Anybody ever hear a Boston Acoustics Avidea 610 DVD/Receiver 2.0?

 

Gold Member
Username: Exerciseguy

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 1216
Registered: Oct-04
Anybody ever hear a Boston Acoustics Avidea 610 DVD/Receiver 2.0?

The Avidea 610 is a HTIB with a decent write-up from cnet http://reviews.cnet.com/home-theater-in-a/boston-acoustics-avidea-610/4505-6740_ 7-31263288.html#more , but the DVD/Receiver unit is being sold minus the speakers for $69 @ overstock.com http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Boston-Acoustics-Progressive-Scan-DVD-Recei ver/2519404/product.html?cid=97245&fp=F (where you can usually find an online coupon).

Any thoughts?
 

Silver Member
Username: Stefanom

Vienna, VA United States

Post Number: 867
Registered: Apr-06
Whatcha looking to do with it?
 

Gold Member
Username: Exerciseguy

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 1218
Registered: Oct-04
Don't rightly know?

I've got a NAD L53 DVD/Receiver with a temperamental drive, that is out of warranty, and too expensive to repair (It actually would cost more to replace the drive than to purchase a factory refurb). I liked the L53 because it sounded good with high WAF. I use the L53 with a pair of Mission M70 in a very small spare room that I occasionally watch movies in. Makes for a nice little set-up.

I like the looks of the Avidea 610 and I like the price.
 

Silver Member
Username: Stefanom

Vienna, VA United States

Post Number: 868
Registered: Apr-06
My main concern would be that the NAD is designed to drive most speakers on the market while the BA is designed to drive a specific set of speakers with a specific set of electrical and sonic characteristics. It may or may not sound good with anything else it gets paired up with. As such, I wouldn't do it personally.
 

Gold Member
Username: Exerciseguy

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 1220
Registered: Oct-04
Yeah, that was my thinking too. However, I can pick up the unit for $53 delivered, if I don't like it, I can always keep the L53 and just hook-up the Avidea through the AUX, and use it as a CD/DVD player.

$53 is less than what you'd expect to pay for an RCA player from Radio Shack.
 

Silver Member
Username: Stefanom

Vienna, VA United States

Post Number: 869
Registered: Apr-06
True enough; minimal risk is always a good thing.
 

Gold Member
Username: Exerciseguy

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 1221
Registered: Oct-04
We'll find out soon enough, I placed the order.
 

Gold Member
Username: Nuck

Post Number: 8251
Registered: Dec-04
Yah Mon.
 

Silver Member
Username: Nickelbut10

Post Number: 225
Registered: Jun-07
The Dealer I go to, is a full Boston Acoustics dealer. Mainly carries their Car Audio stuff though in the car audio part of the store. He has ordered in some of their speakers, and says they are a very good speaker for the price. I have never heard their receiver/dvd players though. Reputable company though.
 

Gold Member
Username: Exerciseguy

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 1224
Registered: Oct-04
Yeah, I know BA makes good speakers, I owned a pair of CR77 for a short while, and they were very good, competitive with any other sub-$300 speakers. I just couldn't find a place for them.

I own the Receptor radio, and I LOVE it. I think I listen to that radio more than anything else I own.

But I don't think the Avidea DVD/Receiver is an in-house design.

But for $50?
 

Silver Member
Username: Nickelbut10

Post Number: 229
Registered: Jun-07
For 50 bucks you just cant go wrong.
 

Gold Member
Username: Nuck

Post Number: 8260
Registered: Dec-04
About a year ago the set of speakers from that thing were a topic of discussion.
I remember that the speakers were the best part of it, but your shopping is on the money, Chris.
 

Gold Member
Username: Exerciseguy

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 1225
Registered: Oct-04
I think I read that thread.

Just thought I'd roll the dice on this one. If it dissapoints, no big loss. I'm sure I'll be able to find it a home.
 

Gold Member
Username: Exerciseguy

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 1248
Registered: Oct-04
I got this thing today, looks nice.Upload
 

Gold Member
Username: Nuck

Post Number: 8306
Registered: Dec-04
Great look and great Art, Chris.
 

Silver Member
Username: Nickelbut10

Post Number: 259
Registered: Jun-07
Chris, looks more than a 50 dollar unit. Good pickup. How does it sound?
 

Gold Member
Username: Exerciseguy

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 1249
Registered: Oct-04
I'll need to push it through the paces tomorrow. But I've been playing around with it, and it's pretty neat, it's no NAD in terms of its looks or weight, etc., but might just do the job, and it ain't broken.

After listening to my Trends amp, I rule nothing out.
 

Gold Member
Username: Exerciseguy

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 1252
Registered: Oct-04
Well, an NAD it ain't.

The Avidea 610 was designed as a 5.1 HTIB, but for my evaluation I paired it with my smallish Mission M70. The M70, while small, really sound quite large when mated to the right amp, like my NAD L53 or Trends TA-10.1, and can easily fill a small room with an ocean of ear pleasing music (that is if your not keen on deep orchestral sounds), for 2-ch HT look elsewhere.

The Avidea looks & feels well built, with subdued good looks, however, it has a terrible tuner section and its bass is thinnish (no way around it, because there is no bass control). I imagine this is due to the fact that this receiver was designed to work specifically with a BA PV700 subwoofer. The DVD/CD player has handled everything I've thrown as it (No SACD or DVD-Audio) with no hang-ups. I also watched Frank Miller's 300 and found the image quality on par with other progressive scan players. The unit is very quite, virtually silent. Navigation & set-up is fairly straight forward.

Overall it's not bad sounding, I'd describe what I've heard so far as as average, I need to hook this thing up to my Beta 20s to see if I'm being fair about the lack of bass. If you plan on using a powered sub (I don't currently own one), I think it'll sound considerably better.

So there you go, if you're looking for an all-in-one-thig-a-ma-jig, and only have about $50 to spend, and dont listen to too much radio, I don't think you'll be disappointed, especially if your going to be using a powered sub.
 

Gold Member
Username: Nuck

Post Number: 8319
Registered: Dec-04
Chris, as honest a review as could be expected.
Honest and cheap.
A lot of first time members might get lucky like you, but most need a little audio101.

Let's give it to them.
 

Gold Member
Username: Exerciseguy

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 1253
Registered: Oct-04
Audio For Dummies is more my speed. A lot of big pictures & small words.
 

Gold Member
Username: Nuck

Post Number: 8326
Registered: Dec-04
I dig.
 

Gold Member
Username: Exerciseguy

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 1257
Registered: Oct-04
The larger Beta 20s definity round out the sound of this unit.

My suggestion, if you pick-up the Avidea for 2-ch listening, think larger bookshelves, not smallish satellites, the unit might be just a bit too fussy about which speakers it likes.

There is also a fraction of a second dropout with the autoplay function when a CD is first inserted, not sure if it can be disabled, annoying, but for $53, I'll let it slide.
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