Good Stereo Receiver for Less Than $200
Written: Mar 20 '01
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Pros: reasonable price, name brand quality
Cons: difficult to setup, some annoying quirky behaviors
The Bottom Line: While this is not the receiver for serious audiophiles, it would be great for many family rooms. Numerous inputs and features will make this a popular product.
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| Cornell2000's Full Review: Aiwa AV-D57 5.1 Channels Receiver |
This is one of the first Dolby Digital receivers I have ever seen that has been priced so inexpensively. It also is very good looking with its high quality aluminum and plastic construction; it is also rather heavy at over 20 pounds. I am very impressed with the quality of the sound created by this unit in all of its modes of operation. Even the 2-channel stereo mode sounds very good. Audiophiles may be quick to criticize this receiver's relatively low maximum power but it is fine for most home uses and I rarely exceed the midpoint on the volume scale. If you need more power, there are other AIWA receivers with the same features and more juice, including the AV-D67 and AV-D77.
One feature of AIWA equipment that I love is the abundance of options and inputs. This unit is no exception. You can connect a CD player, tape deck, cable converter, VCR, DVD player, and a turntable to this unit and still have a few inputs to spare. There is even a set of front inputs that is great for connecting a camcorder or second VCR for tape-dubbing. My digital cable box, Scientific Atlanta's Explorer 2000, has the AC-3 output jack and works very nicely with this receiver.
If you are purchasing this receiver as an upgrade to an old one or as a replacement of one that broke a while ago, you should check that your speaker system will be able to handle this receiver. You will need 8-ohm speakers or better.
My biggest complaint about this unit is the remote. It is very large, but the buttons are very small. Some functions on the remote are accessed by holding down a "Shift" button and hitting another key, making it difficult to use the remote with only one hand. Additionally, some functions are found only on the remote and others are found only on the receiver. Balancing the speakers is a very complicated procedure that has to be done in a certain time period using the remote and was much simpler on my old receiver that had a simple knob to do this function.
Another thing you might find annoying about this unit is its 'energy-saving mode' - also known as ECO MODE. If this mode is active, the default setting, a red light will be illuminated on the receiver when the unit is OFF and will be darkened when the unit is ON (somewhat odd). I have never ever seen any electronic device using this type of backwards indicator system. If the economy mode is disabled, this strange behavior stops but the unit will use much more energy when it is not on.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 180
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Epinions.com ID:
Cornell2000
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Member: Justin A. Nachod
Location: Ithaca, NY
Reviews written: 70
Trusted by: 36 members
About Me:
I am a junior at Cornell University, majoring in microbiology/pre-med.
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