JVC RX-D702B Receiver (150 W/Channel, 6.1 Channels)

Reviewed by: Dipesh Sugandhi

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Price/performance, excellent voice, Compact design, Auto HDMI up conversion, wireless PC link

Weaknesses: Remote and auto setup needs improvement, no multi-room setup, One more HDMI in would be an excellent upgrade

Overall Evaluation: I have been using this receiver for about two years now. I never had any issue with it. I bought it around 550$ about two years back and still price is around 500$. This is my first AV receiver. When I bought it, I knew very little about AV receiver. But before I bought this product I did study/compare different AV receivers like Yamaha, Denon etc but looking at price/performance ratio I decided to go with JVC. I did read some of the negative review on different online websites but it was when JVC shipped the first lot. I think I belong to second or third lot in which they have corrected all the issues which first lot had like HDMI port was not working or died after 30 days of use etc. So to cover up that risk I bought 5 years of warranty for about 60$. At the time when I bought the receiver I had a Sony CRT TV and the result was excellent but now I have LG LCD connected via HDMI port which rocks with the setup I have. I still have old Sony DVD player which is connected via YCC/Digital in signals and JVC receiver properly up converts to HDMI. I have connected Harman-Kardon 5.1 speakers to the receiver and the voice comes out excellent. One day I was watching Kingkong with little bit louder voice and my downstairs neighbor come to my house to complain. At that time it was about half way volume. I never get a chance to play it with full volume as I leave in apartment but I am sure it should be awesome.This receiver has couple of limitations like remote is not designed as good as it should be but I have Logitech's Harmony universal remote so I don't care much. Also auto setup does not set best automatically so it needs some manual setup then it rocks. also some of the people have complained about running hot but I did not find such issue. I also found some of them have complained about wireless PC connection but it worked for flawlessly. Another complain I heard of is less connectivity (only 2 HDMI in and 1 HDMI out) options, I agree at some extent just one more HDMI in would have extremely satisfied most of us but looking at so compact design/price I would say they tried to fit as much as they can for such a bottom price. Now a days I do know few of the receivers are better then this one compare to price/performance but when I bought it, it was exceptional.