Nakamichi SoundSpace 8.5 Home Theater System with Surround Processor, DVD/CD Player, 5 Satellite Speakers, and Dual Subwoofers Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought one of these Nakamichi SS 8.5 HTS units new from an Amazon Marketplace seller.The unit arrived in good condition, and worked wonderfully right out of the box.The sound was exceptional, and the unit was relatively simple to set up.

The problems started after about 20 DVD plays (a little over two months after we purchased it).The unit was unresponsive when we tried to turn it on, and a DVD was trapped in the DVD module.When the power button was turned on, the power module would not display any message, and would only show a few lights flickering faintly.The seller told us that the warranty could only be handled by Nakamichi.Knowing Nakamichi's reputation for quality, I called their customer service number and asked for instructions.

Nakamichi instructed me to send just the 3 modules and some wiring to an authorized repair facility in New Jersey (at my expense).The shop in New Jersey took a couple of weeks to get to it, and told me that the unit was 'unrepairable', shipped it back to me, and instructed me to ship the entire unit (wiring, speakers, books, and all) to a warehouse in California run by a Nakamichi-authorized warranty company called "ESI".I packaged the entire unit up and sent it off FEDEX insured to California (again at my cost).

Several weeks went by, and I heard nothing from ESI about my warranty exchange.I used several e-mails and phone calls over the next several weeks asking for the status of the exchange, and finally got an answer from an ESI representative who told me that the unit had been damaged in shipping, and that I must file a claim with FEDEX for the damaged parts.I immediately did so, and FEDEX told me that they would send someone over to ESI's warehouse to pick up the unit and take it back to FEDEX for inspection.

By now, we had been without the unit longer than we actually had the unit running.Several more weeks passed without any word, and neither FEDEX or ESI would respond to e-mail or phone calls.I e-mailed Nakamichi for another contact at ESI, and received an e-mail stating that:
1. They claimed never to have heard of ESI, and that this was NOT an authorized warranty center.
2. They did not currently have ANY warranty claim center operating in the United States.
3. They had no further information to share with me about my warranty claim.

At this point, fearing that my expensive HTS system had vanished into a black hole, I filled out a fraud claim with my state's attorney general's office, and with the Federal Trade Commission's fraud website.

I sent copies of this paperwork and my receipts to Nakamichi, ESI, FEDEX, and the New Jersey warranty claim center.

Strangely enough, about a week later, I suddenly heard from ESI that the person I had been in contact with had been replaced by a new contact, and that FEDEX had picked up the unit and was waiting for the decision from their inspector.

The end of this nightmare came from FEDEX, who could no longer find the unit after it had been picked up, and then paid for the item in full.

So after over 7 months, dozens of e-mails and phone calls, and the loss of several hundred dollars in shipping costs, I received my money back thanks to a fluke inventory loss by FEDEX, and NOT from Nakamichi.

The Nakamichi SoundSpace 8.5 that I bought quit completely after less than three month's minimal use, and careful care.The unit was plugged into a 4-megajoule Belkin surge protector, and had been turned off after each use.So the durability of the SS 8.5 is highly suspect, and Nakamichi's warranty program is a disorganized mess.

Therefore, I strongly advise that potential buyers DO NOT BUY a Nakamichi SoundSpace 8.5 Home Theater System in particular, and avoid Nakamichi products in general.This product receives a well-deserved one star rating.

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Product Description:
Nakamichi's stylish, powerful SoundSpace 8-1/2 DVD home theater system produces dynamic, exciting surround sound from Dolby Digital and DTS DVD soundtracks and includes a range of user-friendly functions to manage continuous DVD/CD/MP3 CD playback. A 5-channel satellite speaker system in charcoal and silver immerses your senses in Nakamichi's trademark high-level sound, while the system's plug-and-play simplicity and scalability let you add other components with ease. The SoundSpace 8-1/2 features not just 1, but 2 stand-alone powered subwoofers to provide sound that's as carefully balanced as it is powerful.
The system is built around 3 separate units: a top-loading DVD player, an AV tuner/processor with a built-in FM tuner and DSP/surround-sound circuit, and a center-channel amplifier. All components feature a brushed-aluminum top panel and a sleek, half-mirror acrylic-finished front panel. Compact and slim, the units can be stacked on top of one another to form a cube, placed side by side, or arranged in any other way to suit your taste and decor.
The AV tuner/processor is the system's control center. Its front panel offers only the minimum necessary controls--source selection, main system volume, and FM tuning--so as not to mar the panel's stylishness or interfere with its ease of use. A headphone jack, optical digital output (minijack-type for hookup with a minidisc recorder), and auxiliary input (stereo analog minijack) are aligned at the bottom left. In addition to an FM tuner, the AV tuner/processor all digital signal processing, from surround decoding to Dolby Pro-Logic II processing, which generates discrete 5.1-channel sound from stereo (2-channel) sources. Furthermore, the processor offers Natural, Hall, and Stadium modes, simulating the natural ambience of different environments for your movies and music.
The system's amplifier design is a twin-mono configuration engineered to bring surround sound reproduction ever closer to perfection. The amplifiers mounted in the left subwoofer drive the front-left and rear-left speakers in addition to the subwoofer. Similarly, the amplifiers in the other sub amplify the signals for the 3 (including the subwoofer) right-side speakers. This maintains separation between the left and right channels, virtually eliminating interference and crosstalk between the 6 speakers. The center channel, whose low-frequency content is evenly divided between the subwoofers, gets its own stand-alone amplifier.
The SoundSpace's compact satellite speaker system provides exceptional installation flexibility. You can arrange the speakers in various ways to suit a given room: on a sideboard, on a bookshelf, or on the floor using optional SA-1 floor stands. You can also fix them to a wall to save space using the optional SA-2 wall mount kit.
The satellites each use a 2-way, 3-driver design, with two 2-inch midrange drivers and a 1-inch semi-dome tweeter. All speakers are magnetically shielded to prevent distortion when placed on or near a television or computer monitor. Further, the speakers' drivers are arranged so as to achieve the utmost in realism and perceived image definition: the tweeter position is ingeniously shifted backwards to prevent phase distortion with the high and midrange frequencies. The speaker enclosures are finished in a dark metallic gray that perfectly matches the system's main unit, while the front grilles are light metallic silver.
Subwoofer performance is precisely adjusted so that the upper range of the bass output blends smoothly with lower-frequency sound from the satellites. The active subwoofers each use a magnetically shielded 6.3-inch woofer housed in a bandpass enclosure designed for optimal efficiency, maximum dynamic ability, and minimum size. Individual subwoofer level controls are mounted on the units' rear panels. The enclosures are finished in the same color and fabric as the satellite speakers.
What's in the Box
DVD/CD player/tuner unit, center-channel amplifier, 2 subwoofers, 4 satellites, 1 center-channel speaker, all requisite cabling, a user's manual, and warranty information.

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