AC3 Decoding for little money.

Lack of DSP's, the ones that are available are terrible. Terrible amplifier, doesn't have equal power output to all 5 channels.

I use to think that this was a pretty good unit for what you pay, but I have since changed my opinion. I purchased the receiver as a home theatre package about a year ago, with the plan to upgrade the speakers that it came with. I knew I was getting poor speakers, but I thought the receiver would atleast be adequate. Unfortunately the receiver turned out to be poor as well. I recently purchased a pair of Klipsch Synergy speakers to replace the ones that came with the HT package. Now that I have good speakers, I can hear the music fading in and out at moderate volumes. Apparently this is due to the small capacitors that are in the unit. At first I thought it might be a defective unit, but my roommate's does the same thing. Because of the poor amplifier in this unit, I now can't enjoy my new speakers until I get a new receiver. Unfortunately my plan of buying something cheap and upgrading backfired on me. You definately get what you pay for.

Similar Products Used:

Demo'd Denon AVR-3300 and Yamaha VSX-995

It's ok. Not all that impressed

Since I am new to home theater, I really didn't want to spend alot of money building a new system. In fact, I seem to be on a quest to spend the least amount of money, and still have a decent sounding system. My latest purchase was this receiver. Picked it up for $71.00 at ONSALE.COM during one of their 1-hour auctions. Sounds good to me. Especially for $71.00! Sounds decent with my Optimus Pro LX-5 speakers. My only complaint is the lack of S-Video for any of the video inputs. No biggie, just run my DVD S-Video straight to the TV. Perfect complement to my DSS, DVD and VCR. Certainly is better than the JVC 'Surround Sound' stereo Receiver that I had. (That now runs the speakers for the spa)
How to build a cheap system:
1 Aiwa AV-DV30 $71.00 (Corporate On-line auction)
4 Optimus Pro-LX5 $59.95/each (Currently on clearance)
1 Optimus CS-3 $59.95 (Currently on clearance)
1 Mitsubishi 50" $1500 (Used..Guy needed money for a down payment on a Volvo)
1 Panasonic A110 DVD $299.00 (Got it for $100.00 off 'cause they were out of stock
on the one I wanted) (Last Year, are $299.00 now).
**Crappy Sharp 4-Head Hi-Fi $100.00 (Marine needed some rent money)
**Currently only used for wife's workout videos
1 Sony DSS $799 (Bought when first came out...STUPID)

Am currently looking for a DD/DTS Decoder and a powered sub. Then I think my system will be complete.

It's really not all that great.

I just bought this receiver and I think it's well worth the money. Especially considering it's 5.1 audio capability that I have tried out with my DSS satellite reciever and it blew me away. The only two problems that I can see with this receiver are: 1) The display is kind of old-fashoined, especially for Aiwa, and 2) No sspectrum analyzer or equalizer, although they do have some DSP and GEQ effects, it just doesn't offer the same kind of control over the entire sound. Oh yeah, and if you're looking for bass, two words. T-Bass, this models low end is amazing. Good reciever, great price, buy it.

I have bought this as a start up of my home theatre. It is very affordable at $140.00 in netmarket and I hooked it up with my SONY U581AV front speakers, used some old speakers as surround speakers and a FISHER center channel speaker. It delivers excellent sound and the TBASS it deleivers through mail speakers is very impressive and I stongly suggest this to anyone who is at startup of a home theatre instead of trying lots of money on other receivers.

Great sound for the money / ease of use

No adjustments for treble or bass

I picked this up a few months ago, under a limited budget, and I don't regret it one bit.

Last Christmas, when I got my first DVD player, I knew I had to upgrade my old Pioneer Surround Sound (before Pro-Logic) receiver.

I also, could not pass it up for the price, so I took it home, and to my amazement, everything hooked up together nice, the manual was very well written and the sound quality was very impressive. And the fact that it is Doly Digital ready (AV-D30) is just icing on the cake!

My only complaint about this receiver is that there is no adjustment for bass and treble. I could do without the "Electronic Graphic Equalizer", give me a bass and treble knob!

Other that that minor complaint, 50 or so DVD's later and a DSS unit going through this receiver, I'm very happy, happy!

When I bought this, I was on a very limited budget. I had just bought speakers(Technics SB-T200 see the reviews) and only had $200 dollars left. So after looking around at Audio King and the Sony sound center I went over to Best Buy and found the Awia for $170. So after looking at its functions and trying it I walked out the door with it. I brought it home and hooked it up and was amazed at how good it sounded for so little money. Plus when I bought it I got a pair of JBL TX-105's free for the rear speakers. The only thing I don't like about it is that I can't adjust the treble and I can't tone the bass down. I don't have a sub so this restricts me from turning it up real loud.