Nakamichi AV-1 (1988)

Name: Nakamichi AV-1
Brand: Nakamichi

The Nakamichi AV-1 was the company's first audio/video receiver. It came out in 1988 at a German street price of DM 1.798. It was a big unit at 434 x 150 x 341 mm and 10.4 kg, built to handle both music and home theater.

The amplifier section was generous for its day. It was rated at 2 x 100 watts continuous into 8 ohms and 2 x 130 watts into 4 ohms. Dynamic music power was 2 x 140 watts (8 ohms) and 2 x 180 watts (4 ohms). Power consumption was rated at 330 watts. The video side took composite and S-VHS inputs for three video sources plus a laserdisc input, with video frequency response out to 10 MHz. Audio inputs were phono, tuner, aux, and the same video-source assignments. Sound field modes were Simulated Stereo, Hall, Dolby, and Dolby ProLogic.

HiFI-Stereo (December 1992, p.21) noted the AV-1 as Nakamichi's first audio/video receiver, confirming its Dolby Pro Logic decoding with adjustable surround-channel delay and the 100-watt front channel ratings. A later HiFI-Stereo test report (July 1993, p.46) described using the AV-1 in a full five-channel configuration and praised its "learning" remote capabilities.

Owner reviews from the period are very enthusiastic. One German user called it "absolutely recommended" and still among the best receivers for both film and music. He claimed to have heard a comparable blend of musicality and cinema effects only in high-end gear since. Another called it "an AV receiver of a different kind" - expensive, but built for demanding listeners.

Little else is documented. No THD, signal-to-noise, or damping factor figures have surfaced, and details on the tuner section, remote control, and front-panel features remain unrecorded in the available sources. What the record does show is a company known for cassette decks applying its engineering standards to the home theater receiver — and doing so with enough success that owners still speak of it decades later.