Home > Consumer Reviews > Aiwa HT-D580 450-Watt Home Theater System

This is a great starter system for DVD watching (and in my case Xbox playing beginning on the 15th). It can be more than a starter system and even a primary home music source: I have experimented with replacing the included (super-cheap) front and satellite speakers with two pairs of affordable bookshelf speakers from Radio Shack (the kind with dipole "Linaeum" tweeters, rated at 100 watts max), and the amp drives them AOK-- the sound from this system becomes world class. There is also no reason one could not sooner or later choose to replace the powered subwoofer with a bigger one as well.

The fact that both Dolby Digital and DTS are supported (as well as Dolby ProLogic) is another reason this system could well serve nicely for years. One note: There is an addendum to the manual regarding incompatibility with 96khz sound sources. I don't have it verbatum in front of me and I am not familiar enough with the technology to know whether it should be cause to believe that any significant number of DVDs will not play through this recevier, but I thought I should include the info.

Regarding the reviewer who could not get the subwoofer working, the method for turning on the subwoofer output is given in the instruction manual. You can't do it without the remote (there are a few functions like this, unfortunately), and you will never guess the non-intuitive procedure without reading it from the manual.

In summary, I am ecstatic about this system, but my enthusiasm derives in large part from how well it drives the far-superior (and very affordable, especially when on sale at RS or when auctioned online) replacement speakers I am using. The sound from the included speakers will not jump out and grab most people. The included speakers are the weakest link (unless the movie or music you listen to is even worse).

First I would like to say buy batteries for the remote because you are GOING to NEED it.

This is a wonderful product for a sound budget.
The only problem I have with the system (which really isnt a problem but more of a nuisance) is that in order for the sub woofer to work you have to enable the function on the receiver via the remote after that it works fine.
Another thing is that the surround speakers are pretty wimpy sounding, but after you adjust the volume of the surrounds (via the remote again) it sounds all right.
I use my existing Bose 301 series IV as surrounds anyway so Im not complaining.
I am also using Aiwa 3-way bookshelf speakers that I brought off a friend of mine a while ago (coincidence huh.
The sub woofer doesnt bump that much, and I dont mind because Im in an apartment above someone anyway. But the handy bass booster function on the receiver compensates.
One highlight to me is when I was attempting to target the source of the bass it was hard for me to do. But I had a pal of mine turn the sub on and off while I took audible notes. And guess what, to my surprise the sub seems to throw the bass to the speakers somehow.

For what you get with this product the "price is right".

The Dolby Digital and DTS processing sounds exact to me as far as I can tell. I brought a PS2 (feeding sound via fiber optic to receiver) last Thursday (2/28/02) and I have watched The Fast & the Furious 8 times in its entirety already (good movie for adjusting your speakers).

The guy that sold me the system (249.99 Bestbuy) should have played the leading role in Liar, Liar.

-FIRST BIG FAT LIE-
My man said, "In order for you to hear this thing you have to NEARLY MAX THE VOLUME".
Boy is he WRONG.
The volume is fine. The receiver maxes at 40+ which at that point a high level warning indicator thingy flashes. I watch movies at 10-15 volume setting, maybe 20 max but no louder.

-SECOND BIG FAT LIE-
He also said "Oh, by the way, when listening to a connected CD player or listening to the radio you can ONLY listen through the front left and right speakers".

The receiver has MULTIPLE listening setting, Phantom, 3stereo, Surround, ect all of which allow you to set how many speakers are utilized depending on how they are connected and more importantly YOUR preference.

Lets just blame it on his bad sells rep skills, trying to get me to buy a much more expensive product.
But his weak feeble attempt just makes me marvel even more at this system each and everytime its powered on.

The receiver is a good buy alone if not a steal in itself.
Try finding a decent receiver, which does Dolby Digital, DTS with fiber optic and coaxial connection for under 300$

If this is what you are considering getting go ahead you wont be disappointed.
Or if you already have speakers and just need a receiver, center channel and sub this is the "Best Buy".

I hoped this helped

See ya

Peace

After looking for a home theater system for some time that wouldn't bankrupt me, i finally found this one. For ... you really can't go wrong, it does DTS as well as dolby digital and despite the speakers only being small they'll go pretty damn loud with very little distortion. It has plenty of connections for hooking up your TV/VCR/Cable and CD player etc and it also comes supplied with the phono cables to do it. As for the subwoofer not working, i thought i'd got a faulty unit but the subwoofer has it's own volume control on the back and you have to turn it on on the amplifier itself, the subwoofer is turned off by default. My only gripe is that it doesn't come supplied with an optical cable and my dvd player doesn't have a coaxial digital output. Other than that i'd reccomend this system to anyone who wants a decent home theater for not a lot of money.

...I ... am having problems with the subwoofer. I followed the directions to the letter, and it works for about 45 seconds (on maximum volume)and it is very quiet, too... then it dies. I called AIWA support number, only to talk to a rude and uncaring representative. The system itself is really great otherwise........easy to set up and the surround system sounds GREAT. But, I need to know why the subwoofer doesn't work. I truly think it is in the setup and connection, even though I had an expert hooking it up for me. ...

... To address the subwoofer problem (which I ran into myself), it is not hard to fix. The connection cord was probably backwards and just needs to be flipped, or the subwoofer has not been turned on THROUGH THE RECIEVER.
This is the first Home Theater I have ever owned. Believe me when I am going to buy something like this I do lots of research. Research is what I did! For about 2 months I read review after review, looked at every system in every store, conducted interviews of people who owned systems. After all that the Aiwa HT-D580 was what I chose. This has Dolby Digital and DTS decoders. It also has a Pro Logic decoder which lets you watch normal cable in surround. It has a great separation that puts you in the movie. The subwoofer sounds great. 50 watts may not sound like much, but it is powered with little distorion even at high volume. This has a volume level of 50. Although The highest I have listened to it was 25, and that was making my house shake. So it is definitly powerful enough for a large family room. It is also pretty easy to use all together, many things are very self explanitory. The best thing about the sound is that it never is distorted even at high volume, many other systems I looked at did. If you don't have much money, want killer sound, deep bass that puts you in the movie, Dolby Digital, Pro Logic and DTS decoders, get this system you will be impressed!