JVC MX J900

JVC's MX-J900 packs quite a wallop for a midi-sized compact system. One of the new "biamplified" minis, a 150-watt two-channel amplifier powers the system's two 7.88-inch side-firing "subwoofers, " while a separate 50-watt two-channel amp powers the remainder of the system's drivers, including a pair of woofers, a pair of midranges and a pair of dome tweeters. On the source front, the MX-J900 is armed with a 3-tray CD changer (i.e., it has three separate single-disc trays, instead of the more common carousel-style changer design). The dual-well cassette deck features full-logic controls and dual-well auto-reverse. A digital AM/FM tuner with 45 station presets completes the sources hat trick. Sound controls are found on what JVC calls the Powered Rolling Panel, which rotates down from the unit's front panel when it's powered up. The controls include a graphic equalizer with three preset and three custom settings, Extended Super Bass (bass boost), an eight-step separate subwoofer volume control, and Hyper Surround simulated surround sound, which produces surround-like effects from the system's two speakers. A digital optical output lets you use this system as a source when making digital recordings with an external MiniDisc or CD-R/RW recorder.