Aiwa AV-DV75 A/V Receivers

Aiwa AV-DV75 A/V Receivers 

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 35  
[May 02, 2008]
stafngrimr
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

BBE Sound Processing

T-BASS (Sounds great at lower listening volume)

Dolby Digital

Dolby Pro-Logic

DSP

GEQ

3 digital inputs

Weakness:

Reputation!
I come from a family of audiophiles, if it wasn't pioneer equipment it was considered junk. Being on a budget I was never really able to afford the really high end stuff that my parents had. This was the first thing I found in my price range that even came close to reproducing what I had been raised on to appreciate.

AIWA has a reputation for being junk. As a result of this they went bankrupt in 2002 and were bought by Sony who already had a financial stake in the company. This receiver was among many of AIWA's last big pushes (with the help of Sony) to bring them back from the brink of bankruptcy, They had gotten behind in the digital boom of the late 90's and the design was to be so full featured and so well designed it would reinforce their reputation as a quality producer of value electronics.

NO DTS

Have had my AV-DV75 for over a year now and could not be happier. I have looked through all the reviews and think that some may have gotten defective units and are knocking this system unnecessarily The output is definitely great on this system at 120 watts per channel.

The specs for Dolby Digital are 48khz so knocking the AIWA for using spec is a bit off the mark. Dolby digital ac3 would have to be upconverted to 96khz and if you did that there would be sound degradation. Knocking AIWA for this is ridiculous. Go get a DTS system if you want 96khz

The volume indicator does indeed start to blink after you turn it up to 21. I t doesn't turn off though. At this level it is, by my guestimation, pushing about 80 decibels,(its louder than my morning hair dryer) so it looks like the folks at AIWA may be trying to tell you you are likely damaging your ears. I have never had it shut off at higher levels though.

The remote, I think they put some thought into this, the size makes it hard to lose ;)

I have used two of the inputs, the fiber digital and the phono in. The sound is incredible! No matter what I throw at it, from HD movies in surround, listening to old lou reed on vinyl to just playing BIOSHOCK on my XBOX 360. This receiver is a real performer!

Similar Products Used:

Older tube equipment that my audio snob parents use.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 13, 2000]
Nicholas Gallegos
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

120W peak power output, built-in Dolby Digital, price (get it for $200 at Best Buy!).

Weakness:

I'm with the rest of you folks.....the remote is HORRIBLE.

Heh....aren't pricing mistakes funny? Check this week's ad. You'll notice that the AV-DV75 is advertised for $279 or something. You go into the store and it's $0.03 cheaper than then the AV-DV55 (a far inferior model)! I triple-checked the price on my computer at work (yes, I work at a Best Buy) and sure enough it came up as $199.96. We haven't been able to keep these darn things in stock ever since.

Anyway, my opinions about the receiver:

Great deal at Best Buy for $200. In fact, it's the cheapest receiver on the floor right now with a Dolby Digital decoder. It drives 120W peak, which isn't nothing to sneeze at. Not the most feature-packed receiver, but you can't complain at this price.


Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-DE635

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 22, 2000]
Shawn Siref
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great sound, low price. Dolby Digital 5.1 for under $250!

Weakness:

No power outlet on back.

I bought this receiver with the 5 speakers and subwoofer home theater in a box, and I can honestly say it really rocks! This is my first Dolby Digital sound system after having a sony prologic sound system and it's sound totally blows me away. I've had this system since last summer and it still performs perfectly. Perfect for DVDs and music. Even when used with the small Aiwa satellite speakers that come with it it sounds good, although the subwoofer that came with it, the TS-W45 50 watt powered sub is kinda crappy and interference and a muddy clicking sound is heard over a volume level of 21. I plan on buying the Infinity BU-120 150 watt powered sub to get better bass, so that will help a lot. Volume level flashes once it goes higher than 21 which kind of worries me, because it's telling you that the volume is set higher than what it should which could damage it or reduce it's lasting life. All in all a great sub, although not top of the line.

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-D450Z Pro-Logic Receiver

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 22, 2000]
David H
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Sounds Great . Very Good Unit.

Weakness:

Remote Needs to be a little Smaller. Dvd controls on it Would Be Nice

I work for Sony But I Own This Unit For The Money its Great. Its Even Better When You get the Home Thearter Setup W/Speakers And Sub for $450.00 it is not Bad At All . A must Buy!

Similar Products Used:

1st AV unit

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 17, 2000]
Doug Little
Casual Listener

Strength:

Price, Features

Weakness:

Remote, Quality

Watch out if you buy this unit. I got mine as part of an AIWA dv-590 home theater system on Egghead auctions and it came straight from the refurbisher(Sohnen Enterprises) - Totally non-functional. No audio on conventional analog inputs on Vid1,2,3. Actually works for few seconds when first powers up, but then cuts out. This lemon certainly wasn't worth the savings.

Also, boycott Egghead. They've got horrible customer service (days later and only thru email) and won't take anything back.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Jan 02, 2000]
jason
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Sound is great - have an infinity bu-2 sub and some jbl's w/12" woofers, along with jbl center and satellite. movies are awesome, as are cd's, everything.

Weakness:

recognize the analog/digital availability on the different video channels - confused me for a while, specifically with the playstation, and both things i have hooked onto the optical ports...same as everyone else - WORST REMOTE EVER! - I did call aiwa and complain, they are sending me the skinnier silver one in the mail...

I got this for $199 @ Best Buy - couldn;t NOT buy it for the price...the avdv-55 above it was $.03 more...?!?!?!...anyway - definitely worth the money, even if it costs a little more than what i got it for...currently trying to decide what universal remote to work it with...remote it comes with brings its grade down...

Similar Products Used:

none

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 11, 2000]
Pablo
Casual Listener

Strength:

Price,Pro Logic decoding,600 watts

Weakness:

Remote Needs to be a little Smaller. Doesn't have a button for my DVD player. Static at low volume.

The AIWA AV-DV75 sure beats my RCA reciever for sure.With Pro Logic and 600 watts I am happy, But I wish that they would of thought about the remote before they started the product line. It is ridiculously big and ugly. Like they say "price comes with the quality". I am not sure if the static is because my tweeters are senistive or the reciever. Never have tryed other speakers with this reciever. Overall this isn't a bad reciever.

Similar Products Used:

RCA reciever

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Mar 18, 2000]
Brad Dormanen
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great sound for the buck - 5.1!!! 2 digital in's

Weakness:

THE WORST REMOTE EVER MADE - Sub rattles

I picked up the home theater kit for 469 at Best Buy - I love it. Great sound. Lots of features.

But the remote is the biggest pile of crap. This thing is huge (don't know why, the buttons dont cover the whole area) and it does not controll my DVD player. You need the remote to tweak your settings. Did not even come with batteries, making me go back to the store to get a set. They should have put this on the box. Most companies give a set of generic batteries for the remote and is a nice touch.

The sub is powered and has a lot of features on the sub. I like the auto power off. The back of the sub rattles. The plastic back cover rattles against the internal components. I remedied this by setting it upright on some foam so the weight of the unit on the foam will reduce the rattle. I dont have the rattle anymore but I don't like the port hole facing up. I will call them for a replacement.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 13, 2000]
Ryan Strehlow
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Cheap price for true Dolby Dig. home theater set-up

Weakness:

Cheap case, and volume control display (see below)

I bought this rec. at Netmarket.com for $232 bucks
about 5 months ago, (when it was about $280-300 at BestBuy)
and new it wasn't the highest quality rec. , but had all the features
I wanted including Dolby Digital decoding (no dts, but I don't
want to support dts anyway!), a simple eq to just tweak
the sound the way I like, and 2 optical in ports, and one coax.
Other rec.s in a close price range only had one optical
port, and it looks like optical is a more popular "digital out"
port than coax (like optical only on sony's new PS2,
and DishNetwork's sat. rec.), so I love having two ins.
In the five months or so I've had it, it's given me no problems.
Everyone metions the remote sucks.. Well.. sort of.
For a loaded $200 rec. we're all lucky it even HAS a remote!
It looks like it's from the 80's but works just fine.
I don't like how you need it to do certain things with the
rec. like hit the test tone, but I can't complain. On the
down side of the rec... it's case is paper thin. A total peice
of junk really, but it sits in my nice ent. center, and never moves
so I don't NEED it to be aircraft-grade aluminum!
When I first saw it at B.B. it had it's full face light display
on, and looked like it was made for a 10 year old. I
considered it an acceptable "flaw", but when I got it, I found
out you can turn all those idiot lights off, and dim
the display very low! It looks very respectable now!
Like the '99 Kenwood low-end rec.s the Aiwa has a "dial"
to jog through the rec. settings (tuner, cd, vid. 1,2,3,etc...).
It's not as nice as being able to hit a button for the
function you want, but it's a small bit of hassle to go
through to get a powerful Dolby digital rec. at a super low
price.
It's rated at 120 watts per chan. X5, and 170 per chan. X2, but Kenwood's
100 watt X5 rec. actually has only 49 watts X5!! as tested by
Sound and Vision mag. so I have no idea if Aiwa is
telling the truth or not!?!
The digital volume dial goes from 0-31. 0-31 what you ask?
Well so do I. Their cust. support sure doesn't know
I asked them about the cut off point of the LFE output,
and the frequency range or points of their bass boost,
and their BBE (treble boost basically), and they just read me some
stuff out of the manual that had nothing to do with what
I asked! I have the manual morons, it ain't in there!
Anyway, after 21 'somethings' on the volume dial, the
indicator bar on the rec. face starts to flash.
The manual says te rec. is gettin over loaded or someting along those lines,
but it really shouldn't be! If you rec. is dimmed,
you won't notice the flashing volume bar, but this flaw does
worry me for the future. About 22, or 23 is perfect
volume for watching DVDs, so I worry about any overloading.
It's not super loud at that setting, and I have a powered
sub to assist too. This is probably my biggest problem with
the rec., but oter than that I really think it was a great deal!

Similar Products Used:

10 yr. old Sony rec. with phantom pro-logic

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 28, 2000]
Mack
Casual Listener

Strength:

Audio is much cleaner and brighter than my old Kenwood. Pro Logic output to my 5 speakers is fantastic. Display is bright and clean. Manual has good setup instructions. Good power.

Weakness:

Remote is clumsy, but at the price I paid, $205.00 (with shipping included) after $50 discount at Alta Vista Shopping, I'm not complaining.

I searched the net and Best Buy looking at all the features and pricing on various brands before I bought this one. The AIWA AVDV75 doesn't offer DTS, and it is missing switched AC output jacks, but it does offer fair power in Pro-Logic and Dolby 5.1 and really good power in stereo only mode. It does sound so much better on my old speakers than my Kenwood. The case of okay for it's price range, I have a tape unit and cd player sitting on it with no problem. Navigating the remote is tedious, but I was able to program my Magnovox VHS player and Phillips TV into the remote for better overall control. Some people don't like the display, but I dimmed it down and I like it a lot better than most of the real dim and barely readable displays on some receivers. Overall, a great value.

Similar Products Used:

None with the features. Old 40 per channel Kenwood stereo was replace by this.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 35  

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