Aiwa NSX-DS8 Theater System

When my old Aiwa NSX 5200 died on me back in august, rather than put the money into getting it fixed i decided to check out some new models--after all the 5200 withstood six years of heavy use and it was about time to get something new.
Initially, i didn't want to get an Aiwa because so many of my friends had experienced problems with them in the first two years of ownership. However, once i began looking around for a stereo, I realized that Aiwa makes more mini-system units than anyone else and has done it for longer.
I visited local stores to test out mini-systems with some of my own cd's. Although most stores usually just have the radio of a system playing for people to listen to, this is not a very good way to test out a system because reception problems can interfere.
I was extremely pleased with the NSX-DS8, it more accurately reproduced the sounds of acoustic instruments as well as producing a rich texture on more electronic based songs than any other system i auditioned (which included an aiwa unit just below this one, a few sony systems with the 50-disc changer system--one even had a separate subwoofer that came with it--, a panasonic with DVD player and 4-way speakers, and a jvc--all within the $400-$600 range).
I've had the DS8 for about two months now and am extremely happy with it. As far as sound quality, you won't find anything better for under $500. The equalizer has 5 manual presets as well as settings for rock, pop, classic, latin and jazz. The programmed in presets cover the bases for everything i listen to (which ranges from shostokovich to fugazi, coltrane to phish and rush to john zorn) so i haven't experimented with the manual presets. The surround-sound settings are disco, movie, hall, stadium and live. I use the disco and movie settings most. Disco has a fairly substantial delay between the front and rear speakers. This is great for listening to electronic music, but makes lyrics hard to distinguish when listening to bands who already have electronic delay on their vocals (eg. bauhaus and some jane's addiction). The movie setting is pretty much a general surround sound feel and clearly reproduces any style of music. The other settings are for the most part somewhere between these two.
I only listen to music on the DS8, so i have yet to experiment with the Dolby Digital Decoder (5.1) and Dolby Pro Logic settings of the DS8.
The surround sound speakers are the standard ones the Aiwa includes with most of their minisystems. I'm guessing that this will be suitable for most potential buyers out there. However, they may not be suitable for larger rooms.
The real beauty of the DS8 is the power of the 340 watt speaker system. Combined with the twin built in subwoofers makes this a party machine. I threw a party a few weeks ago. When the cops came at four in the morning they said the music was "deafening from the parking lot." I didn't even have it turned up all the way. In fact, I have yet to turn the volume all the way up because it's hard to stand being in the same room with it up that loud.
The only con i have for this unit is the price. At $500 dollars, it's in the upper range of minisystems (of which some competitors are coming out with built-in dvd players). If the DS8 was much more expensive I would've looked into assembling my own component system. However, Aiwa has always provided great value for the money--the DS8 of which is a superlative example.