Unbelievable sound quality
Ease of use

Dolby Digital lock problem on certain DVD's

Jacks can and will pull out.

This might be the best kept secret in affordable audio. The sound truly blows away the Denon, which is now relegated to the bedroom. However, it is not perfect. On several New Line Platinum Series DVD'S, the reciever will fall out of DD lock resulting in a loud crackling sound. Unfortunately, The Wall DVD suffers from this malady as well. Also, DO NOT USE MONSTER TURBINE RCA's if not pulled out carefully there is a sporting chance that it will pull out the jack. Also,
it would have been swell if it had an auto detect function b/w digital & analog. However, nothing near this price will sound as good. Enjoy.

Similar Products Used:

Denon 2800
HK 75
Onkyo 636

PRICE! AMP AMP AMP

None!

This nothing but a steal at ubid for under $400. Just buy it for the amp but I like products that are basic with not a lot of crap that nobody never uses. If the most important thing to you is sound quailty this is the warmest reciever I have ever heard.

Similar Products Used:

Acurus
Adocom

Classic Nak warmth, ease of use, well lit front panel, appearance

Remote is not backlit.

I purchased this unit from Ubid last fall. Unlike the previous post, I have had zero problems with this unit. However, one should be careful when purchasing products from ubid. They tend to sell a lot of refurbished product, which I tend to stay away from. They also state on the web site that some products are NOT covered by factory warranties. Buyer beware.
On to the unit. Plenty of clean power to my Cambridge Tower II's. Classic Nak warmth, which I have experienced for over twelve years with my SR3A two channel receiver. Flawlessly decodes Dolby Digital and Pro Logic sources. Plenty of punch to rear speakers for nice surround sound.
Provides three usable DSP modes. No gimmicks and no unneccesary bells and whistles. No DSP. Do we care about DSP? No. Added bonus: This is great looking unit, with nice warm orange LED's. Not the cold ice blue LED's that other manufacturers seem to prefer... LOL
Very happy with this purchase and would recommend it to anyone. Unfortunately this unit is discontinued. Fortunately for those of you in the market for some new gear, Nak is coming out with a new model. Might be worth waiting for.

Similar Products Used:

Nakamichi SR3A, yamaha RVX 690

renowned warmth of nak products!

No DTS on board. Inability to auto detect analog/digital signals.

This is one great sounding receiver. Was using av-3s earlier and thought of upgrading it. Read a lot of glowing reviews of denon avr-3300 and so went ahead and bought it. And god, did I make a mistake???? The sound was dead! The woofers went to sleep!! There was no warmth at all! After listening to a nak earlier I was distinctly uncomfortable with it. So I returned the denon and bought the av-8 instead. And by god, this sounds even better than my earlier nak!
Only complaint is that it doesn't have DTS on board...but it isn't much of a problem with most of the DVDs being DD. It looks great....with no unwanted bells and whistles. Though I wish it had the denon's 5ch stereo. I solved that to a certain extent by hooking up my rear speakers as my B speakers and running both A and B connections together!

5 full stars for value and performance!!!

Similar Products Used:

Denon 3300, Nak av-3s

I have been the owner of a Nak AV-8 for about 6 weeks. The overall sound quality of this receiver truly distinguishes it from the Denons and Yamahas. Before this receiver I had experimented with both Yamaha and Denon and was prepared to purchase the Denon AVR-2800. The Nak's crisp and detailed sound in combination with its simple music surround modes make for the best overall music experience I have encountered. Each surround mode is clearly useful with no overly exagerated DSP. The "Natural" mode provides an excellent 3-D effect which in my opinion is superior to Denon's 5-CH stereo.
Its true this receiver lacks DTS, but so what? DTS is more of a novelty to be shown off to friends with the few dozen discs that are available. The only thing his receiver lacks is a 6-channel analog input for future formats like DVD-Audio.

For me, however, the usefulness of this receiver with standard formats like CD far overshadow anything this receiver lacks.

Two thumbs up!

Clean Sound

None worth mentioning

Having spent a small fortune on my new home theatre and thinking my higher end components would do the audio for now, a friend recommended a special clear out of the AV8 which could do the job for now for Dolby Digital tasks and then suffice as a receiver somewhere else in the house later .

This sounded logical so I went for it and what a surprise!!!. Realistically, my Bryston and Linn set up is still superior for pure audio, but the system flexibility this unit offered with plenty of inputs/outputs and excellent Dolby Digital sound was a very pleasant surprise!. On a price / performance basis, this unit really shines!.

What really surprised me was the robust amplification performance. This may occur since I only run 3 of the 5 channels in DD mode (the Brystons power the 2 front mains); nonetheless, it offered far more performance and quality than I expected. Demanding tracks in Swordfish and Pearl Harbor were handling flawlessly which again for what I paid, I expected far less!. Since the AV8 also offers output jacks and it's entry price point was so attractive versus other high end AV pre-amp setups, I was prepared to purchase the Bryston 5BST 3 channel amplifier and still come out shining but frankly, there was no need!!!.

The power supply in this unit is obviously solid since it wouldn't flinch no matter how much I pushed it. This includes solid, non distorted sound during demanding tracks and the display panel remained consistently lit (no blinking lights when the unit is working hard). Again, you would expect this in higher priced units but not for an entry level AV Receiver!.

The AV8 has truly made a difference to the my home theatre and I'm glad my friend pointed out the benefits of Dolby Digital versus a temporary phantom surround mode. I'm so pleased with this unit that it just may have a longer life within my home theatre confines versus being put to pasture in the family room.

Well done Nakamichi!!!

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha

Good Sound

Worst manufacturer support I have encountered.

I have multiple problems with two Nakimichi components (receiver and cassette deck) due to a recent move. I believe the movers were less than friendly with my components. I have no other complaints regarding the equipment itself, however....

After multiple emails and voicemails (at least 5 each), over a six week period, to multiple individuals at Nakamichi and two local Nakamichi dealers, I have yet to receive any response. Not one return phone call or email.

Compared to the excellent service I receive from companies like Definitive and Phase Technology, it's no wonder Nakamichi is falling behind. I will never buy another Nakimichi component.

W-A-R-M-T-H. Very Musical

no DTS, no 6ch input. Remote

This is my second review for this receiver. After a few months of writing my first review, I sold the nak av-8, to upgrade to DTS. I bought onkyo and then returned it. Sounded very weak musically. Then I bought marantz....again I returned it for I could not get used to the thin sounding receiver. The same happened with denon. Then I thought I had enough of mid-fi receivers and went for the big daddy of them all....Sony STRDA777ES. Its good, but when i sat to listen to the music, I cud only see the thousand odd dollars I had spent on the receiver, rather than concentrate on music!! It was a strict case of overkill. Sony was definitely very clean, powerful and everything. But still I decided to sell it and downgrade . I bought the sony STRDA333ES for $339 (open box @ tweeter). Big mistake. It sounded aweful. Very electronic, processed kind of sound. Two channel was a torture. So I returned this within a week. Now this obession of mine, trying to find a budget receiver that sounded great on a two channel was reaching gigantic proportions. So then finally like a prodigal son, I decided to buy the nak back from my friend to whom I had initially sold it. But apparently he was wiser...he refused to sell it !! :( So in desperation I looked everywhere but could not find it, as they were discontinued. (Looks like nakamichi is coming out with a new model....any info on this one?)
So finally i decided to try getplugged.com. But even these guys had run out of them. But (god bless them!) they had a couple of open items. I immedietly ordered one for $429 + $18(shipping). I can now rest in peace. No more upgrades....they simply are not worth it. I have a pair of infinity sm-115 monitors that are ultra efficient. They might be huge and large unlike the sleek ones you see around, but they sound much much better than most of them. I simply cannot justify paying 5-6 times more to get abt the same performance.
So no speaker upgrade, no receiver upgrade. So what if av-8 doesn't have DTS, 99% of the dvds out there are in DD. The two channel is exceptional in av-8. Just too good to be true. I appreciate this all the more after having gone through all those receivers out there. My entire setup costs a little more than $1500. They include
Sony DVPS7700
Nak AV-8
JVC VCR
Infinity SM-115 (main)
Infinity SM-Video (center)
Sony 27" TV

I really cannot ask for anything more. Three cheers for getplugged.com, they were very helpful, quick and courteous. Will surely do bussiness with them again. But some of the their prices are atrocious...

Similar Products Used:

marantz 7000/8000, onkyo575x/989, integra5.1/7.1, sony es 333/777, denon 3300/2801

I RECENTLYPURCHASED THE NAK AV-8 ANYBODY THAT ENJOYS LISTENING TO MUSIC WILL LOVE THIS RECEIVER ,THE BASS RESPONSE IS EXELLENT AND THE DETAILED SOUND IS INCREDIBLE. THE RECEIVER DOES LACK DTS BUT THE DOLBY DIGITAL RESPONSE IS VERY CLEAN AND POWERFULL. THE POWER ON THIS BLUE COLLAR WORKHORSE IS 80WX5, OR 100X2 ATANY RATE THIS IS AGREAT MACHINE BUILT FOR SOMEONE WHO DOSEN`T CARE ABOUT BUTTONS AND FRILLS, THIS IS JUST MADE TO KNOCK YOU BACK IN YOUR SEAT. I OWNED THE AV-2 BEFORE THIS ONE AND THIS ANIMAL ABSOLUTELY BLOWS IT AWAY. I PAID 670.00 FOR THIS AND I CONSIDER IT AN EXELLENT BUY FOR ANY ONE THAT APPRECIATES A GREAT SOUNDING RECEIVER. THROW IN THE MB-10 CD PLAYER AND YOU WILL BE FLOORED AT WHAT A SETUP YOU CAN GET FOR A LITTLE OVER A GRAND.

Wow. When I heard this receiver at the store, I was blown away. And now that I've taken it home, it brought my old Boston A120 speakers back to life. It replaced a Denon AVR-2700 receiver and this sounds considerably better. It has more bass than the Denon and the highs are not as shrilling. Absolutely zero listening fatigue.
It has all the features I need, and none that I don't. The sound is forward and clean, but not overpowering. It's a breeze to setup and uncomplicated to use. I'd recommend this to anyone to wants Dolby Digital for a good price.