Audio Reviews

If you in the search not for good, but for the BEST audio 2.1 system it is. Nothing else even can't approach. NO Bose, no Harmon, no Logitech, nothing.
This system will reproduce music and any sound with UNMATCHED quality. You can use it as the reference monitors because it is exceptionally linear sound.
I repeat NOTHING else can't come even close. I have $1000 Onkyo system that isn't bad ;-). But it smokes, no place to comparison.

I don't think there are too many other speakers out there that pack this much power and clarity. We are talking 245 watts total power! (125 watt sub and 60 watt each L and R mains). These things are outrageously loud and clear. Punchy bass and clear highs (not tinny). You could use them for just about anything really. They have RCA L and R channel inputs so they can be hooked up to a portable CD player, MP3 player, MiniDisc, or TV, just to name a few. There are also some convenient mic and aux inputs on the right main cabinet. They are larger than most PC speakers but the amount of sound is well worth the extra space.

I listened to every speaker system I could find at any of the major stores and this was by far the best sound comparing them to most I found. The only other speakers that come close are the Klipsch ProMedia line speakers which are fantastic also (but also very expensive). I wanted Klipsch speakers bad, but I bought these at an outrageously good price so that's what made me decide to purchase them instead of the Klipsch. I saved $130 off the normal price on these believe it or not, so it was impossible to pass up!

The Sonic XS line is made by Electro-Voice (EV) who is one of the top manufacturers of professional sound systems found in night clubs and concert halls so they have definitely done their homework. Horn tweeters allow for louder highs without distoring and the long throw sub speaker has killer bass that absolutely thumps. I have the Sonic XS 2.1's hooked up to my PC which has an Audigy 2 Platinum soundcard in it. I have my computer volume set at 60% with the sub level set at about 25% of the volume level and the main is only at around 20%. Any louder and you will have to leave the room! You will hear stuff from your computer games and digital music that you were never able to hear before, that I guarantee. You will think you are at a live rock concert. Unbelieveable!!

I purchased this system for use as an enhancement to my TV speakers. For a table top TV with audio outputs, these powered speakers do wonders for the sound. A ... table top TV sounds like a million with these puppies hooked up. It doesn't hurt to have digital satellite tv audio either (sounds great off the dish). The sub woofer is gutsy with a level control and the other speakers have a horn tweeter as well as a woofer. There's an on/off and bass/treble control. There's also a mike jack, input for a portable device (such as a portable CD player) and a headphone jack (all on the right side speaker). For the money you can't beat them in my opinion. Amazon had the best price also. ... Great product!!

I've had this receiver for over 2 years now. It's a great name, with a clean, modern look. Here's what I have to say:

Buy this receiver. I cannot turn the volume up beyond half way without blowing my ears off. (I also have a JBL powered sub-woofer, which I recommend for anyone who is an audio/video enthusiast.)

I can find no flaw with this receiver. I should be able to keep it for 20 years. It has plenty of power, a slew of features a mile long (I still haven't figured out the entire remote control) with on screen programming (that blew me away, being able to adjust the stereo features through a TV menu).

Don't even hesitate to buy it. I bought it new ... and I think I only paid around [money] for it, brand new, including shipping.

The only reason I would not buy this receiver is if your budget allows, and you can buy one of HK's bigger brothers, the AVR-310 or higher. But if you are in the "I think I can justify [money] on a new stereo" this is THE one!!

I thought I had the ultimate home video setup, that is until I bought this receiver. I was blown away within seconds of getting it up and running. Try playing the opening scene of "Twister" on this machine. I wanted to run and hide in a closet! Or try the scene in "Jurassic Park" with the T-Rex's footsteps approaching the stalled jeeps. I kept looking for a T-Rex to come in my den. My mother thought someone was ramming the house. I have my system hooked up with Klipsch surrounds, it is devastating.

I only have one bad thing to say about this receiver and that is the remote. I can't get it to control the majority of my name brand components (but what universal remote does that).

I hope everyone gets a chance to at least hear a good Harmon Kardon system. You would be amazed!

I just picked up one of these beasts. It is awesome. Don't let the power rating fool you. It says 40 watts, but that is over the full 20Hz to 20k Hz, and that isn't peak power, like cheaper recievers tell you. It can drive the speakers at high current without any detectible distortion.

This thing has more inputs and outputs then anything else I have seen, for example. Check out the detailed specs. It will convert s-video in to composite out, which is nice for me, since my tv does not have s-video in.

I love the auto level setup for the speakers, using a pressure sensor on the remote. Incredible.

The remote now controls my tv, dvd player, cablebox and reciever, plus you can set up macros on it, up to 17 steps, you can make it turn on your cable box, reciever, and television with one button, plus turn them off with another.

The On Screen display is nice. The best part for me is that I got it as an open box for $300 at circuit city.

Try it, you'll like it

This is a nice, inexpensive, "cute" (yet elegant) system that fits anywhere.

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for something practical that sounds great, and who doesn't want to waste their money!

The sound quality, by the way, is quite powerful. I was surprised that this sounds much better than many large stereos I've heard.

This unit is excellent. I got past flashing lights and meters years ago. I wanted something the looked clean and sounded great and the JVC FS-H35 fits the bill. The sound is superb, even with tapes made from original 40 year old Herb Alpert albums!!! The functions are easy to work and it even has bass and treble controls,unlike the BOSE Wave/CD I listened to in one of the Bose outlet stores. I think the JVC sounds just as good and maybe even a bit better. Plus, JVC was not arrogant enough to think they know exactly how I need to hear my music. I listened to many brand name mini/micro sytems up to $200 in my search for a replacement system after my old one went ka-put. This JVC by far was the best sounding system in the $100-$200 price range including Panasonic, Sony and RCA. If you want a small system for the bedroom or den, you can't go wrong with this one. One note: If buying for the bedroom, a small piece of black electrical tape is good to cover the red standby light. It is a bit bright

Ok, bear with me, there is a story to this, fortunately with a happy ending. I will try to keep it short.

I wanted a small stereo for the bedroom, nothing fancy (I have my fancy stuff in the a/v room). Just wanted a good system that was compact and inexpensive.

First I bought an Emerson cd player ES8 since it was on sale for $59.00 and looked cute and sounded fine in the store.... brought it home and within a week the cd player was skipping, the radio was flipping out and the music, when it did play, was overshadowed with squeeks and whirring sounds from the machine.. I think it was possessed.. hehe.. Anyway, needless to say I returned the piece of rubbish and replaced it with a JVC for a few bucks more (should have done that in the first place.. still kicking myself!)

Aaaaah! Now this JVC FS-H35 is exactly what I was wanting. A reliable system with great sound, nice minimalist/industrial look, simple yet ingenious in design and electronics, with nice features like autoreverse and one-touch recording on the tape deck. And random play and programmable play on the cd player. Extra features like timer/sleep fxn's. The remote is great and has all the fxn's available on it, for real ease of use. Most importantly, the speakers, though small, put out a great sound, with none of the nasty tinny sound that you get on most cheaper stereos. The bass boost is adequate (more than adequate I should say, for this size of system) and provides an enjoyable listening experience, which is all I wanted in the first place. I mean, is that too much too ask for? I never owned a JVC before, but I am definitely a believer after this experience!

This is a nice, inexpensive, "cute" (yet elegant) system that fits anywhere.

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for something practical that sounds great, and who doesn't want to waste their money!

The sound quality, by the way, is quite powerful. I was surprised that this sounds much better than many large stereos I've heard.

This unit is excellent. I got past flashing lights and meters years ago. I wanted something the looked clean and sounded great and the JVC FS-H35 fits the bill. The sound is superb, even with tapes made from original 40 year old Herb Alpert albums!!! The functions are easy to work and it even has bass and treble controls,unlike the BOSE Wave/CD I listened to in one of the Bose outlet stores. I think the JVC sounds just as good and maybe even a bit better. Plus, JVC was not arrogant enough to think they know exactly how I need to hear my music. I listened to many brand name mini/micro sytems up to $200 in my search for a replacement system after my old one went ka-put. This JVC by far was the best sounding system in the $100-$200 price range including Panasonic, Sony and RCA. If you want a small system for the bedroom or den, you can't go wrong with this one. One note: If buying for the bedroom, a small piece of black electrical tape is good to cover the red standby light. It is a bit bright

Ok, bear with me, there is a story to this, fortunately with a happy ending. I will try to keep it short.

I wanted a small stereo for the bedroom, nothing fancy (I have my fancy stuff in the a/v room). Just wanted a good system that was compact and inexpensive.

First I bought an Emerson cd player ES8 since it was on sale for $59.00 and looked cute and sounded fine in the store.... brought it home and within a week the cd player was skipping, the radio was flipping out and the music, when it did play, was overshadowed with squeeks and whirring sounds from the machine.. I think it was possessed.. hehe.. Anyway, needless to say I returned the piece of rubbish and replaced it with a JVC for a few bucks more (should have done that in the first place.. still kicking myself!)

Aaaaah! Now this JVC FS-H35 is exactly what I was wanting. A reliable system with great sound, nice minimalist/industrial look, simple yet ingenious in design and electronics, with nice features like autoreverse and one-touch recording on the tape deck. And random play and programmable play on the cd player. Extra features like timer/sleep fxn's. The remote is great and has all the fxn's available on it, for real ease of use. Most importantly, the speakers, though small, put out a great sound, with none of the nasty tinny sound that you get on most cheaper stereos. The bass boost is adequate (more than adequate I should say, for this size of system) and provides an enjoyable listening experience, which is all I wanted in the first place. I mean, is that too much too ask for? I never owned a JVC before, but I am definitely a believer after this experience!

If you want to get the very best out of your video equipment, definitely upgrade your cable to Monster cables. We couldn't figure out why our picture on our 52" TV looked so inferior, despite having satellite -- turned out to be nothing more than inferior cables that came with the set! Even if you have new equipment, it may come with cheaply made cables. Monster cables are excellent -- worth every penny! I also bought some to connect one VCR to another when copying tapes. If you have older equipment and aren't happy with the quality of the picture, this is an inexpensive fix! You'll be glad you did it!

I agree with Max. Don't use those inferior cables that come with your DVD player. I just bought a DVD player and immediately got these Monster cables to connect between the TV and DVD. Image quality is the best I can get on my 20" TV, really cool.

I use these cables with my DVD player. I didn't want to spend($) or ($) on just cables! Also, I didn't want the crappy cables that came with my DVD player. If you are using the video cables that came with your DVD player, throw them out! Get these. They are sooo much better. Amazon says these are good for VCRs but you have to have a good VCR to appreciate Monsters.

Anyway, if you don't want to spend a ton of money on cables, and want quality, choose these.

If you want to get the very best out of your video equipment, definitely upgrade your cable to Monster cables. We couldn't figure out why our picture on our 52" TV looked so inferior, despite having satellite -- turned out to be nothing more than inferior cables that came with the set! Even if you have new equipment, it may come with cheaply made cables. Monster cables are excellent -- worth every penny! I also bought some to connect one VCR to another when copying tapes. If you have older equipment and aren't happy with the quality of the picture, this is an inexpensive fix! You'll be glad you did it!

I agree with Max. Don't use those inferior cables that come with your DVD player. I just bought a DVD player and immediately got these Monster cables to connect between the TV and DVD. Image quality is the best I can get on my 20" TV, really cool.

I use these cables with my DVD player. I didn't want to spend($) or ($) on just cables! Also, I didn't want the crappy cables that came with my DVD player. If you are using the video cables that came with your DVD player, throw them out! Get these. They are sooo much better. Amazon says these are good for VCRs but you have to have a good VCR to appreciate Monsters.

Anyway, if you don't want to spend a ton of money on cables, and want quality, choose these.

This receiver met my specific needs perfectly. My criteria were as follows:

1. Plentiful S-Video Connections
2. Excellent Home Theatre Sound
3. Multi-Room Capability with the ability to drive a different Source into other rooms.
4. Ability to vary amplifier power into Sub-rooms.
5. RF Remote capability
6. Relatively inexpensive

I have a large den with a DISH satellite receiver and a five speaker home theatre set up. Off the den is a patio with outdoor speakers and next door is the kitchen with ceiling mounted speakers. The kitchen and patio are connected to the receiver through a Niles Speaker/Volume box.

Experience with my previous receiver showed that I needed the ability to drive considerably more power to the patio than to the kitchen; if speaker volume was OK in the kitchen, you couldn't hear the patio speakers. Also, if I was in the kitchen or patio, I could not control the receiver because I needed to be in the "Line of Sight" of the IF remote. With these factors in mind, I sought a new receiver.

This JVC fits the bill perfectly. Extremely versatile Home Theatre that has everything I need. Tremendous power to the Surrounds. The Multi-Room capabilities are tremendous and you can drive more than enough power to your Sub-rooms for any application. I LOVE the RF remote. You can sit on the Patio and when the phone rings, you can turn down the volume or change to a different Source. The remote is able to power up and change channels on my DISH receiver and power up my Toshiba TV. Does it all...

I have become a JVC fan and have purchased a JVC SVHS VCR and a JVC DVD player. They are all wired together with COMPLINK. This is an excellent feature that automatically switches from component to component as you hit the Play Button on the front of the respective units (among other things). Sold on it.

My only gripe is with the User Manual which leaves quite a bit to be desired in explaining how to Configure the Initial Settings. JVC makes up for this with an excellent phone support group.

Once you figure it all out, this is a great sounding receiver.

The surround sound is precise, especially in Dolby DTS 6.1. I love the ability to fine-tune the levels on each of the groups of speakers individually with ease, using either the on screen display or the remote. There are more than enough DSP modes to satisfy anyone.

The remote is a bit clunky. And it's LCD is pretty useless unless you are using it in another room to control a second set of speakers. I found the RF to work really well.

I did have a lot of trouble setting up the receiver. The biggest was getting a digital audio signal from my DVD player. This was actually very easy to overcome by changing the output setting on the DVD player.

More importantly figuring out how control all of my equipment through the receiver and how to manipulate the sound output was a bit challenging. After about a day of fooling around it all began to make sense. Now I can get the sound I want from the source I want easily.

The bottom line is be patient and you will be rewarded.

I am a former user of an Onkyo Pro-Logic receiver, where everything is straightforward and volume level is predictable. I got this unit to take advantage of digital dolby on my satellite system. I have been totally baffled by the instructions, and the basic concept of how this receiver works for the last three weeks, two of which have been waiting for it to return from JVC repair where I sent it when I could not get the fiber optic hook ups to work (instructions take careful and deliberate reading on this and everything else), and the volume seemed to go only so high (Not very). This is an important point-volume is asymmetrical-goes up to a high number without much gain-then rockets over the next five-say 70-75.

I got it back dented yesterday with a one liner explaining that "software was re-installed , it was tested and released." Up until this morning, I was despairing that I had blown a wad, and was ready to send it back to the service center. You have to pay the sending postage.

I was finally able to get the fiber-optic hookups to work, (changed the tv hookup from tv to dvd-go figure), and finally located a help number via the service center. This number might be in the book, but I was so spooked by this experience that I didn't think to look. Find this number first before you panic, unless you are a techie which I certainly am not. Anyhow, the ecstasy after the agony is a dramatic improvement in sound and dolby-just like the theater. Bottom line, get it, don't panic, and call for help before you get embroiled.

I have the original Monsoon system at work, (came bundled with pc) and decided to bite the bullet and upgrade my home system to them. I was using Yamaha YSTM-10's that are were very good and natural sounding but had no bottom omph. The planars are a bit different but in a good way. They are very airy, like a set of electrostatic speakers. The 100w sub is really rounds out the bottom end. It will take a bit of tweaking with any equalizer controls you might have to get the best but it will be worth it. The only drawback you will have is that it will bring out the poor recording quality any music you have has. For gaming, who cares just as long as it's loud and has a lot deep bass, which this system has but if you listen to cd's, mp3's, etc, then be prepared to be adjusting the base control. I downloaded "Hey Ya!" by Outkast directly off a paysite in wma format and was disappointed by how poor a recording it was. My Yamaha's covered it up but the Planar's exposed it so dramatically that I regret listening to it anymore. The system is colored black with the satellites thin and facing flat at you. The sub sits beneath the desk. Though not as good as the originals, they are also half the price. I got mine at circuit city for $60 - a steal and I think they screwed up the pricing!

Coming from a true audiophile, I must say that this system is the very best you can attain in its price range. The clarity is remarkable, and the power is astounding. You will truly not be disappointed in the least.

Strengths
Smooth, natural mids and treble. Lack of colouration and cabinet resonances. Imaging and soundstaging. Mini control pod allows you to adjust volume and sub level from your desk. Value.

Weaknesses
Frequency response of satellites are a little rolled off at the bottom end (200-250 Hz) and high end (10-16 kHz)

Review
Let's not mince words. This is one of the best PC speakers available on the market. Period. It needs a little tweaking with a parametric EQ to get the best out of them, but you will be rewarded for your efforts. I have the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1's and I would put these in the same class with them -- i.e., head and shoulders above the rest of the that's out there. The only other PC speaker that can beat these two is the Videologic Sirocco Pro's, but that's around $600 CDN and they're very hard to find in Canada. But honestly, if you're going to spend $600, hook up your PC to a real stereo instead.

Frequency Reponse: With a little EQ using a parametric EQ (+6 dB from 32-43 Hz, -3 dB from 80-160 Hz, +2 dB from 200-250 Hz, and +2 dB from 10-16 kHz), you have a system that is very smooth and natural, especially in the crucial midrange region. As with all subs, placing the sub under the desk causes the mid-bass to be a little boomy. Fix with EQ.

Driver and Cabinet Resonances: Voices and instruments are natural due to much less driver and cabinet resonance than other PC speakers.

Imaging and Soundstaging: Very good when you place the speakers close to you (do not put them at the back of your desk close to the wall) and angle them in.

Note: If you can't afford the PM-14's, the PM-9's use the exact same satellites but a smaller sub. I would avoid the PM-7, however, because it uses a very small sub that just doesn't cut it.