rich sound, pre-outs, control of low-bass

heavy

Actually I have Nakamichi AV-1, with only prologic mode, but I use it in any case mainly for music (stereo). I picked up this receiver few months ago from ebay and very happy with it.
Of course for that money (250$+shipping) I could buy
some junky new receiver, and I did a lot of research to find it, but all that DolbyDigital receivers below 300$ sound very dirty. You should pay much more to get receiver with reasonable quality (~800$) or to buy separates, but for me that was just another price level.
AV-1 was a top of the Nakamichi line in beginning to middle nineties. AV-1 has very rich, detailed and natural sound. It also looks nice and solid. Comparing to Yamaha (which I don't like) it has much more on bass side, but it well balanced, tight enough, and does not become boomy ( as all cheap receivers)even with my small bookshelf speakers (AE Aegis One). This receiver has a lot of power and can definitely drive big serious speakers.
FM tuner is also good, defenetly good enough for the most of radio stations, but the overall quality of radio stations is not very high (compare to hi-fi records). Make sure to play with antena, it makes huge difference for any receiver, and that is what many people forget to do!
There are some very nice feathers: additional to bass, there is a separate adjustment for superbass ( I believe below 70 Hz or so), pre-outs, source-direct mode to bypass all controls, and mono-out for woofer.
If you looking for good solid receiver but have a limited budget, that is a very good choice.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Yamaha, Sony, Nad, Pioneer