Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This baby absolutely, unequivocally crushes the competition...even at 5x its price. It is a beast to be sure, but a neutral and revealing one that particularly excels at 2 channel stereo. Music leaps to life from a dead-silent background and breathes in a way that is notably absent from any other receiver I've heard. Absolutely worth every dime.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Bought the av-2 in 2003 at a pawn shop thinking it would be something sufficient for the time I was in college. I was wrong-I am still in college but have grown and heard many systems including carver, luxman, marantz, denon, and I'll mention yamaha too. None of them produce the sound spectrum and clarity that makes Nakamichi a world class name. This unit was hooked up with a variety of lower end and mid speakers. The one's that were the best with it were my JBL N38 northridge series speakers. Between the sound produced by the Nakamichi and the reproduction by the N38's, one could almost taste the sound! It was that GOOD. When i first heard it and started doing research on it because all I had was the receiver-no literature, no remote, no original box, I was amazed to find this site with the current reviews citing this nakamichi as an "8th Wonder of the World" . They were right and I am so glad I found mine. Since then, I have bough another av-2, 2-av-8's, an av-1, and a music bank mb-4. Its just too bad Nakamichi knows how good their stuff is because they really could use a better customer service dept.

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Home Theater Systems

Summary:
Overall, in the ten years or so I have had this unit, I have been completely satisfied. 70W is also a serious understatement. The AV-2 powers my Boston T930II's incredibly well. I run out of tolerance before I run out of ppower. I also have a very crtitical ear and I love the ultra clean power the Nak provides. It also does a heck of a job with home theater, although it has older 4.0 Dolby Pro Logic technology. I am buying another unit for 5.1+ DD & DTS home theater use, but I'm keeping the Nak for music purposes.

Strengths:
Awesome clean power. Seems to be bulletproof. If you find an AV-1 or Av-2, jump on it.

Weaknesses:
Uhhh, none.

Price Paid:  $850.00 from stereo types in charlottesville, va

Summary:
I bought this unit new back in the early 90's. It has performed flawlessly ever since.
When I purchased this unit, I was able to do A/B sound comparisons between Yamaha, Denon, and Nakamichi receivers. Believe me, there was no comparison...the Nak made the others sound like some cheap boom box at Walmart. I also was able to bring both the Nak and the Denon units home and try them out with my system. Even though the Denon had a much higher power rating, it actually audibly clipped on my NHT speakers...almost to the point of shutting down. The more conservatively rated Nak played beautifully....and it has ever since.

I run all home entertainment system audio thru this receiver, but do not use the video inputs/outputs. If you run your video thru your receiver, then you may want to get an AV1 which has S-video inputs/outputs.

Whatever you do, get you one of these receivers. You will not believe your ears!!!!!!

Strengths:
SOUND, SOUND, SOUND....oh yeah, and conservative power rating.

Weaknesses:
No S-video inputs/outputs.

Price Paid:  $460.00 from Web

Summary:
Thanks to advice from others I found this unit brand new and I must say it is totally unbelievable. The unit is built so well and very easy to operate and the sound is just breath taking. All controls and functions are very easy to use as well as the remote. The only fall back is I find it very hard to turn it off and go to bed at night, I could listen 24 hours a day and I think my wife believes I have forgotten all about her. If you are able to find one of these babies grab it while you can and you will fall in love! Awesome!

Strengths:
Finest Built AV Receiver I have ever seen and easy to use.

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer, Sony, Denon, HK,