JVC Arsenal Car Receiver opnions

[kduggan]

Anyone here have any experience with JVC Arsenal line of Car Receivers? I was going to order a Pioneer but the JVC seems a much better fit for my needs and at a much better price. JVC Arsenal KD-AHD69 in particular.

[AaronH]

Anyone here have any experience with JVC Arsenal line of Car Receivers? I was going to order a Pioneer but the JVC seems a much better fit for my needs and at a much better price. JVC Arsenal KD-AHD69 in particular.

JVC has been doing a lot of things right lately. With the merger of them and Kenwood in 2008, they've agreed to develop car audio equipment together. I can't imagine that this would be a bad thing. I guess the best thing you could do is visit a shop that carries one and play with it - see if anything totally turns you off.

[DjDisturbed]

Only problems I ever had with JVC when I use to sell them. Was if it had a motorized face it would break 8/10 units over a years time. Other than that , they did have low voltage outputs on the RCA outputs. I never use the head units built in amp so that was a big turn off to me.

[foxfire3]

Most of the Arsenal units now have 5 volt preouts.
That being said, I've owned about brand of headunit out there, from Alpine to Nakamichi...all in the same vehicle with the same amp and speakers.
Sound quality wise, I think the Arsenals are about average and a step below the newest Sony headunits...and NO I'm not promoting Sony(or any other brand) in any way.

If you're going to be listening to the radio any at all, I think JVC may get the award for "worst tuner I've come across in any brand of headunit".
Weaker stations on a JVC sound like they're a million miles away and for some odd reason, they were about half the volume of the stronger stations.
Other units receiving the same stations would have some noise mixed in, but they would still be almost the same loudness as the stronger stations.
That's why my Arsenal went on Craigs.

[kduggan]

I appreciate all the replies, I think I will give it a shot, the last two Pioneers I have had have only lasted about three years. I have always been a fan of pioneer car receivers but with the deal I found on the JVC I can't help but give it a shot. $159 with free shipping, intall kit, antenna cables, wiring harness, and a pair of 6x9 5 way speakers thrown in.

[foxfire3]

That sounds like a killer deal.
Give it a shot...you'll be trying a brand you haven't had before and it may even last longer than the Pioneers you had.

[AaronH]

That's why my Arsenal went on Craigs.

Humm...that's disappointing to hear. Those (reception and line out voltage) were their problems in the late 90's, too. Well, I will be interested to see the results as their Double DIN unit has interested me.