DMason turned me onto the little JVC RXF 10S several weeks ago.
Except for intermittent travel, I have been allowing it to burn-in 24 hours a day, using
the built-in FM tuner for a night time signal. I suspect I have a bit more than 200 hours
on it so far.
DMason suggested I share some of my experiences with the JVC...the idea being that
some members of Audio Circle who are following this thread might find it interesting.
I have linked my audio star to many of the insights DMason has generously shared with
me...I have found his thinking over the considerable amount of time we have
corresponded with one another to be profoundly revelatory and revolutionary about all
things audio and well beyond. After making this statement it might come as a surprise
to hear me say that DMason has also taught me how to rely on my own judgement in
analyzing and appreciating audio gear...and it is from that independence of mind that
I am sharing these insights about the JVC.
My experience with hi-end electronics spans the usual gamut of tube and solid state
gear of various designs...so I can honestly say that I am somewhat experienced in
some of the hi-end gear that is currently available from American, British, German,
French, Italian and Japanese designers.
I have 2 pairs of speakers that I move back and forth with...a pair of Ruark Crusader 2’s,
a 3-way floor standing British speaker that emphasizes the midrange in the classic
British tradition and Magnapan’s 1.6qr’s, a planar dipole speaker that occasionally gets
bad press in some of our circles at AC. The Ruark’s lack the ultimate transparency and
detail, although they are simply magic with the human voice, are naturally warm,
coherent, and completely non-fatiguing. The Maggies have incredibly detailed,
separate instruments nicely, create a sense of music floating in a real space and allow
the music to feel very present and palpable. Both pairs of speakers are very different
from each other and both are very pleasing...within their own limitations.
The little JVC is proving itself to be nothing less than an audio miracle. Whether it came
about as an accident, and is therefore an anomaly, or the result of a secret sub rosa
audio alchemy...both ideas have been suggested here...is unclear at this time.
My wife Deborah listeners to music as attentively as I do and so my comments include
her insights as well. Direct from the box I was surprised at how well the JVC sounded...
I have been following the digital threads here in AC and expected it to sound the way
my Carver ZR 1600 sounded after it was moded by 8th nerve...that mod took months to
burn-in...a frustrating period in which I regretted more than once that I had ever allowed
the Carver to leave my hands...
The JVC on the other hand began its flight immediately and improved steadily.
On both speakers the JVC sounds like a 20 thousand dollar tube amp. The most
salient feature of this amp...and it it not fully “burned-in” yet...is the sense of a relaxed
and thoroughly musical presentation.
Which is to say that underneath the strong dynamic pacing there is an ease that melts
any resistance to the idea of music reproduced mechanically...and tends to nurture an
acceptance of the “idea” of live music. I will try to flesh this idea out a bit more.
All the Solid State amplification I have heard seems to have one thing in common. The
music has a spotlighted quality that seems more than a little unmusical and somewhat
contrived although very stimulating...tubed electronics on the other hand tend to soften
and illuminate the sound, giving it a bit of a dimensional quality, but give up
extension and transparency.
Audio designers play with both technologies...now getting SS to sound more tube
like...now getting tubes to sound more like SS...many audiophiles have pointed out
that there has been something of a convergence of both SS and Tube sound in
recent years.
Then there are entire “schools” of thought that have grown up around the idea of an
inherent distortion in each technology...technical measurements and “even order” and
“odd order” harmonics are often sighted to defend one against the other and so on.
But both technologies have one thing in common...in the world of hi-fi, they are
packaged in startlingly compelling designs that make the most of various materials to
give the impression of possessing a sonic technology of the highest order and
refinement. All of us have been tempted to own this or that component based on its
seductive good looks alone. Thus we are all “conditioned” somewhat to associate
high sonic purity with great design and expensive price tags.
To appreciate the humble little JVC, I suspect that we would have had to work through
the illusions of the glitter and compelling design aesthetics of very high priced
electronic gear and come out the other side of the tunnel so-to-speak. And of course
that includes the hype that accompanies certain manufacturers products...toted by the
audio press as the “reference” component that all others are to be judged by
and so on.
The JVC makes both the Ruark’s and the Maggies sound incredible...the Ruark’s take
on a life that they should not ordinarily have with a pacing that suggests an infusion of
viagra...compared to all the electronics that I have so far thrown at them. The Maggies
sound like 20 thousand dollar full range speakers to die for...and I have never heard
them sound the way they do with the JVC...and I have tried quite a bit of electronics
with them and heard them in various setups in hi-end stores...nothing ever sounded
like this...rich, fully fleshed out, colorful, textually deeply etched and almost plump.
Here is just one example of what the JVC does that I have never heard before.
I have a wonderful recording of the Hunn-Huur-Tu...The Orphan’s Lament. An
irreplaceable CD of the music of a troop of Truvans who live near the vast spaces of
Mongolia...they use their voices in ways rather unfamiliar to us in the west...they can
change their pitch to sound as if they are truly from another world...sometimes their
single voices sound like multiple resonating instruments...it is an eerie and haunting
experience to hear them sing and play their indigenous stringed instruments.
Deborah played their album this morning and we both stopped in our tracks. Yes...
of course...we heard things we have never heard before to be sure...but more than
that...in one singers voice...a “lament” we had heard countless times...there was a
warbling...a subtle but very present shifting of pitch in short pulsating notations that
we have never heard before...we were astounded.
It is as if the little JVC has some alchemical fluid that flows into the microscopic holes
in the CD and loosens the embedded musical information that has become trapped
there and extracts it...lifts it up and allows it to bubble to the surface...to come into
focus as the music is being played...I can give many examples...one more:
On the equally haunting CD Nawang Khechog...a “modern” interpretation of traditional
Tibetan music filled with very “spatial” renderings of musical landscapes...thunderous
seas churning in the background...gongs...Tibetan voices serving up resonating
harmonies of ancient sanscript...and the ancient Tibetan flute played by Nawang...
out of this matrix of sound and textures came the sounds of a deeply pounding drum
...very obvious...filled with energy and feeling...that neither Deb nor I had ever heard
before...we stopped and looked at each other...it was like we were listening to an
entirely different rendering of this music...infinitely richer, more complete,
more “organic”...
And this leads me to my final observations.
The JVC has an entirely organic sound...convincing...because it “includes” everything
that is essential in the musical “language” being offered up. Multiple layers of
intricately intertwined musical passages are rendered as if from one living fabric.
I have never made a more deeply emotional connection with reproduced music as
the humble little JVC allows me to feel.
I am no longer interested in the idea that the lowly “redbook” CD is incomplete as a
musical technology...I have no problem with the idea that newer formats have more
information in them...and that they sound more complete than the CD in absolute
terms...more analogue, the audio press puts forth again and again...with the JVC the
analogue “nature” of the CD is fully present and I do not feel any lack of anything
there...including warmth...
The highs are sweet...and string instruments sound like real string
instruments...resonate, with the rosin and wood of the cello or violin mixed in
the sound...something SS has never been able to reproduce for me
convincingly...something I appreciate profoundly since a great deal of the music
I turn to for solace and meditation is small ensemble classical string
instrumental dialogues.
The human voice is warm and fully present.
But the idea I would like to leave with you is one of “wholeness”. Yes...of course the
mass produced little JVC could be refined by swapping out and replacing this part or
that. But the important thing here for me...is the sense of completeness and ease of the
musical presentation...no aggressiveness...no spotlighting...no exaggeration...but
music that is fully there and fully alive...
I for one am convinced that we have a true classic here...and on the cheap!
Are there electronics that can best the JVC out there that are being sold for a kings
ransom? I am unimpressed and frankly have no interest in them...being quite
satisfied for now with the musical life that the JVC allows me to enjoy.
I have come to see that DMason is a real revolutionary. Like a good archeologist he
sifts among the artifacts of the electronic “culture” and plucks from the vast parade
of electronic offerings true gems that are cheap but of the highest order of
refinement...capable of achieving musical bliss for next to nothing by today’s hi-end
standards. He helps to get us off the “conditioned” habits of thinking that only
expensive audio gear is the portal to great sound.
Thanks Dan...and thanks to all of you who have enough insight and courage to play
with the new paradigms and share your wealth of information and insights with all
of us who have a profound love of music but small budgets.
We are entering a period that will see the demise of what DMason calls expensive
“boat anchors”...and we shall see an entire elitist industry fad into history...
Let the games continue.
Warm regards to all. -Richard-
