JVC JR-S400 Mk II receiver

B

biggguy999

New Member
Just bought one of these off CL- I haven't seen it yet as it's 50 miles away, but a local friend looked at it (and bought it for me) and says it's mint, working 100% (including all lights and switches), and a one-owner piece, owner says he bought it new in the late 70s. I'm picking it up Saturday.

A little internet research got me a picture of it (looks very period European) and a French website gave me a power rating of 80wpc...

As I have absolutely no experience with JVC components- does anyone have any experience with this unit or one similar- good, bad or indifferent? Any warnings? What I have seen of JVC pieces (which isn't much) is a very mixed bag.

You're probably thinking "why is he asking this after the money changed hands?" Very simply, it was so cheap I had to. As I don't care to divulge the amount at this point, I do feel confident from what I've seen at the auction site that I could post it there (and I follow it pretty closely), and easily triple my money.

Thanks in advance for any information you can furnish.
 
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I had a similar one bought new in... the late 70s with a pair of ESS AMT-1b speaks. It's an OK entry level receiver. For your $ sounds like you got a good deal so try it out. It's mid-fi stuff so don't expect a scroe unless you got it free of course. I MUCH prefer my Sansui 771 receiver to the JVC stuff but thats me.

You should get a taste of vintage audio and you may catch the bug for other gear after this one.

Cheers,

Bob
 
bobrown14 said:
I had a similar one bought new in... the late 70s with a pair of ESS AMT-1b speaks. It's an OK entry level receiver. For your $ sounds like you got a good deal so try it out. It's mid-fi stuff so don't expect a scroe unless you got it free of course. I MUCH prefer my Sansui 771 receiver to the JVC stuff but thats me.

You should get a taste of vintage audio and you may catch the bug for other gear after this one.

Cheers,

Bob
Click to expand...

OK....now I'll divulge the purchase price...$30....and it is mint...

I've been playing with this stuff since a lot of the "prized pieces" out there were new in the mid 70s so I know my way around this stuff a little. Just have never had any experience with JVC.

Mid fi, huh. That's OK...using the JVC to plug my computer into- will be using a Cerwin Vega Sub/sat system for speakers that I've had for 20 years (I am not a CV fan...but these are better than you'd think). To play my mp3s I'm sure it will be more than adequate.

Thanks for your input.
 
Got it home....wow

Well, I finally got this beast home and hooked up.....wow....

Well, turns out my friend who looked at this for me missed a couple of things- FM stereo indicator is out, LH power meter not working......annoyances I can live with for the price...

In using it, I first hooked it up to my AR-3as- and I was absolutely astonished how well the combination worked- the JVC is a little bright and forward sounding, and complimented the AR's soft high end nicely. And...talk about balls...this JVC has some rather large ones....Rated at 80 wpc (same as the newer Yamaha I usually use with the ARs) it seemed a good deal more powerful than that- drove the big ARs effortlessly (although I did see the one working power meter make some amazing swings at times....).

IMHO, if you see one of these JVCs around, grab it...it's easily the equal of any if its bigger branded contemporaries....and from what I've seen, they tend to go cheap.....at $30 for this one, for my money, this was a great score...
 
Those JVC S models tend to fly under the radar alot and are under valued.....great receivers IMHO.
 
They may be "mid-fi," but take the top off and look at the build quality for a mass-produced piece of audio gear. Crazy "styling" of the face though. Built-in equalizer was very useful too. Attached some info on the models.
 
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Picked up one of these beasts at a thrift store for $39. In excellent cosmetic shape and so far I notice only some slight static on some of the EQ sliders. I can try using de-Oxit on it. Bulb on right power meter is out. Everything else seems to work fine. No original box, but, it came with a plastic bag with original instruction manual, receipt, product brochures, original warranty card.. and, a pack of new spare fuses.

Currently don't have a good pair of speakers to test on (temporarily in storage), but, the headphone section sounds nice. Very robust sounding.
 
I need some help in how to dial string procedure on JVC JR-S400 Mark II

Here are some pictures,some not so clear :drool:

I can't find the stringing procedure for this piece anywhere.If anyone has any diagrams or knows how it's to be strung,please give me a hint.

As you can see I had to reconstruct a new tuning shaft and counterweight bracket from pieces of crappy potmetal it was made from.Now the chore is getting it strung together and tuning.

removed images & posted again
 
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Have always loved JVC gear and always will.

JVC gear has been in my family since 1968.

That's a nice receiver you got for that price, a steal actually in my opinion.

Good luck with it.

Cheers, Glenn
 
tcobsd said:
Picked up one of these beasts at a thrift store for $39. In excellent cosmetic shape and so far I notice only some slight static on some of the EQ sliders. I can try using de-Oxit on it. Bulb on right power meter is out. Everything else seems to work fine. No original box, but, it came with a plastic bag with original instruction manual, receipt, product brochures, original warranty card.. and, a pack of new spare fuses.

Currently don't have a good pair of speakers to test on (temporarily in storage), but, the headphone section sounds nice. Very robust sounding.
Click to expand...

When I bought a JVC SEA 80 EQ, I was given this advice regarding noisy sliders.

Glenn

"One tip with eq's learned the hard way...
If they haven't been used for a while resist the temptation to just squirt switch cleaner or any kind of lubricant into the fader pots.
If you do they will feel slippery for a few hours...then once the existing silicone is diluted and the switch cleaner evaporates...they will suddenly feel very gritty and hard to move.
The carbon track will also be contaminated with the existing grease that has been diluted which is neither good for the sound or the life of the pot.

Better to work each slider through their travel a few times to restore the smooth movement as the lubricant on the underside of the opening slots will have collected at each end of the pot.
The carbon track directly ahead as you look into the pot should be as clean as possible..but that is not where you want to apply any kind of lubricant. You want the lubricant applied on the inside edge of the slider opening. Bending a hairclip into a U shape and adding just a *tiny* amount of silcone grease on the reverse face of the actual slot opening (both sides of the slider itself) should restore smoothness.
The carbon track directly ahead as you look into the slider pot can be carefully cleaned with a cotton bud dipped in switch cleaner with a built in lubricant like servisol 40 but be careful not to dilute the silicone grease on the underside(reverse side) of the slot opening.
Clean the track first...then add a tiny bit of silicone on the reverse face of the slot opening using the hairclip second and work the slider through the full length of travel a few times very slowly to distribute it.
Should keep them smooth for years."
 
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