Wonderful Compromise
Written: Aug 07 '00 (Updated Aug 14 '00)
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Pros: Wonderful sound
Cons: Fan is loud
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| simplemoney's Full Review: Nakamichi AV-10 |
I wanted to buy seperate components (amp, tuner, pre-amp), but with a budget of just under $1,000 I turned my attention toward receivers.
After reading glowing reviews of the Nakamichi AV-10, Denon 3300, Marantz 8000, Onkyo TX-DS777, Pioneer Elite VSX-26TX, and Sony STR-DA777ES, I decided to go on a listening tour and found a high-end audio store that carried all but the Pioneer. I went on a weekday during the day when I knew it would be slow and got the salesman's undivided attention.
It took about two minutes of listening before I eliminated the Sony and Onkyo from my list. I then matched the Denon against the Marantz and found the two units sounded very refined. The Denon was just slightly more composed than the Marantz in the highs. This was not a quick listen, even though the Sony and Onkyo lasted about as long as a Mike Tyson fight, I listened to the Denon and Marantz for nearly ninety minutes. After deciding on the Denon, I put it up against the Nakamichi.
The two units sound different. Without question the Denon was just a bit smoother in the midrange - while not a huge difference, it was noticeable. The Nakamichi had a much tighter and stronger low end range. It could handle the bass and drums far better and was less apt to drop out during a rapid succession of a powerful bass solo.
At this point, about two hours of listening to the two, I was leaning towards the Nakamichi, but the Denon had a nicer remote control and a few more features. I composed myself and reminded myself that I was going to buy the best sounding unit, unless a feature was signficant (like optical inputs vs no optical inputs). I walked out with the Nakamichi and haven't regretted it for a second.
I will note that anyone who buys the Marantz or the Denon are getting fine machines and this was no means a slam dunk decision.
A final word of caution - some review sites have mentioned the AV-10's fan is too loud. They are in fact correct - if you turn the unit on and put the volume to zero you will hear the fan if you are within five feet of the unit. This did not affect my decision because even though I listen to a lot of classical music (with lots of quiet moments), I am never within ten feet of the unit. If for some reason you will be very close to this unit while listening to it, I would recommend looking at the Marantz or Denon. I didn't listen to any Rotel's, but I've heard great things about them as well.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 875
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