[Zero]

Please bear in mind that this review only reflects my personal opinions and taste. As always, you are advised to be your own judge.  I am evaluating the RX-10 for stereo use only.

INTRO.


   Nearly all experienced audiophiles have been conditioned to believe that to experience true hi-fi sound would require writing one big check.  A rack of large components is not only a mark of pride, it is a crowning mark of achievement.  Besides, who doesn’t like having big beefy amplifiers to show off to both neighbors / friends and fellow audio enthusiasts?

Word on the virtual street is that there is a change in the winds. That change lies within the maturity of chip amplification. There have been many claims of these inexpensive economy receivers replacing those racks of equipment, and all for a price of around or under 1k! While more products are being introduced to the home audio market, most are either exotic (ranging in the thousands), or inexpensive economy based receivers (typically never going past $400 USD). My pockets are not all too deep these days, so I decided to focus my sights on the latest economy receiver, the RX-F10 from JVC. The claims I read online, topped with a very affordable price tag ($300 USD, currently $249 at www.jandr.com) made the decision a no-brainer. Reports indicated this new JVC unit was a bit special. How could I resist? I placed the order as soon as I could.

For the past two months, I have been using and evaluating the JVC RX-F10 Audio/Video home theater receiver. Being no stranger to inexpensive products that sport chip amplifiers, I was none too reluctant to give this newcomer a try in my personal second audio system.  My previous experiences with chip amplifiers were the Sony AVD-S50 ES dvd-player / home theater receiver, and the Griffin Power Wave USB amplifier. While both brought value that was utterly stunning, the product limitations left much to be desired. Such is the case with most budget pieces, let alone pieces that were never even designed with hi-fi in mind. I patiently waited for the package to arrive in preparation for another extensive listening test.


RIGHT OUTTA’ THE BOX NOTABLES.

   You can have any color you like, as long as it’s silver. For those of you who just have to have it black, tough luck! Weighing in at 15 lbs, the RX-F10 doesn't instill the kind of faith and comfort most would like to have after spending some cash on a receiver. The clip-type speaker terminals on the back only accepts bare speaker wire. I found a comfortable limitation at 15 gauge speaker wire. Those with banana hooks may still be able to use terminated ends, the rest of you are just SOL. The thin power cord is not detachable, so for you tweakers out there, start busting out the soldering iron if you want some big beefy power cable. Phono fans will be let down, as there is no phono input stage. There is however, a headphone jack, fm/am loops, TV/Direct capabilities and inputs for multi-channel audio (DVD-A in particular). Unlike many other receivers in its price range, there is a built in Digital EQ (which has calibration options for: 63hz, 250hz, 1khz, 4khz, and 16khz).  It is also nice to see a product in this range giving the user an option to set the cross-over down to 80hz, or to bypass it completely. The ability to run the 6 discrete amplifiers at once in "all stereo surround" is a great feature, especially if desire to bi-amp your speakers. Being in a small space, I am more than used to getting off my butt to make adjustments, but I understand that some just don't have the desire to do the same. Rest assured, for those lazy folk out there, the remote is very well thought out and designed. You typically don't get this type of remote with a receiver this inexpensive. The corners cut on this unit were to be expected for anything in this price range. I feel the "tweakability" JVC offered in the RX-F10 counter balanced its short-comings.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

   I really tried to enjoy the unit out of the box, truly I did, but I just couldn't find it in me. The highs were harsh, the bass was un-controlled and turning it up past 20 resulted in very audible strain and distortion. In fact, this experience is polar opposite of the two other chip amplifier based products I owned (never mind the others I have heard in stores). The bright Blue LED stripe across the unit definitely was distracting and added to the "cheap" feel of the unit. Thankfully JVC had the foresight to not only allow it to be dimmed, but turned off entirely! I wish other exotic companies would incorporate this very simple feature. The fan-noise is also something that could be an issue for anyone who plans on using this piece in a relatively quiet environment. In my own room, I find it inaudible at about 6ft away. Despite this unit having a fan (where there are already reports of fans not operating or being blocked), the RX-F10 runs very warm on the left hand side of the unit. While the lack of vents on the top allow for equipment stacking, you will have to make sure you have room to the left and right of this piece to operate safely. Disabling the fan will cause this unit to go into protection mode with very little output.

ENOUGH ALREADY, HOWS IT SOUND?

   I mine as well get this out of the way. I won’t be reviewing my listening results by providing details of an album or a song listened to. The truth is, this system is hooked up to the PC where there are hundreds, if not thousands of songs that run the entire genre gamut. My comments will instead be more along the lines of generalities. It is also worth mentioning that I am running an analog to the JVC, not digital coax or fiber optic. With that being said, let us move on.

   I decided to get the ball rolling by hooking up a pair of Polk Audio LSi-7 bookshelf speakers. The low impedance (tested between 6 - 4 ohms) of this speaker would serve as a great way to test the chip amps capability. I hooked things up, leaving the speakers set to default (large), with no sub switched on. After firing up a few tracks (mostly jazz and modern rock), I felt neutral. I was taken back by its very warm and engaging mid-range, which some refer to as a "tube-like" sound. This is a stark contrast from the very dry and almost analytical nature of the Sony AVD S-50 ES and the Griffin Power Wave. In turn, I was very disappointed by what I would consider to be sloppy bass with a sibilant top end. The bass sounded like it was catered more towards theater and pop (or young kids wif' 12's in da trunk). I was again disappointed by the lack of balls on the RX-F10. Pushing the volume past the "20"mark would result in audible strain and distortion. This is yet another sharp contrast to the previous chip amp pieces I have experience with, as even out of the box, both were very balanced, detailed, and had almost complete control over the cones, with gobs of power to boot. So far, the buzz around the net was right about one thing, this isn't like all the other digital amps out there. Keeping in mind the insurances of a remarkable improvement through time, I decided to remain patient and played on.

   While in the process of cooking his little light-weight, I decided to give the FM/AM a try. Normally I get a poor signal in this particular space, so I was not expecting much. Perhaps that was just as well, as I received next to no reception. Having just used a vintage Sansui G-5500 receiver (with a great built in tuner), I knew that information was at least reaching the area. This may be a big deal for those who love their radio, thankfully (or maybe not); local stations here rarely play anything worth listening to. Not completely discouraged, I decided to try the headphone output.  I hooked up a loaned pair of Sennheiser HD 570's for a few songs, and I just couldn't bear it. Bad, JVC, bad!!! That has to be the worst head out I have ever heard. While I rarely ever listen with cans, this just seemed like a final blow that had all but convinced that this unit just is not up to snuff with the hype.

[Zero]

AND THEN IT HAPPENED...

   I couldn't tell you when exactly it happened, but as promised, the sound began to take on a whole new form.  At around what I would estimate to be the 80 hour mark, the congestion began to clear and show off a pin-point soundstage. The mid-range now easily bested the Jolida JD-1301 I had running before the arrival of the RX-F10, and the highs lost that sibilant edge that had my ears cursing the day I bought the thing. The bass also tightened up quite a bit, though there was still certainly a lot of room for improvement. Guitars now had a very pleasant tang as both male and female vocals began to take a more "human like" form. To confirm that I wasn't completely loosing my mind, I hooked the little Jolida integrated back up. Yep, definite difference! I was now starting to muster up that cheesy grin we all get when we feel like we have made a good score (on audio equipment, you sick people)!

A HI-FI COMPARISON

   As the RX-F10 began to show me its potential, I just could not ignore some people selling off very expensive and exotic pieces in favor of this little thing. So I took the JVC out of the secondary system and hooked it up to the main rig. I removed my Musical Fidelity A3.2 integrated and connected my Totem Acoustic Sttafs to the JVC. After playing some tunes, one thing was very clear… It was not up to par with the Musical Fidelity piece. It lacked the grace, control, detail, emotion, and holographic sound stage that the Musical Fidelity brought to the system. While it was clear we were dealing with two different leagues, the little RX-F10 was not humiliated either. It held up very well, which is a remarkable achievement. Even as recent as three years ago, such a match would be almost laughable.

NEW SPEAKERS, NEW SOUND

   While the Polk Audio LSi-7’s represent a great value in audio, I was curious to try a product that was more forgiving and efficient. I ended up with a pair of Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 bookshelf speakers and an HSU STF-2 Sub-woofer.  It is at this time when I found a match that got this JVC to sing beyond my expectations.
   
I calibrated the system together by running the speakers on small and crossing the sub at 80hz, an EQ boost at 16khz with a slight decrease at 63hz to compensate for room nodes. By this time, I was approaching the vaunted 300 hour mark.  

   As you could have already second guessed, I was absolutely stunned with the results of this combination. Voices came to life with a prominence and emotion. Instruments took on form and pace was restored to the music again. I found myself tapping my foot and singing along (eek! Now that’s a horrible thought for you). Whether it was jamming to some blues, jazz, 80s, reggae, hard rock, acoustic, classical, hip hop, r&b, or anything in between, this system was delivering the goods that kept the head bobbin’.

   I was curious to see if part of the mutation in sound was greatly impacted by the Ascends. I switched them out for the LSi-7’s and was relieved to find the same dramatic improvements. While I still preferred the sound of the Ascend CBM-170’s, it was still clear that the winning configuration for these ears is a good bookshelf/sub combination.

FINAL THOUGHTS

   If you have made it this far in my review, you deserve some final thoughts on the RX-F10, and my final thoughts are this; The JVC RX-F10 represents not only un-questionable value that even only years ago, would have never thought imaginable, but it also gives perspective buyers another type of “digital” sound. It is exciting to see such wonderful sounding pieces hitting the shelves all around the world, challenging what we know of as the law of diminishing returns. If you can find it in yourself to look past a brand name and old school procedure, than please do yourself the favor of giving an honest effort into trying one of these new and exciting products.

   As always, everyone has different tastes and criteria. While evaluating any one of these economy receivers, you should always bear in mind their inherent limitations that come with cut corners. Exercising common sense and reasonable expectations will go along way.  Never sell off equipment to buy a piece without listening first.  Listen and discover the sound that has captured all the hype, but do so wisely.

   Very special thanks goes out to the members of the Audio Circle boards who keep an open mind and are not afraid to approach a group with un-conventional measures. Without the information being spread, I would not have learned about this wonderful piece that now has earned a permanent position in my second system.

Cheers,
Sean

Equipment Used:
E-Mu 1212M Pro Sound Card
Polk Audio LSi-7 bookshelf speakers
Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 bookshelf speakers
HSU STF-2 sub-woofer

Previous Equipment used on this system:
Rotel RA-932 integrated amplifier
Sony AVD S-50 ES DVD-player / Home theater receiver
Scott Nixon passive pre amp / Griffin Power Wave USB amplifier
NAD C-320 BEE integrated amplifier
Jolida JD-1301 hybrid tube/ss integrated amplifier

[TheChairGuy]

Intersting A6M-Zero.

Wonder if it's the relatively difficult load presented by the Polk's?..if you have another speaker around closer to 8 ohms, you may want to give it another go. My JVC drove my Vandy's beeee-autifully, and awful with my 4 ohm Maggies.

Driven with conventional (nuthin' special) class AB amp and tube pre, the Maggies shine.  Yet, on the Vandy's they were not nearly as enjoyable as with the JVC.

Could truly be a case of cheap power supply holding it back; also, you did not mention power conditioning, which de rigeur for this unit (and, probably, most switched power supplied amps).

You may want to jigger round a bit more before final decision is made...then again, you may just end up disliking it anyhow. Hey, different strokes, different folks  

[TheChairGuy]

heehee, missed part 2...you little devil you