Well, the sound is excellent. It seems to be a really generous 100W compared to others in this price range. Nice and simple (home theater + DSP...whatever!). A bargain price (I paid $279 from Alpha Sound, aka ABC Hifi -- NOT WORTH THE SAVINGS! THESE PEOPLE ARE A**HOLES FROM H*LL! If you decide to order from them, PLEASE read the postings for them at audiosurvey.com first (wish I had) -- they are shocking but accurate. I feel lucky to have received anything from them, and had to threaten legal action, etc. They lie, lie, lie! Great price though), even at the full MSRP of $599 or whatever it is.
Anyway, this is a great unit. Here are my gripes (all minor):

1) the fan. Why a fan, and not just fins? The fan is very quiet for a fan, but it is audible (but not w/ music playing at anything but very, very low volume).

2) the remote. IMO, it is a lame marketing scheme to put controls for a Nak cd player + tape deck on there (2 things I don't + won't have). Is that really going to sway anyone's decision? Instead, howzabout putting the rest of the controls for the RE-10 on there (loudness, tone defeat, bass + treble maybe)??? If you want it all on 1, you can always buy an aftermarket "learning" remote.

3) the loudness circuit. A bit heavy-handed -- adds too much bass for anything but really low volume. Usually have to compensate w/ the bass control.

4) the display. Too dim -- nice if it were adjustable or just brighter. Also, hard to read from off-angles.

5) I/O. Would be really nice if there were 2 tape ins + outs instead of just 1. Could use them for sending analog to my CD-R deck -- gotta switch the cables now. Also, a phono input/preamp would be nice (now that I have the CD-R, I am finally phasing out the vinyl for good, but I need to burn copies of some LP's first, and I will need to use my old amp for that).

So, axe 1 star for these idiosyncrasies, but don't get me wrong...this is a GREAT unit. If all you need is a 2-channel receiver, this is likely the best for the $$$. Sounds noticably more solid than anything I've heard by Yamaha, Sony, etc. Plenty of power. Operation is way smooth. Switching (power + all others) is absolutely silent. Looks good too.

I found the RE-10 to be a very good buy for the performance, but I ended up returning the receiver for one unfortunate reason: the fan.I found the fan noise to be annoying in two areas: listening to quiet classical passages and the noise in general with the unit in idle. Audible noise from approximatly ten feet away. I could not live with that. Excellant unit, but I am giving it a three for the fan, which caused me to return the receiver.

I ave been looking at new audio products to update my system of 10 year or older components. I have been very dissapointed at many present day amplifiers & recievers as to my ears, they just don't have the bass that many amps used to have. Some makes & models no longer have a Loudness Contour Control of any kind while others use a mid-range attenuator falsely labeled as a loudness control.I am not interested in surround sound or Home Theater, just a good easy to use 2 channel stereo amplifier. Quite by accident I found the Nakamichi RE-10 at a local audio dealer who understood my requirements.
The printed specifications indicated that the RE-10 should give me the Bass that I enjoy. It has a "Real" Loudness button that boosts both Bass & treble to my liking. I don't like overcluttered control panels nor do I like the push & hold a button and wait for an electronic counter to make the desired changes in bass, treble, balance etc. There are times where I require instantanious changes. The Nakamichi control panel was the absolute Perfect layout with what I consider to be real bass, treble, balance & volume controls. The layout is simple, fully functional which goes along with the practical size of the unit. The weight of the unit indicates a good sized power transformer which I consider essential for pushing power at the lower frequencies. The overall response curve of this unit seems flatter than that of what I had been using. It sounds as if it is giving me equal amounts of Bass, Midrange & Treble. I do find the fan and the lack of a M M Phono input a slight drawback but not enough to prevent me from buying a second RE-10 in the near future. I use multiple amplifiers in my system and before replacing them all i want to find the one that does what I want, the way I want, and something that pleases me. I think the RE-10 is the unit I have been searching for. I have tried units cosing more than twice the price and those costing half the price. My prime concern was having a Loudness Contour Control that really works and the Nakamichi RE-10 has it.

Power amplifier is excellent, Tuner is also excellent, Overall design is very good!

No phono stage, no bass EQ, only 1 tape loop.

I purchased the Nakamichi RE-10 after I purchased a Onkyo TX-8511 Receiver. I'm very pleased with both but think the Nakamichi has a little more kick & bass extension. The Onkyo has a phono stage as well as 2 tape loops which I find very useful. Neither has a Bass EQ feature which I always found useful on my NAD, sometimes there's not enough bass extension on flat but too much when a loudness control is used. I don't hear any fan noise what so ever, maybe they had complaints with the older models and changed it. All in all I find it to be a great product at a very good price, I've owned seperates in the past that didn't sound nearly as good as this receiver! I would have rated it a 5 all the way around if it had the other features otherwise I'm very happy!!!

Similar Products Used:

NAD, Carver, Denon

This amp is a simple looking, solid, well designed amp with plenty of power.Good response at both the ends of the audio spectrum.

None. Fan dosn't seem to be a bother - a non-issue.

Till recently I was using a Marantz integerated amp PM 57 (50 Watts rms)but its performance left much to be desired.
The marantz amp no doubt had an excellent stereo imaging but the power output was meagre and the bass response was almost non-existant - it had a brighter response and one felt a need for an equalizer.

This led me to sell it and go for the Nak RE-10. The Nak brought a sea change in my listening experience - the lows, highs and mid-range all came out well and gave me hours of listening pleasure without any fatigue. The bass is tight and without any distortion. The power is unlimited and for my midsize room, I hardly go above the 10 o'clock. The contour(loudness) switch boosts the lows and highs appreciably and is a pleasure at low listening volumes. Overall a great amp with good looks, sturdy design and excellent audio quality - a winner all the way . Recommended for 2-channel stereo lovers.

A no-nonsense amp with less frills but sufficient features and good value for money. Well done Nakamichi.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Philips

The sound

The remote control.- Selection of mode & stations has to be done "by ear", unless you are just a few feet from the receiver.- The fan doesn't bother me, for its noise level is very, very, low in my unit.

Except for the difficult to read (even from a short distance) display and the lack of a more logical and more useful control, I am very satisfied with the RE-10.- Sound is what matters in the end, and that of this receiver is excellent.

Similar Products Used:

It replaced Adcom's tuner/preamplifier & amplifier with BIG sound improvement.- Had Nakamichi's previous stereo receiver, 730, about 10 years ago; I prefer the sound of the RE-10.

sound quality

no backlighting for controls

I was searching for a stereo amp to replace my 20 year old Yamaha R-1000 and discovered, your really limited these days because everyone whats to sell A/V bulls_ _t. I had no interest in A/V only music so why pay for all the gingerbread you don't use. I checked out the new Yamahas, NAD, and the NAK. The Yamaha was only 85 wpc and I was looking for more. The NAD was nice, but I got the better deal on the NAK. I have been thrilled with it since the day I broout it home. The mids and highs out of my Klipsch Cornwalls are so much better than my old Yamaha. I like the loudness as it really works to boost the bass at low volume. I wasn't thrilled, however with the bass performance as it seemed boomy as compared to the old unit. I recently replaceed my CD player with a Cambrridge Audio D500 SE and realized the boomy bass was a result of my old Yamaha CD player and not the NAK. The combination I have now is great. I can't wait to crank it up, and anyone familiar with Klipsch Hertige speakers will know what I'm taking about. The Nak drives them great at any volume. There is virtually no hiss out of the compression drivers with no signal applied. Overall it is a very good receiver. I do wish it had somesort of backlighting for the controls as I listen to music alot in the dark.I always run the Cornwalls flat, so the tone defeat feature is a plus.If your looking for a no frills, great amp, consider the NAK. I love it.

Similar Products Used:

yamaha, marantz,Pioneer

Flexibilty-add DVD,VIDEO etc,excellent remote with volume control.Smooth operation-high build quality

Manual is a bit light on.

Needed a gutsy amp to drive my new NHT 2.5i speakers.Was looking for a suitable Rotel pre-power combo.The look and lack of flexibility of the rotel put me off.Also looked at NAD but they are quite expensive now.The RE10 has plenty of dynamic ability and drives the nht easily.The fan never bothers me(I find it almost inaudible).RDS on the tuner is a bonus,hasnt taken off here yet,a few fm stations are trialing at the moment.Loudness button is useful for videos and some dvds.I find not needed for cds.$950 Australian is good value for an amp with real sonic ability and musical insight.

Value, power.

None, suits my purpose.

The RE-10 really brought out the best in my Infinity RS 2000.6 speakers. I paid $399 from the military PX catalog and found it to be more solid and dynamic than either of the Yamaha standard or A/V receivers that I used to own.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Carver.