JVC - Is it any good?

[tsk1979]

I was searching this forum for JVC related installs and did not find anything.
From a market and budget point of view JVC makes great sense
1. Their HUs are cheapest, even with Bill and warranty
2. They offer 18 months warranty as opposed to 12 months for others
3. They have a good service network
4. Service costs are cheaper

So why are JVCs HUs not preferred? Are they low quality? Is the sound quality output not in league with Pioneer's and Sony's? I am talking budget HU space here.
Feature wise they offer everything which competition offers like Equalizer, Crossovers in HU. Giga mp3(mp3 DVDs) etc.,

So where lies the problem? Is a 9000rs DVD HU from JVC(with B&W) much much worse than the sony which costs 15000 and comes with 1 year warranty?

I am no audiophile, but when I got my 4750(Pioneer basic mp3 HU) I did not find JVC quality worse. But the installer dissuaded me from JVC saying Pioneer is better.
Is it really true, or is it just "if it aint broke don't fix it"

Since profit for the installer is much less if you go for without bill route, is this the reason they dissuade you from JVC?

[navin]

The 2 JVCs that I would consider are the 870 and 820 but at these prices there are often better recommended alternates. In truth I dont know anyone who has tried them. What say guys? anyone?

My guess is that most often people wont experiment (and I too am guilt of this).
one website says it best....
Car Audio Forum - CarAudio.com - View Poll Results

When I was younger I used to try everything from Aiwa to Sony to JVC and more.

[sk456]

My 2 Bit -- with brands is that every brand has soem good stuff and soem bad stuff...
Kenwood for example provides the OEm for Marutis ( which God forbid i ever have to put in my car ) and also makes the KCD-01 as well which is a classy HU...
I think you will find similar scenrios with most brands..may it be JVC /pioneer/Blaupunkt etc... However specific model numbers are best left to the audio gurus as I am horrible with model numbers.

[esteem_lover]

The Sony M-ex R1 is 12,000 with B&W, not 15k & it offfers an aux input, Zone by Zone, 7 band equaliser, digital sound organiser. i am not sure what JVC offers, but i find these absolutely useful.

[Sam Kapasi]

I have heard JVC HUs. I used to have a fairly mid upper end deck (ditto Sk, i have no head for head unt model numbers)

I was not very pleased with the audio quality it put out. I would not buy a JVC HU unless they have changed since 8 years ago.

But you are right, it is a reputed company and for 9K, a DVDHU with giga MP3 sounds good. But I wont comment on the audio quality as II haven't heard it yet.

I know their speakers are sucky though, have heard those.

[gunbir]

Hi Tanveer

Well JVC was one of the few brands left for us to really explore, so we did use one recently. Heres one we used in an S class...



It had some nice equipment around it, and I must say we were pleasantly surprised by the SQ of the unit. The interface was good and the picture quality was well above average.

Since then we have heard some more JVC HUs and I must say, they are very good value for money. We havent done an AB comparison between JVC and Alpine, Pioneer but the JVC definitely sounds smoother in some areas. Some of their models are decent looking too...

[blueraven316]

I personally feel the JVC heads dont have that crisp feel in their mids and highs but it's decent VFM. Considering getting a DVD player which plays properly for under 10k,
There is another new model by them which I tuned a system on a Scorpio recently and it sounded better than the cheaper ones, this one the customer had paid about 15k and was a DVD player with a USB port and a graphic equalizer instead of treble and bass controls. Sounded better than the other JVCs as I said, but I still would stick to Pioneer / Alipne even though they cost more.
For a newbie, they will not figure out too much difference between that head and the Pioneers.

[nitroxx]

I have a JVC DVD player although it might not compare to some of the brands out there I think from the VFM point of view its absolutely worth a try..besides it also depends on how much you are willing to spend bro..

[ECM]

JVC is better known for their vdo products they have another automation cum electronic unit which is known as JRC.Needless to mention that JVC invented VHS system followed by betamax by Sony--interesting thing is none of above two benifited out of it and Panasonic(National)just grabed the huge market share with their vdo recorders in early 80s!!Kenwood always rocks though we (hardly) know it as Maruti OEM which imo is a wrong impression.

[gigy]

i have been using jvc kdg815 mp3 unit since one year and it has been performing very well in sound quality and ease of use and seting options available are enough for good use.
the cheaper ones which jvc has does not have the output which can be amplified. they produce cracking bass effect . dont go for the economical (cheaper) models in case you are planning a spl setup. exad series are good. using a avx2 player and found it good. personally that display on dash is not of much use.

[aZa]

Gunnu thats one neat install, this EXAD HU is very bling bling for its cost. Do gimme your views on it in detail once we meet up.

I think JVC's have good cheaper HUs that support video, also i think they were the first ones to come up with the "Giga Mp3" thing which is nothing but DVD mp3s.

[tsk1979]

I do not find much difference between 164kbps or so mp3 and 320kbps mp3. Guess i am not an audiophile, so for me it does not make sense to pay 30-40% extra for slightly better sound.
Abou the USB system with DVD for 15K I am wondering if it includes a screen?

[navin]

tsk, it depends somewhat also on the codec you are using and the encoding software. EAC with LAME is one of the better combinations.

Also the differences between 160 and 320 kbps are not as discerable as the difference between 160 or 224 or even 256kbps and a lossless format. there are losless formats that take little more room than 320k. WavPack is my favourite as it can be played back on many systems. FLAC is another popular one. hydrogenaudio.org will offer more detail on this topic.

[gunbir]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I do not find much difference between 164kbps or so mp3 and 320kbps mp3. Guess i am not an audiophile

Tanveer, most can make out the difference between these bitrates, provided you are using a system that can actually expose such differences. Its not you or your ears, its your system. If you are happy with your setup, it doesnt really matter at the end of the day...

[tsk1979]

Hmm I guess other from "perceived SQ issues" there is not much wrong with JVC. Since I am in the budget segment (DVD player including 6 speakers < 20K) JVC is the best option.
thanks