Price Paid:  $0.00 from friend

Summary:
For a few years now, I've had a few surround sound set-ups. I've used Yamaha, Pioneer, Sony and for the exception for some older (1999) Yamaha digital surround receivers, today's digital receivers in the entry to mid-price (under $600) catagory are overrated in power output and frankly sound like crap. There's no deep bass impact and the highs are screechy and the mids are thin. My last receiver a Sony STR-DE585 was rated a 100 watts per channel but had a little transformer, tiny compacitors, and only weighed 15(!) pounds. The sound was thin and edgy especially in 2 channel stereo. It wouldn't even barely move the 10" woofers on my highly effecient Cerwin-Vega RE-25 speakers at high volume (and yes, I checked to make sure the front channels were on large.) I used to watch movies alot but in the last year I really just listen to music but it seems none of today's receivers in my price range sound good in stereo with plenty of power and impact without Pro-logic II for a bass boost (which just muddies the sound). So, I had a friend who had this "Nak" whom an ex-boyfriend gave to her but she wanted surround sound. I was going to hook up her Nak to use the Pro-logic decoding but instead we traded receivers, even swap, the Sony for the Nakamichi. Now she's happy with her surround sound (her family watches movies all the time) and I'm more than happy with the sound quality with the Nak. I'm not quite sure of it's power ratings (I think it's 80 watts x 4) but in stereo operation, I can't remember having a receiver with this much power (including a Denon AVR-3000 rated a 110 watts per channel.) The bass impact and the depth of sound is unreal even at low volumes with no "loudness" and tone controls on flat. It provides more than enough power to drive my Vega's and at high volumes (about 10 to 11 o'clock on the volume dial), the lights in my house dimmed everytime the bass hits (that's a first). The fan is a little noisy but I cannot hear it unless the room is quite and the glass door of my audio cabinet is open, not enough to bother me. I also love the look of this receiver, very different especially the orange (not amber) display and the orange LED's behind a black acrylic and plastic front panel (wish it was metal and glass though). I don't find the sound too bright at all in fact, I would call it dark (similar to the Denon). Of course after a few years of listening to Pioneer's and Sony's my ears may have become more forgiving to the highs than some. To the reviewer to said the mids were congested a bit, as you stated, there's no comparison to those high-end amplifiers to ANY receiver much less a mid-priced one such as the Nak. To sum it all up the Nakamichi AV-300 is an awesome piece of audio equipment. It's reletively compact but fairly heavy, with a big tranformer and high quality parts to go along with the high quality performance that it's capable of. My music finally sounds like music to my ears. Thanks Paige and Nakamichi!

Strengths:
High power output, great sound, unbelievable bass impact and definition, cool looking, simple design.

Weaknesses:
Only front channels have binding posts, volume knob doesn't have a LED position marker

Similar Products Used:
Sony STR-DE585, Pioneer VSX-D850, Denon AVR-3000, Yamaha RXV-795

Price Paid:  $250.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
I bought this receiver after my old Akai finally flipped out in 1998. I am extremely happy with it even though the home theater aspects are long outdated. It works great for music and with the prologic phantom mode it doesn't sound too bad for home theater either. I am ready to upgrade but this thing still works as well as the day I bought it so I'm holding out. I am driving new Wharfedale 8.4s and the sound is fabulous.

Strengths:
Reliable and dependable. This receiver seems like it will last forever.

Weaknesses:
The fan is a little loud. At very high volumes it seems a little too bright.

Similar Products Used:
Nothing except an old JVC from the 70s and an Akai from the 80s

Summary:
This is a great receiver and certainly worth the pittance most will pay for it. I recently came from a Mark Levinson Amp, Classe Pre-amp and a pair of Martin Logan electrostats. The amazing thing to me is that I had about $5k invested in amplification and another $1k in pre-amp. For $185 the Nakamichi was no joke and actually ran the Logans for a while. Unless you have the perfect environment for listening, and perfect front end sources, high-end audio is not really worth the entry price. You can get alot for your money with cheaper, not cheapie, components. Now for the downsides of the Nak. It does have plenty of power but there is little separation in the midrange. Do not expect bass slam but instead a kind of very light weight snap. And now here is my big problem with the Nak. It is too bright for my tastes. I find lots of slurred S's on most recordings. It also gets annoying at high volumes. Oh, and I really can't stand that fan. Those reviews which cite no appreciable fan noise are way off. It can be heard. If the rest of your stuff is kind to a bright amplifier this thing will do just fine. I imagine the Nak would have worked well with my old Vandersteen 2ce's as they were very warm and almost too mellow. But there I go pairing $1200 speakers with a $200 receiver. See, audiophilia really is a disease. Five stars for value and four for sound quality.

Strengths:
Lots of power, simple to operate, binding posts for main speakers.

Weaknesses:
A bit too bright, somewhat congested in the mids and that annoying fan!

Similar Products Used:
HK 880Vxi, 990Vxi, Avr25mkII, Audiolab 8000A

Summary:
This Receiver really amazes me. I got it from the auction several months ago, I already owned a onkyo 454, which is another great receiver. This left me with a decision to make, so I gave the onkyo to my son. The amplifier section was much stronger and tighter then the Onk. The surround section performs well even without the 5.1 inputs, (which the Onkyo had). The adjustment for the surround section is great. I am using wharfdale diamond 7.3 speakers and I am really satisfied with the sound. The only upgrade I would like for my system is better speakers (though there is nothing wrong with the 7.3). You can't go wroing with this receiver for a entry level system.

Strengths:
Amplifier section.

Weaknesses:
No phone input. No binding post for Surround speakers

Similar Products Used:
Onkyo 454

Summary:
Got this unit for $127 at an auction site. What a great time to be alive. As this receiver packs alot of punch and has a nice FM "and" AM receiver one of the best I have ever heard. This would have easily been a $1000 not too many years ago. I do not put alot of faith in receivers sounding much differnent but this one sounds fine in all areas. Sound-4
Value-5