JVC RVB99BK Kaboom! Boombox

Other products by JVC

Product Details

Product Manual [891kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 28 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00000JFML
• Item model number: RVB99
• Batteries: 10 D batteries required.
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #165,984 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1999

Product Description

Amazon.com Review
The appearance of JVC's RV-B99 Kaboom! boombox is striking enough that you might be tempted to dismiss it as a gimmicky showpiece. Don't. Rugged build was definitely a priority in JVC's design, but when it comes to sound quality and quantity, the RV-B99 is far and away the best value going in portable music systems.

The RV-B99 sounded terrific on our full range of program material, from rock and rap to classical and acoustic world music. The unit delivered clear, balanced sound from two 6.5-inch woofers, two 3.25-inch drivers, and no tweeters, underscoring the fact that simpler is often better, especially when striving for cost-efficiency. JVC quite obviously put its money into amplification (26 watts per high-powered channel) and subwoofers, resulting in a combination of effortless power and deep, giving bass previously unheard of at this price.

The obvious benefit of a high-powered amplifier is being able to play it loudly. The RV-B99 exhibited an almost unnerving ability to play louder and louder, forcing us to rest our ears long before we encountered limits in the RV-B99's performance. There was no distortion in the highs and not a hint of compression (or loss of dynamics) in the bass.

The less-obvious benefits of heavy-duty amplifiers show up during low-level listening. Lower-powered systems might muster the loudness of the RV-B99, but they'd never match it for putting out easy, full-bodied sound at very low volumes (which is where we found the RV-B99's separate bass-adjust knob the most useful). The six-level subwoofers worked well enough that we had to roll them back to two or three at high listening levels. But when playing music quietly, it was nice to crank the bass up to five or six and hear lower tones that would otherwise be inaudible.

What kind of bass are we talking about? By our measurements, the RV-B99 "kabooms" down to about 50 Hz at its loudest, which is low for a portable system. (It takes loudspeakers of substantial size to get good bass in the remaining octave or so below this). The bass-adjust knob works in conjunction with three equalized presets (Clear, Pop, and Beat) to give you several different ways to tailor the sound for whatever music you're playing.

A defeatable JVC feature called Active Clear Sound (ACS) kicks in to emphasize highs when frequencies above a preset threshold are present, the thinking being that the overall audio signal will be cleaner if this is only active when it needs to be. In practice, the "pumping" from the on-off action of the circuit proved irritating on more delicate music, but on complex rock material, it brought a pleasing presence to the treble region.

The RV-B99 has a great remote: small and responsive (with fast search and scan times), letting you select tracks directly from a numbered key pad. We noticed, however, that when skipping tracks the player clipped the first half-second or so of the desired song. If you're skipping around or making a cassette from a programmed sequence, this could be highly inconvenient.

The auto-reverse tape player sounds far better than average. (There's no Dolby, but the tape hiss wasn't intrusive.) A host of features--one-touch record, a microphone or guitar input (you can blend either one with CD sound, making it perfect for karaoke), a back-lit LCD screen, a clock/timer, and a thick shoulder strap with a pouch for the remote control--round out the unit's flexibility.

For a feature-packed portable system that plays with equal ease at high and low volumes, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better unit than the JVC RV-B99.

Pros:

• Great sound
• High power
• Tons of features

Cons:

• Cuts in late when skipping to specific tracks

Product Description
JVC Kaboom! Base Canon Boombox with CD, Cassette, Digital Tuner, and Guitar Jack

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great system and really neat looking!, August 10, 1999

By A Customer

I bought one of these and it's fantastic. The bass is great, the CD sounds good and the remote is nice. While the unit is not dust or water proof I would have to say that it is more dust and water resistant than many other boom boxes. The only downside to this unit is the weight (bass takes mass, OK that doesn't rhyme, but still...) and the fact that the AM tuner sucks, which makes listening to sports or news difficult at times if not impossible. If you purchase one of these make sure that you install the two AA batteries in the battery compartment to save your preferences and the time, otherwise you will lose them every time you unplug the unit.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, September 14, 1999

By A Customer

I'm a musician, so I'm reviewing from that perspective. I play acoustic Flamenco guitar with a Barcus Berry D200 pickup into a Zoom 504 acoustic preamp.

I've been waiting a LONG time for one of these; a boom box with a guitar input. Not only that, but the guitar mixes with the auxiliary input, so you can mix in your drum machine as well, playing along with a CD and recording to tape.

I think the sound is extraordinary; for the first time I really felt the bass of the kick drums of my DR-5.

I am completely satisfied and delighted with this product, after having played acoustic guitar amps ad nauseam, with patch cords all over the place from the different devices.

Thank you, JVC (what took you so long?)..:-)

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great product, July 27, 1999

By A Customer

I own one of these, and considering the price and size, I don't think there is a better value out there for a portable audio system. The sound quality, again considering the price and size, is quite outstanding. The cassette deck is the biggest surprise--it sounds quite good for a portable system. The remote is great as well. The only drawback--the unit looks and is quite rugged, but it is not waterproof or dustproof, so be careful with it! Otherwise, very nicely done.