Summary: 2006-12-04 18:12:48 I was in the market for an upconverting HDMI receiver to go with my new HDTV front projector, and I selected this receiver based on the excellent price/performance it offered. I do not have A/V source devices that offer HDMI out (yet), so I was looking for something to bridge the gap.
However, from the first day I installed it, I experienced intermittent loss of sound output from the receiver (not heat-releated), and I've had a simply terrible experience with JVC's warranty service. There was no authorized repair facility in my city (Austin, TX), so I had to ship the 25-pound receiver at my expense to a nearby city. The repair facility reproduced the problem and confirmed it required a repair to fix, but weeks went by as they waited for JVC's authorization to perform the fix. Four weeks after I sent it to them, they informed me it would have to go to JVC to get fixed. They even told me shipping to and from JVC as well as back to me would also be at my expense, though in the end they never charged me for any subsequent shipping. I'm now in limbo waiting for that process to end, and I've been told that neither an estimate of how long it'll take nor interim status updates are possible.
Anyway, that's enough about that issue -- following are some comments about the receiver's actual performance.
Setup was straightforward, nearly all of it could be done without resorting to the manual. There were one or two unexpected settings based on the way the higher-quality inputs are managed (i.e., there are more than one input channel mapped to a device like "DVD" so you need to make sure the inputs you've hooked up are the ones the receiver is using), but the instructions were pretty clear.
Most importantly, audio and visual quality were excellent. Switching between inputs is fast and clean. I noticed no visual artifacting, and display of non-digital inputs (composite video, s-video, component video) via the HDMI output worked great. The sound is clear and crisp (original sources are all composite audio).
I think that in time, I'll find the number of inputs limiting, but for now it least it fully supports my set of A/V devices.
I did not set up the wireless music option (I have other components in my A/V system that already fulfill this function).
The remote is mediocre, lots of little buttons, and a sliding panel that exposes even more little buttons. I no longer use it, but instead use my Harmony 890 universal remote (also reviewed here on PriceGrabber).
While it's quite short relative to other receivers, the RX-D02B has a large footprint, and is quite heavy. This would normally mean it'd go toward the bottom of an A/V stack, but it also runs quite hot, and JVC recommends that no other devices be put on top of it. So, that may be a bit of a challenge if your other devices in the stack are smaller. Aesthetically, the receiver is of the currently-fashionable shiny-black-and-chrome design with blue lights, which looks very good in my A/V stack.
I'd really hoped the warranty repair saga would be resolved before the deadline to initially submit this review, but six weeks have gone by, and I'm at least another four to six weeks from getting my receiver back. I'll try to update the review later.
So, in the end, despite my positive experience with the receiver itself, I have to say I would not recommend this receiver, nor any other from JVC. If you think that the probability of a warranty issue is low, feel free to take the risk, but I'm here to say that if you have a problem, it's not going to be fun.
[Final update -- I did get my receiver back after 2.5 months, but it didn't fix the problem. After I sent it back in for a second warranty service roundtrip, JVC agreed (after much arguing) to replace my receiver with a new unit. My customer-service experience had been *so* bad, that when I received the factory-sealed box, I promptly sold it on an internet auction site. Selling meant I took a non-trivial loss on the box, but they'd killed my confidence in their product and company (and the body of online reviews indicates my problems with quality and customer-service are not unique). I'd had the receiver for eight months, it malfunctioned from day one, and it had been out of my house for almost half the time I'd owned it. Never again, JVC... never again.]
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