved my money and bought a ONKYO TX-DS989 :)

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good price/performance, but it has its problems..., February 11, 2001

By 

"terryg" (Eagan, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JVC RX-9000VBK Dolby Digital/DTS Audio/Video Receiver (Electronics)

JVC packed a lot of features into this receiver, at a reasonable price. Many of these are seldom used, like the DSP "concert hall" type filters. Others have subtle limitations, but most work as advertised.

The sound quality is great, especially from digital sources. The remote is nice, once you get used to the layout. There is a "one touch" mode that remembers the settings for each input; this is a very nice feature, as you generally don't listen to your CD player with the same settings as your television. The unit itself is very sturdy and visually appealing. You can enter call letters for AM/FM stations, so rather than "92.5" you see "KQRS".

Now, the problems. After it warms up, say after an hour or two of use, it no longer responds to IR remotes (specifically, my TiVo remote using JVC codes). The RF remote still works, though. The FM receiver is quite weak; stations that were easily picked up by my antique Kenwood without an antenna require a powered antenna with this unit. The S-VHS and composite video inputs are not mixed, as other reviewers have noted. The volume control resets to "30" (a very low level with my setup) if you turn it off at a level higher than that, although some people may consider this a feature...

Balancing the flaws with the many features, and factoring in the price, this unit is a good value for the money. None of the flaws are fatal, and the unit generally performs as advertised.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Above Average Product / Below Average Instructions, August 1, 2000

By 

R. Johnson (Clive, Iowa USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: JVC RX-9000VBK Dolby Digital/DTS Audio/Video Receiver (Electronics)

Has great sound and clarity with the right speakers attached. I found the center channel has to be turned almost off so it doesn't overpower the remaining speakers when watching movies. The radio remote is great! It works in every room in the house. All electronics should have one! The biggest downfall is the bad planning of the speaker use. I have a large room that needs alot of sound to fill, hence alot of speakers. My old JVC provided input for 4 front and 2 rear. This model only allows for 2 front and 2 rear. You can plug in 2 more front speakers to a sub-room slot, but you can only use them in music mode. So while watching movies I am reduced to the 2-2 set up. This might be why the center channel seems so loud. Finally, You might as well throw the instructions out the window. These were some of the most poorly writen instructions I have ever seen. I learned more from trial and error than these useless documents. Luckily the unit is alot more user friendly than the instructions. It is a good unit and I do recommend it.