I just got my AV-500 less than a week ago ($300 +tax @Best Buy). It is hooked up in stereo mode with two additional full range speakers connected to the subwoofer out (They recieve their amplification from a Yamaha P2100 Power Amp.). I have 1 "subwoofer" far to the back of the room up high and one in front on the floor between the stereo speakers(good speakers). I havent even tried connecting any surround speakers.
I'm no audiophile but this reciever has good clean big sound. The power rating is very conservative--this thing can pump out some serious power; however, I would say that its best feature is to sound really good at low volume levels. There arent a crapload of wierd settings but the subwoofer and the surrounds can be adjusted up or down 10 db.

This is really an old school Dolby Pro-Logic reciever upgraded with individual inputs for the surrounds to make it "Dolby Digital Ready." It is my guess that this is probbably not the best reciever for the 5.1 format (especially because the rear speakers only get 60 watts). However, unlike many of the brand new Dolby Digital and DTS recievers, this one acutally SOUNDS GOOD IN STEREO. I personally am not a big home theatre guy, but don't most of you listen more to music than movies?

PS. I am sick of the phrase "surround sound". It seems like everywhere you go, there is an idiot who cant say a single sentence about music or audio equipment or speakers without uttering the ominous "surround sound". Look, if you are listening to the radio and you have 2 speakers in front and 2 in the back, that is called 4 speakers positioned how you like them (Most car stereos have this kind of setup.); it is not anything but stereo coming out of 4 speakers. This technology was avalable as soon as stereo was invented; it is not something new and exciting, it is STEREO. NO, it is NOT surround sound, it is STEREO. If you are listening to a Tape or a CD it is not surround sound, it is STEREO. STEREO!
...sorry I just had to get that off my chest...

I recently purchased the Nakamichi AV-500 Receiver from a local Best Buy discount store. This was an excellent audio/video purchase! The front left and right speakers of my home theater system consist of a pair of Carver Amazing loudspeakers, Platinum Edition, driven by two Carver Silver 9t MKII monoblock power amplifiers. These amps deliver 550 watts and 900 watts into 8 and 4 ohms, respectively. The Carver Amazings consist of a 5 foot ribbon tranducer with four 12 inch woofers per speaker and they present a difficult load for most amplifiers to drive. It was my intention to use the Nakamichi AV-500 to drive the center channel and the left and right rear channels, while continuing to drive the main Carver speakers through their monoblocks. To my surprise, the Nakamichi AV-500 drove the Carver Amazings with authority! This inspired my technical curiousity and, without a schematic of the receiver, I decided to look inside to see what makes this baby tick. First of all, there is a large and medium-sized transformer pair, which accounts for the receiver's unusally heavy weight of 33 pounds, quite hefty for a receiver in this price-range! The filter capacitors consist of a pair of 10,000 micro-farad capacitors at 80 volts and a pair of 4700 microfarad capacitors at 63 volts. This gave me a good idea of the output transistor rail voltages which must be +/-60 volts D.C. for 120 Watts to the left front, right front and center channels, and +/-30 volts for 50 Watts to the left rear and right rear channels. I then researched the Audio Output Transistors, which consist of 6 Toshiba 2SA1962/2SC4793 transistor pairs, each rated 130 watts at 15 amps and a Vceo of 230 volts. I believe that these output transistors drive the left front, right front and center channels. Also, there are 2 Toshiba 2SA1941/2SC5198 transistor pairs, each rated 100 watts at 10 amps and a Vceo of 140 volts which, in all likelihood, drive the left and right rear channels. All this horsepower provide some insight as to why this receiver drove my "difficult-to-drive" Carver Amazing loudspeakers"! This receiver will have no trouble driving other speakers to their maximum output. The receiver's power consumption is rated as 1090VA or 910 watts, compared to lesser power consumptions of 200 to 450 watts in most other receivers in this price range. This amount of power consumption explains why the power transistors are air cooled, the alternative being large thermal heat sinks for heat dissipation of the output transistors, an expensive design cost alternative. Bottom line, If a recevier claims to have output power, then it must have a robust power supply! The Nakamichi AV-500 has such a power supply! What this receiver does not have a built-in Digital Signal Processor (DSP) for Dolby Digital 5.1 channel audio, found on most DVD disks. However, a number of 2nd-generation DVD players, such as the Panasonic model DVD-A310 and others, have built-in DSP's and will easily interface with this reciver. the Nakamich receiver has a sophisticated "learning" remote control. All 5.1 channels can be individually adjusted with this remote, including the so-called .1 subwoofer channel. The receiver has defeatable tone controls (a feature usually found on receivers over $1000), it has Dolby-Prologic, it accepts up to four video sources and was a pleasure to operate. The Nakamichi AV-500 compares favorably to my $1200 Carver HR895 Pro-Logic receiver with the addition of being Dolby Digital (AC-3) ready and, at a cost of $300, I highly recommend this receiver to anyone who wishes to upgrade to Dolby Pro-Logic and Dolby-Digital 5.1 channel (AC-3).

The deal just keeps on getting better. Best Buy has on sale this week the Nakamichi AV500 for $299. I went back and got the price difference of what I paid $29. Thank God for price gurrenties.

I LOVE music! I also love movies but I've never found a receiver that sounded great with music and was within my budget(cheap). After living with the Nakamichi AV-500 for a couple of months I had to put in my two cents worth.
The system I put together with the Nak had to be cheap, had to sound great on music, had to be cheap, had to allow me to upgrade to Dolby Digital, had to be cheap and lastly, had to be cheap.

I paired the Nak(279.00@Best Buy) with an AMC CD9 CD player(199.00 mail-order@the Audio Advisor) and three Sound Dynamics THC-2 speakers(150.00 each at the Audio Advisor). This system with no discounts would cost over 1600.00 and would still be a terrific bargin. At the under $1000.00 that I spent it is nothing short of miraculous.

The Nak has what I consider to be the best amp section that can be purchased today for under $1000.00(the good thing is it's WAY under). I've paired it with 3 different speaker systems at three different price points and each time it has made the speakers sound better than I've ever heard them. I've yet to hear what the Nak is truely capable of because I can't afford speakers that good.

I'm embarrased to say so, but I even hooked up some old Realistic Minimus 7s to the Nak and I was startled at the quality of music that was being reproduced.

Regardless of the speakers used, you get a tremendously dynamic performance with wide imaging and a realism that I've not heard short of the Linn Classik/Tucan combination($2500.00 and stereo only). Sure the subtleties are better with the Linn but its not as powerful a reproduction as the Nak/AMC/SoundDynamics combo and any negative difference is so minimal its quickly forgotten. It's deep(usable bass to 35Hz), has rich almost lush midrange, and crystal clear and sweet highs. And above all it's clean, clean, clean. No it's not the best reproduced music in the world. But, it's good enough to make you wonder why anyone would spend a penny more. This is true hi-end sound at a laughably low price!

If you've ever thought, as I have, that you couldn't get the kind of music reproduction that you longed for because you couldn't scrape together more than $1000.00 your in for a really sweet surprise.

Some have said in these reviews that the AV-500 was an ugly duckling. I agree, but turn it on and it becomes a beautiful swan!

This is the sleeper of the year. I have owned in chronological order- a NAD amp, Carver receiver, Sony STRde715. The Nak is cheaper than all of them and by far sounds the best. The sound is clean, dynamic, clear. I have mostly listened to music and some movies in prologic. I have yet to need to turn it past 10 o'clock to get it as loud as I can stand in my relatively large living room for any program source. anyone who is looking for an a/v receiver in this price range has got to listen to this thing, and for 279, it is a steal!

I just got back from Best Buy with the deal of the century. While I normally wouldn't consider BB to be a purveyor of fine audio gear, I was able to pick up their last Nak AV-500,a floor model, for an UNBELIEVABLE $184.60!!!!!!!!! They also threw in a 4 year warranty for only $29.95!!! Needless to say, this has got to be the best money I ever spent. If this NAK was selling for $800, I would consider it a bargain, but $184.60, that's truely incredible.
Get one before they are all gone, The sales manager told me that NAK is going out of business (YEAH,RIGHT...)so they want to liquidate any remaining stock. The sound quality and the power from this unit are truely amazing. I replaced a Sony STR-de825 and can't believe the differance in quality and ease of use with the NAK. The Sony was complicated and lacked the realism the Nak has.

GET ONE IF YOU CAN!!!!

best buy is good for something and it goes by the name of nakamichi av-500 i just got it hooked it up to my NHT SuperOnes and chilled out for a long time it sounds dynamite and as soon as i can afford it I will get the rest of the speakers and watch Appocalypse Now, Jaws, Saturday Night Fever, Goodfellas and Thunderheart then i will have to tell every one how it went. ps I'm listening to Aja by steely dan and it is delta

I keep trying to get an A/V reciever that does it all,but have yet to find one under $700.I was intriged by the Nak AV 500 and got it at BestBuy for $260.I have had a Yamaha 905,Sony STR 925,and a Pioneer VX907S to compare it to.For the money this Nak blows them away for sound quality and has a simple remote.Of course this unit is barely a DD ready reciever,so you get what you pay for(no coaxial inputs,etc.)so I might just use it for stereo and get a cheap Kenwood Vr206 for the Dolby Digital.Has anyone hooked up a DD processer to this Nak yet? My last chance at not keeping this unit is trying out a Denon 3200($579.refurb).in an attempt at an all in one.Oh,and I like the older look and larger fonts on the faceplate.They won't be making them like this Nak much longer!

I am no audiophile or anything but this reciver is very good i got it for $280 at bb. some people say this reciver is not a replica of the av-1 well its not! its got alot of the same things amp,resistors ect but it is missing the patend "hta" design.i herd the av-1 and they sound very simmilar.the only thing i hate about it is the way this reciver looks it is the ugliest reciver u could posibly find anywhere i dont know about you guys but mine is in a rack so you cant see it! i have it hooked up to dcm kx 10 series two speakers. i can rattle everything in my house not even at 10 o'clock with the learing remote this is a great buy!!!!!!!the front in stereo (left/right) is rated at 120w x 2 and in prologic 120x3 and 60x2 for the rear. you may consider this amp to be high current because of its 25 amps peak that is impressive. i looked on the market for about a year and this is the best!nothing can beet it buy it befor its goon!

Picked this unit up at Best Buy the other day after some reviews on this site.I currently have a Marantz RS3557 receiver which is very powerful but not Pro-Logic or Dolby Digital ready, which I wanted to get into. I also tried a Sherwood R725 which is supposed to have 165 watts/channel prior to the Nakamichi. The Sherwood, while not a bad unit, was a disappointment in audio quaility compared to the Marantz--bass not as tight or defined, less imaging and soundstage, hum from main and surround speakers. Well, that brings me to the Nakamichi. Right away, this unit impressed me. While it does not have S-video switching or pre-outs and main-ins, the audio quality on music was clearly superior to either of the above units. This is a very revealing amplifier not unlike much high-end equipment in that respect. On some poor quality FM broadcasts and VHS tapes the sound is a little bright and strident, but on CD's and Laserdisc the sound is remarkable. The bass is as tight as with the Marantz but more defined. There is a much clearer soundstage and imaging of instruments and voices. Vocals and instruments seem suspended in space in front of you. Instruments are recognized by their accoustic signatures more naturally than the other receivers. On Dolby Pro-Logic encoded laserdiscs, the surround performance seems excellent. Also, there is no audible hum or hiss from either the main or surround speakers, unlike the Sherwood. There is a "tone out" button by which the tone controls can be bypassed. The tuner seems fine to me with a nice signal strength meter for antenna adjustment. There isno phono input although there is an aux input which could be used for this. The DVD input button can be pressed again and then it becomes the DVD/5.1 input. If you have a DVD player without a Dolby Digital decoder you just connect the analogue output to the DVD front left and right inputs. If you get a Dolby Digital DVD player or a decoder, you then connect the front left and right outputs to the same inputs on the receiver and connect the rears, center, and subwoofer to the marked inputs on the receiver. You then push the DVD input button once more and it becomes, "DVD 5.1" and you have discrete channels. The surround, center, and subwoofer levels can be adjusted from the learning remote control. In 5.1 mode, the rear left and right levels can be adjusted independently. In Pro-Logic mode test tones can be played from the remote and adjusted. There are two power transformers in this unit, one for the front channels and one for the rears. A look inside(although I am not a technician) seems to reveal separate output capacitors for the front and rear channels. This Best Buy unit seems to be remarkably similar to the Nakamichi AV 1S model on their website in specs including dimensions and weight. I believe this is a "fast" amplifier from listening to the "attack" on transients such as drums and other percussive instruments.
Overall, I give this model a 4-star rating. However, for its $299 price, it has to rate a 5 if your primary concern is audio quality.