crystal clarity, powerful sound

no 5ch stereo, RCA input jacks tend to come out with very tight cables (aka Monster),
need to set up "phantom" center from remote

an excellent buy..forces you to relisten to all your CDs
the surround modes given are unnecessary
no hum/static/noise whatsoever..using banana plugs
check my setup

Mains: Mag 2.5r
Rears: Mag 1.4
Center: MGCC1
Receiver: Nakamichi AV-10 (100w/ch)
Sub: HSU Research VTF-2

Note: The TWEETER ATTENUATOR is NOT for bi-wiring!!!

Similar Products Used:

Sony 555ES

Decent value - lots of features for the money.

Quality, reliability - worse than a Hyundai Pony

I've had 4 major problems with this unit.

1. Front right channel dead after 1 week. Replaced with new unit.

2. Remote dead after 2 weeks. Replaced.

3. Hiss from right front speaker.

4. Popping in sub-woofer.

I fixed 3 & 4 by getting rid of the piece of shit. I got less than half what I paid, but I didn't care - I just wanted it out of my sight.

Whoever runs Nak's QA department should be shot.

I bought a Denon 3300 instead.

Similar Products Used:

Denon 3300

Must concur with Puzzled. This is an outstanding product with sonics falling a few hairs short from that of separates. Clean, powerful, musical. Having heard several "hi-end" receivers in the market (i.e. Denon, Sony, Marantz, HK), this is the "one-box solution" that I would buy for music/HT.

After taking great pains in considering Yamaha, Onkyo, Marantz, NAD and Sony I decided the Nak was for me.
If you're into useless "features" more than sound quality then this is not for you. Mine stays on all day, playing music, tv and DVDs and no matter the listening level or the source, provides clean, wonderful sound. I was initially tempted by the AV8, but figured I would go for the top-of-the-line and get DTS too. The extra 20 watts/channel isn't really significant. There's no way I could ever even dream of turning it up past about 4 as I'm sure the house would shake apart.

I have read magazine reviews, those posted here and other places on the net and have yet to hear of any major dissatisfaction. The complaints others have made have not effected me, at least yet.

My little complaint is with the volume control. When I watch TV late at night I can't disturb the rest of the family so I turn it down low. Some channels could use a little more volume than others, but the servo (or whatever it is) on the volume knob insists on travelling a certain distance no matter how quickly and delicately you tap the volume control on the remote. I almost always want the level in between where it starts and where it stops. I'll live with it though.

Great sound and easy to use features are a big plus.

BAcklite remote would be nice.
Biggest flaw is the sound of the fan in the unit. I don''t have it in an enclosed rack and it is relatively loud. I understand that this is necessary for the power of the unit but it does not shut off or slow down at low volumes.

Setup is painless. Sound is great. I recommend this to anyone who wants Dolby digital and great music listening.

I'm upgrading my speakers and I can't wait to hear the combination.

Similar Products Used:

None

Clean and powerful sound, ease of use, elegant design and looks...

Can't use spade ends on spaker cables

I love this receiver as much now as I did when I bought it in June of 1999. It has performed flawlessly and to satisfaction every time. It's got everything I need. People complained in 99 that this unit did not have a 5.1 input to make it future-proof. Well, let me tell you, with 6.1 DTS ES, and 6.1 DD Matrix, all receivers with "future-proof" 5.1 input is a useless feature. Nak is a no-nonsense built like a tank unit with excellent sounds. You can't go wrong with these. At today's prices, do pick one up or at least audition this receiver. You will not regret it. I would still buy it at $980.

Smooth strong power. Great sound.

Spatic remote. Fan can be a bit anoyying in quiet parts.

Ok. So I retired my 10 year old Luxman... On the way I borrowed (for an "extended" period, i.e. about a year) a mates Rotel RB980 and matching pre-amp... I like my music loud (amazingly I still get along with my neighbours) and you could cook an egg on the Rotels after a session.

One day I turned up at a mates place and he had a fancy new Denon with DTS/Dolby.. blah blah... and it blew me away. I knew I had to buy new gear.

I have a pair of very power hungry speakers (yes, no surround yet, but it's on it's way) that start with a "B" end with an "e" and have "os" in the middle... 701 of them in fact ;-) I have my fire-proof pants on and an extinguisher handy for the flames!!! I know these are much maligned speakers... but I can't afford to replace them just yet.

Anyhow... They sounded "weak" with the Rotel, and I was about to toss them... then I listened to the Nak AV-10 in the same shop my mate got his gear at. I took it home for the weekend (the guy at the shop gave me his mobile number and said that if I loved 'em to call him that night, I thought "yeah, like hell will freeze over buddy").

Anyhow, I hooked it up.. and... well, I was on the phone about 10 seconds later and told the guy that hell itself couldn't seperate me from the Nak...

Those crappy speakers took on a new life... my warbling, half-hearted subbie suddenly came to life and my whole system seriously sounded completly new!

This amp has so much extra OOOMMMPH! that my tired sounding 701's suddenly sounded fresh again (which my hard worked wallet appreciates, at least for the next year or so).

Is it perfect... probably not... but for the money I've not heard an amp (with my gear) that sounds so powerful, deep, alive and true.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel, Luxman

sound and clarity, power, wicked decoding, very easy to use.

none that I need

Finally picked this sexy baby up a week ago and wow does it ever sound good!! There's power, excellent dynamic range and great clarity. I did narrow my choices down to either the Nak or the Denon AVR-3300. The Denon is a great product indeed but the Nak just seems to have that musical punch, very tight with no strain. I didn't care for any new formats like DVD-audio etc. as I won't be adding anything for another couple of years when I finish school(maybe MSB's LinkDAC). One of the best things about this receiver is its ease of use. It's light years away from my old Sony in which I had to regularily open up the manual for stupid things like changing from AM to FM etc.( go figure). To put the AV-10 in perspective, I bought the unit from a guy (6 months old;I had to offer him more than he asked for since he really didn't want to sell it)but he couldn't find the english manual. I took it home and set it up knowing from all the other reviews that it was easy to use and indeed it was. Every thing is there, no need to pull out the calculator and do advanced logarithms to change DSP settings. Oh and the DSP settings? All I could ever need: Natural, which is kick ass, Hall (haven't used much but still good) and the others. Why have 200 DSP effects? My old sony had 8 or so and I NEVER used them. The remote is good but does need to be back lit. Overall this unit gets 5 stars and if this model is any indication of future Nakamichi products you know I'll be trading it in when school does finish.
My system:
Nak AV-10 (killer)
Panasonic DVD-A320 (deadly)
NAD 513 (smooth)
Paradigm Monitor 3's (nice)
Paradigm CC-350 (very nice)
Paradigm ADP-170 (nice)
Paragigm PDR-8 (sorta nice)
Apogee wideeye digital
Canare component
PureSilverSound Quartets inter.
etc.

Similar Products Used:

Old Sony prologic STDR-1015(poor prologic decoding etc.),
Denon AVR-3300

Quality Build, sound of course

Remote Control

I was very excited when I sold my thirteen year-old Carver 900 Receiver and nine-year old Onkyo ES-600 Pro Dolby Pro-Logic decoder on Yahoo!Auctions, because it meant I had the starting capital to buy a DTS receiver.

I'm one of those lucky people who has a cousin in the business. He prefers Yamaha's, but after listening I just couldn't agree. The AV-10 was smoother in the midrange and reproduced bass solo's more precisely. Now don't get mad, but I'm going to reveal dealer cost - I paid $775 for a NEW unit, not used, not refurbished, not demo.

I'd read about the fan noise, and if you aren't listening to anything (ie: unit is on and volume set to zero), you can hear the fan if you are right next to the unit. I have heard quieter fans, so maybe Nakamichi skimped a bit on the fan in the unit. I can also say that with any sort of music playing, or more than five feet from the unit, there is no way you will hear the fan.

Setup is a breeze. One important note - I spent about thirty minutes after hooking it up trying to hear the rear speakers, but it wouldn't go into either "Natural" or "Hall" surround modes. The reason - you can't put those modes on when listening to FM. You have to play a CD, DVD, etc. Stupid me, hopefully I'll save someone some time by writing this.

I've got Klipsh KG4's up front and a decent pair of JBL's in the rear. I haven't hooked up the VCR yet (need to buy a Video/Audio cable).

Previous reviewers are correct about the remote. The most annoying is the volume control moves in increments, and no matter how quickly you hit the button, it always goes too far.

Compared to my Carver (which was rated at 90 watts), this Nakamichi is alot more powerful. This shocked me because it is only rated 120 watts for stereo.

Overall a killer unit for the price, especially my price.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Denon, Harmon Kardon

music

none

I love this receiver, it performs excellent equally on both music and movies. Most receivers out there now seem to be more focused on Home Theater rather than regular 2 channel.
I listen to music more than movies, and I wanted a receiver than can handle both. I've tested the harman kardon AVR 85 and I wasnt happy with the music reproduction, but in movies it was pretty good. However the Nakamichi sounded like a high end piece of equipment. It is very easy to use and not a lot of bells and whistles just pure quality. In Surround sound it's top notch and I highly recommend this unit if you like 2 channel stereo for your music.

Similar Products Used:

harman kardon