Excellent mini-system on a budget, expecially for a small to medium sized room. Good sound quality.

The remote is a little big.

I recently purchased this system off ebay for a fairly good price. I have been using it for over 3 months now, and I can say that I am very satisfied with the sound and the look of this system. They certainly don't make mini-systems like this one anymore. I don't understand why some previous posters posted that the sound from this system is only so so. These are rear ported speakers. You have to keep these speakers a certain distance from the back wall in order to obtain clear sound. If you place these speakers closer to the rear wall, you do get better bass, however, that is at the expense of sound quality. Anyway, I keep my system on atop a bookshelp, about half a feet away from the rear wall, and the sound is amazing. They go quite low if you turn on the bass boost feature.

Similar Products Used:

Mini-systems made by JBL, Yamaha, Sony, etc.

The NV-500 provides stunning sound no matter what I'm listening to (or watching)
I have it hooked up to my TV in my bedroom, and a portable
DVD player -- and it's great. The remote control sits on the
top of the unit, making it easy to find and it's also very easy
to use.

No DVD

I'd recommend this piece to anyone looking for an out-of-the ordinary yet functional "entertainment system". It fits right into my bedroom entertainment system and It rocks!

Similar Products Used:

Aiwa, Pioneer,

I got this system for my bedroom, i live in a big apartment with 3 others. I also bought a little bass cube 8 at cambridge sound works($125) clearance and the guy also hooked me up with some free cable! I have had the system for a couple of months now and love it. I have it hooked up with my DVD and VCR which both work okay with it too. The sub helps out a lot, it lets you hear a little more music and puts out a tighter sound. It isn't a component system but it is great for small/maybe even medium size rooms.I definitely recommend this system to anyone on a really tight budget or just need an extra system for your bedroom like me.

Good value overall

The sounfield is not wide. With two only a woofer and a tweater, the trebble sounds weak at times. I would recommend purchasing an extra subwoofer.

I don't think the dolby virtual surround built into the system uses digital data for sound manipulation. For some of the vocal CDs I own, I can some audible distortions (well, I guess the sounds on those CDs do reach the extremes of audible frequencies...).

Anyway, except for the narrow soundfield, sometimes weak trebble, this is a find system.

I only wish Kenwood would have built in a charger for the remote control batteries.

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Cosmetics, remote that can control your other electronics, Dolby virtual surround, cassette deck with Dolby B noise reduction

Awful speakers, cheap amplifier section, noisy CD transport

This is strictly mid-quality mid-fi, a step up from the 10% THD, 10,000 flashing lights, Aiwa, Sony, Panasonic, etc. total garbage minisystems out there, but really no great shakes sound-wise. To get anything approaching good quality sound, you'll need to replace the speakers and/or add a subwoofer. But for the price you're talking to do this, you're far better off buying better quality right off the bat (wish I did).
On the positive side, this thing looks really great and features a remote that will seemingly control the entire world. The Dolby virtual surround is also a plus, but only for TV and movie soundtracks.
I'd cautiously recommend this to someone looking for an all-in-one home theater/stereo system that looks good and is convenient. However, if you're more concerned with sound quality than cosmetics and features, look elsewhere.

futuristic looks

see below

I reviewed this system about a year ago. Now with a year's worth of experience, I have some more to add.

This model is discontinued, so I guess it doesn't matter much anymore.

Anyway, aside from the futuristic looks, the sound quality is at best average, narrow sound stage, the sound just doesn't open up very well, unless you crank up the volume really high, in which case my neighbors would be calling the police. The dolby virtual surround is okay with average recordings, but fails miserably with some vocal cds. I guess the virtual surround algorithm is just incompatible with really high frequencies and very low bass frequencies. I can hear crackling distortions very clearly on some Celine Dion and Enya CDs. And when I play a CD with over emphasis in both the trebble and bass regions, with the virtual surround on, the result is just miserable, I almost felt the speakers shaking from the amount of distortion produced.

I don't know if it is the speakers or the system itself. Most of the time I leave the surround option off.

And the LCD remote is really cluncky, and the batteries don't last very long.

And has anyone actually tried to use the system without the remote? Impossible to use, because for the CD player, there are no forward and reverse buttons on the set itself. So if the remote breaks down, I guess we are stuck.

I tested out some yamaha mini systems, they give a tighter, cleaner sound, and ymersion is much more realistic compared to dolby virtual surround.

I am switching to a different system one of these days.

Similar Products Used:

tested yamaha mini system

look, look and guess what... look

where is the bass on this poor litle thing

to have a good sound coming out of this litle baby u need a sub... i buy the kenwood sw-303 and i'm happy whit it...

but beside sound it's one of the most beautiful thing I ever see!

Crisp sound, great design

CD text - where is it?

I appreciate the system's qualities - it has a great depth of sound. Some features are appealing but useless - i.e CD text. I have over a hundred CD's and not one shows on the display. Does anyone else have this problem? Other than a tricky tuner radio station storage system it is very easy to use. Always a talking point. Very impressive suuround sound (virtual) but pretty poor DSP modes.

The NV 500 is a great system with a superb remote. The sound is crisp and clear and the the speakers handle the added bass and treble you can add very well indeed. The remote can be used not only for the system but can also control the basic functions upon your TV, Video player and DVD player. The system also looks great.

The remote can't be used upon certain makes of TV, Video or DVD players. If you are going to buy the NV500 I would recommend that you ensure the remote can control your brand of TV, Video and DVD player because when you've used the remote you won't want to pick up another.

Looks and sounds superb with a great remote. Yes the remotes batteries won't last for long and yes you have to check that it can control your other electrical goods but apart from that the system packs a huge punch, great bass and a realistic dolby surround sound system.

In summary if your looking for a small system with a great remote choose the nv500

I just got this system a few days ago, and get more impressed the more i listen to it. I had to return my kenwood xda-81 and listen to this one which was leagues better. The sound is very crisp and it reproduces sounds as well as most component systems. I think this system was geared more torwards the older crowd as most mini-systems these days seem to all be in competition for who can get the most features and bass,bass,bass for the least amount of money, and if you think about it the companies must be sacrificing something-proformance/sound quality/speaker quality... The nv-500 is pretty stripped down but i guess when the focus is primarly on proformance that is what you get. anyway don't take my opinion do some real research and go out with some cds and really listen.
Overall this system basically proforms like a component system and has basically the same technology. I don't like the fact they used sping clips for the system as it does it no justice. I would suggest on spending a couple extra dollars to get some nice speaker wire to compliment the system and get rid of that free crap they give you. Also go get some rechargeable batteries. It also has a sub-preout for all you bass craving fans. I hoped this helped, as i learned my leason on buying one of those mass-produced feature pact how much bass can I have systems!