From: rouben@math9.math.umbc.edu (Rouben Rostamian)
Subject: Re: Info about receivers
Organization: University of Maryland Baltimore Campus
Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1992 05:24:39 GMT

In article <1992Dec24.231602.54895@watson.ibm.com> kaul@bacchus.watson.ibm.com (Anil Kaul) writes:
>I'm in the market for a receiver and am willing to spend
>around $300. I would appreciate any suggestions on what makes/models
>to consider. 

I can tell you about my experience with my two receivers in the $300 price
range.  One, a 10 year old Akai AA-R32 (rated at 50W/channel) and the other
a one year old Nikko NR1050 (rated at 110W/channel.)  I love the Akai and
dislike the Nikko.  These models are almost surely not available anymore,
but you may find the description of features and shortcomings below to
be of some use as you shop around.

I honestly cannot tell the difference between their sound reproduction
quality and reception abilities.  They both work and sound as you
would expect of receivers in this class; that is, quite satisfactory.
Their features are a different story.

The Akai is a piece of art.  The display and the controls layout are the
most logical I have seen in any receiver -- and I have seen many receivers.
If I were to buy a new receiver and if I could find one like it, I would
buy it again.  The fluorescent display panel shows a schematic wiring
diagram of the current status of the receiver.  If you are playing
tape deck #2, it shows a cassette tape labeled 2, connected to an amplifier,
connected to tone control unit, connected to a subsonic filter, connected
to speaker A (or B, or both, as the case may be.)  As you change the
settings, say if you play the radio, the diagram changes accordingly.

Other features that I consider valuable, are:
o  present buttons to select AM and FM stations, eight of each.
o  present tone controls which you can recall, two settings plus flat.
o  mono/stereo switch

One shortcoming:  You can dub from tape 1 to tape 2 but not vice versa.

The Nikko's display, on the other hand, looks as complicated as a Boeing
767's dashboard.  As technophile as I am, I still have to refer to the
manual, after a year of owning the thing, to understand what certain
buttons do.  When it is on, its face lights up like a Christmas tree
with a clutter of badly laid out red, green, amber bouncing and
blinking LEDs.  This is not bad in itself, but what is an unforgivable
lapse, is that the damn thing does not have a permanent memory!
You set the balance and tone controls in your favorite position,
switch the unit off and on, and all controls have returned to
their neutral setting :-(  After a while you don't bother setting
the controls anymore.

Another sore point:  The tuner indicator window, that is, the part
of the display that shows which station you are tuned to, is deeply
recessed, therefore you cannot see it unless you look directly into
the recessed area.  This means that unless you place the receiver at
the eye level, you will have to bend each time you want to read the
setting.

One redeeming feature: You can dub from tape 1 to tape 2, or tape 2
to tape 1, once you figure out how to work the controls.

Another redeeming feature: It has a remote control, while Akai doesn't.
I use the Nikko in my bedroom, where I can control it with the remote
while in bed.  (Needless to say, 110W/channel is an overkill in a bedroom,
unless you have some strange kinky habbits.)

An aside:  I leave in a suburban area where FM radio signals are
weak, so the reception is not ideal.  When I shared this with an audio
store salesman, he talked me into buying a Dennon receiver for its
superior receiving characteristics.  I do not recall which model
it was, but I paid around $500 for it.  When I brought it home and
compared it side-by-side with the Akai, it became clear that the Dennon
had even a greater difficulty receiving some of the weak stations than
the Akai.  So I quickly returned it for a refund.


--
Rouben Rostamian
Newsgroups: rec.audio