Well, I got about 220 hours on the RX-ES1SL now and don't notice any, or certainly any dramatic changes, the last 2 days now. I think it's mostly burnt in now.
I tried to run my transport straight thru, bypassing the external DAC, into the digital inputs on the JVC...but I couldn't output sound. Don't know if I have to change an setting on teh remote or front panel to output this way, or if the digi wire was loose, but my impression are all based on the Sony transport running to my MSB DAC and on into the JVC with a 0.5 mtr. Alpha-Core TQ-2. Tweeks as described earlier.
First off, I don't think I can ever go back to listening to solid state bass anymore. It is nice and tight, taut and rockin' in the bass department I can hardly believe it (for $179.00 and 5 x 100w, mind you). Turn it up and it never looses control of the woofer....very interesting and my major peeve with all the amps I've owned. No balls
.
The mids - voices and the like - are carried out nicely and without sibilance or grain. I've heard better, but not in my listening room. Words are very clear and lyrics are easier to follow than I remember them. I've heard better, but don't remember better conveyance of vocals until you get into amps, and systems, well above the JVC or my system's asking price. I mean, come on, I'm using an receiver and speaker that cost me, respectively, $179 ($299 list or so) and $425 ($780 list or so)..what did I expect?
As you move to the upper registers, the unit falls short of the best SS amps. It's not spacious. It doesn't do anything wrong, it's never harsh, it just doesn't 'rise' to the audiophile occasion. They are sins of omission, not commission, and understandable for $179.00. As I was duly warned by audioengr/Steve Nugent, you can't get an amp with great bass and great highs in the same package (I'm paraphrasing). But, JVC seems to be on to something with the hybrid feedback technique and it improving less-than-polished treble performance in most digi amps.
Aimee Mann and Till Tuesday is on rotation now, and it is the most enjoyable spin I've had with this disc. It doesn't paste over anything here, I am so suspicious of any device that claim to make every CD sound enjoyable (not every CD IS good to begin with; I want to know that when I hear it, it almost feels like living a lie otherwise to me). Whatever volume it's on, the bass is taut, her voice clear..it's just lacking that magic 'air' in the upper registers. And, that's a big deal, but it pales when you know the fella' was $179.00.
Soundstage, of which I never noticed in my room (I thought maybe it was too live, or dead, or I was
) exists now; just not in the way I've heard some spendy systems with SS or other digital amps. But, it DOES create one - again, fairly remarkable for the price.
The highlight of this receiver is the amplification...it just doesn't give up when you need the juice. It doesn't do much else badly, just not up to the standards that many of us aspire to. However, this is bone stock, may have some more breaking in to do, and some simple mods may turn this into quite a stunning bargain: low inductance power cord, better rca's, real binding posts. Further internal mods may improve it further.
I would never, never in a million years, guess this was a $179 receiver...it sounds way more expensive than that. It's probably a great surround/video receiver...it'll give you the dynamics you need, good center channel dialogue and an intuitively laid out remote control.
It is so good, for the price, that it begs comparison to better gear...after smoking my 5x or so more pricey set-up before it. It is so good that cable swaps, tweeks, and speaker placement changes are easier to discern. That's the mark of a better machine if anything is.
I was not enjoying the sound the past day or so. I unplugged my sub amp (AudioSource AMP3) driving my NEAR BOOM3 sub and it was back to enjoyment. I had previously found that addition of this sub in my room made listening more enjoyable, but the JVC was so much faster and tauter controlling my Vandy 1c's, that the subs wrecked the sound. That was very thought-provioking for me today.
Anyhow, not having heard the Panny 25, 50, 45, I think what you may have here is a bona-fide alternative to them for similar, or less, money and more heft/weight . It's a great 2nd system and video receiver, it just will fall short of picky 2 channel requirements for nirvana bone stock.
Steve Nugent / Empirical Audio is working on somebodies Panny 45 right now and it will be interesting to hear his impressions after he is done to know what upgrade possibility is inherent in the JVC.
I have my DIYCable Exodus amp coming July 13 and this should prove an interesting comparison to the JVC. I will miss the remote, a lot, tho.
Once the new amp is here, I'll probably crack this little fella' open and see what type of output chip we got in there...Tripath is my best guess.
