I took this unit home for the long weekend and listened for about 72 hours straight! Here it is.
First make sure that it is well warmed up before listening. It sounds like sh** cold. For movies this thing was great! Excellent full sound, good imagery, powerfull and confident. For music in two channels this reciever just doesn't cut it. It sounds way to bright at high volume levels. It loses all composer when things get busy. The power rating is also exagerated. My 60 Watt Mission amp could play much louder than this amp while remaining refined and controlled. I think I'm going to try the Rotel next.

Very music-lover oriented receiver. High-end look and feel. Two channel performance beats other units at twice the price and believe me I listened to them all!

No DTS, not as many "bells and whistles" as others offer.Remote is difficult.I'm not even sure that I consider the first two a weakness...

I've owned this receiver for a couple of months now and am extremely happy with it's performance! When I set out to replace my DPL unit and upgrade to DD I wanted something that would give me separates performance in one unit and would be a value. I auditioned all the usual suspects by Marantz,Denon,Integra,Onkyo,Yamaha and Rotel. Nothing and I mean nothing came close to the 2-channel performance of the Nakamichi. I listened to all the receivers using the same source material and speakers and every time I listened to the Nakamichi, it was as though a veil had been lifted from the music and I was hearing it in a new way for the first time. While I do enjoy watching my movies, the lack of DTS was unimportant for me as I do not yet own a DVD player. From what I understand about DTS there are very limited titles as opposed to those available in DD. Who knows I may live to regret not upgrading to the AV-10 which has DTS. But for double the price, I'd rather have the extra $! The AV-8 has been discontinued and I believe that Nakamichi is coming out with new models. I was able to pickup my unit on E-bay for $400. that is half of the original retail price and it was new in the box. If you are looking for a solid performer at a great price try picking one up on E-bay or Audiogon. I know you won't be disappointed!

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Basic button display/readout, wide selection of inputs/outputs, punchy, various sound fields, volume doesn't distort when up high.

Remote control does not have number pad, audio/video selection takes longer to switch between functions, no menu structure. No volume display for fronts, surround modes dont work listening thru tuner.

The AV8 is built well, solid, and is easy to operate. Large buttons and knobs allow easy access, the remote needs some work, even though it has a learning function this doesnt make up for its poor design. It captures the sounds you expect to have more punch and displays them sharp.

It displays a nice punch with its internal amp, music and movies come with more life. Being able to adjust the fronts seperately from the rears would be nice but its not necessary.

The only noticable flaw I have encountered is when using the remote control to turn vol up/down you can hear the vol motor thru the rear channels. This happened with new units out of the box as well as the demo the HT company had on display. It can only be heard when nothing is being played, rather when you are turning vol up or down with no source playing audio.

Overall I give it 4 stars, I figure with Nakamichi that small flaw wouldnt impede its performance.

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Marantz SR4000, Sony non-home theater

great sound,Flush with input/output connections,robust look
convenient remote,performance has the legendary NaX'S stamp

No DTS, no provision to hook up future digital 6 channel outputs.

WOnderful receiver,reasonable price,easy to setup and use.Ample power for the home environment.No hiss or distortion at high volume levels.I could hook up my VcR,SAT Receiver,CD,DVD players and tape deck quite easily.At high volume do not depress loudness button othrwise you get boomy bass.I looked at Onkyo,Yamaha,marantz and dennon before i settled for NAKS.

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None

Strong clear power

multi issues in quality of product

I bought the Nak av-8 in December from Ubid.com. Seems just as the warranty ended, so did many functions of this receiver. The amber LED is now so dim, it cannot be read in any light, the optical inputs do not work from my DVD player, the surround sound speakers outputs offer no sounds. As well, the rear speakers outputs fade in and out. I find now that(too late for me)If you purchase a nak from any other source than a Nak dealer, any and all warrantees are null and void. I would be very weary of buying such an item from this/any online merchant in the future due to the lack of support available if/once the product breaks down. And I once believed that Nakamichi was a dependable line...HA! the joke's on me.

Very clean, warm sound. Lots of power. Very easy to use.

No DTS (not really a weakness since only 5% of software has DTS right?) NO 6 CH. input for future upgradeability

I used to have a Kenwood (piece 'o' garbage), got smart and bought the Nak AV-7. Awesome receiver!!! Anyways, I wanted AC-3, and since I didn't have extra room in the audio cabinet for an outboard decoder, I sold the AV-7 in hopes of getting a decent receiver with Dolby Digital (DTS was just a bonus). Bought the 555, and the sound wasn't bad, but it was a lemon of a receiver. Bought a 575, and it sounded terrible. The sound was so thin, and unfeeling. No bass weight. It was like the Kenwood all over again! Everyone was raving about the Denons, so I thought "Why not give Denon a try?"... What a mistake! Sure, the sound is good in surround, but boy is it DEAD in 2 channel! UGH! I have never heard such a bad sound from a receiver! Got rid of the Denon, and bought the Nakamichi AV-8! Awesome! Just like the 'ole AV-7. After all, I believe they use the same power supply. The sound is sooo warm. Great bass weight, and the treble isn't too bright either. There's so much depth and spaciousness when listening to 2 channel audio. In surround? Lots of power and great detail. Audio panning from channel to channel is also quite excellent! True, the receiver doesn't have DTS, 6 channel input (A BIG fault there), or 8000 surround modes. What it does have? An excellent power supply! Excellent build quality! (except for the RCA inputs on the back coming off - happened on my AV-7, but not on the AV-8).

All in all a great amp! You do get what you pay for, afterall...

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None worth mentioning

This is a great receiver, and the price makes it even more so. Warm, clean sound.

Great clean sound and easy set up.

Remote isn't backlit, big deal

This is a GREAT receiver. For those looking for a pure and clean sounding receiver without all the fancy bells and whistles this is the receiver. I looked long and hard and by far it is the best sounding receiver for the price. I agonized over the AV-10 but in the end I am glad I chose the AV-8. You can't beat the price of $499 at getplugged.com. They are super easy to work with and you will have the receiver at your house 3-5 days after order. Brand new with the manufacturers warranty as well as customer service, tough to beat. I know this sounds like a commercial for Nakimichi and getplugged.com but I was very impressed with both. The only thing lacking is a backlit remote bit that is pretty minor in my eyes.

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Onkyo 787,Nakimichi AV-10 and Denon 3801

sound! especially stereo mode

no DTS

I am very pleased with this purchase from ubid. It seems they're dumping these AV-8's so I suspect Nak is coming out with something newer soon. If you're not convinced you have to have DTS decoding, this will be a tough value to beat.

The AV-8 does everything claimed very well, the stereo and dolby digital modes are particularly clear and natural sounding.

While my Paradigm speakers have a tendancy to be bright woth most amp's, I find them very listenable with the AV-8.

The remote isn't the greatest in the world, but certainly usable, IMO.

The AV-8 can't take a digital input and run prologic decoding on it, a limitation.

It seems to decode the switching between different formats of dolby digital quite well, though. On Fantasia 2000, the various extra tracks are in several different schemes of channels (some stereo other L/R/S) and things worked fine.

It isn't clear in the Nakamichi web page documentation, but the AV-8 does have pre-amp outputs for the 5.1 decoding so it can be used with external amplifiers. It does not, however, have 5.1 preamp in's, so it cannot take the DTS decoded signals from a DVD player with DTS decoding.

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older prologic, store demos of Denon

Great clarity , super surround sound. mid range sounds great. I've been missing this with all the past recievers I have owned!!

Remote doesn't have light up option.

Great reciever, great money value, great with all styles of music. Pushes my Boston Accustics VR30s VR10s VRpro to the MAX!!!

Chris K. sell your JVC and buy the Nachamichi AV8 NOW!
(if Sharon K will let you)

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