Nakamichi was a big name in hi-fi in the 80s, mainly for its high-tech tape decks. If you're too young to remember those, they played rectangular "cassette tapes" that stored music on magnetic strips passed between two miniature reels.

The Good

The Nakamichi Shockwafe Pro gives you powerful sound with true surround performance and clear dialog. The provision of 4K-compatible HDMI ports enhances your connectivity options.

The Bad

The surround speakers' minimum volume is set too high, which detracts from the immersion. The different sound modes are easy to accidentally engage, which can result in poor performance.

The Bottom Line

The Nakamichi Shockwafe Pro sound bar offers a good mix of features, including dedicated surround speakers and 4K HDMI compatibility, and gives a hearty performance.

As MiniDisc, CDs, MP3s and streaming music successively replaced cassettes, the company's fortunes faded. Now the Nakamichi brand has been brought back to life and, after changing hands, its newest product is a sound bar, the Shockwafe Pro. And yes, that's the way it's actually spelled.

While it may not offer the latest cutting-edge tech Wi-Fi and Dolby Atmos, for example the Nakamichi does have bombastic performance on its side, and even sounds acceptable with music. It gives a natural sound with movies that's bolstered by the performance of that huge sub. We still like the Vizio SB4551-D5 better than the Shockwafe overall, but the Nakamichi is a worthy competitor.

Design and features

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The Shockwafe is a 5.1-channel sound bar with support for 4K video sources. It has a number of connectivity selections, including HDMI with Dolby Digital and DTS decoders. Though you may also see it advertised as a 7.1 sound bar, it only decodes 5.1 streams and not Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master Audio.

This 45.5-inch sound bar boasts five discrete drivers across the front, which are joined by two wired rears and a wireless sub. While most seven-channel systems include two sets of rears, the Shockwafe uses angled drivers on the main unit in place of the left and right surround.

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The system's rears connect by a set of included wires to the large subwoofer. While the wires will stretch across a standard size living room, it probably makes more sense to put the sub behind the couch. The sub features an 8-inch driver and is tough to hide: It measures 7.9 inches long by 12.3 inches wide and 16.7 inches high.

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The Nakamichi comes with a number of connection options including two 4K-compatible HDMI inputs and one ARC output, optical and coaxial digital and a 3.5 auxiliary. The system does have a USB port but it's only used for firmware updates.

While Nakamichi's main competitor, the Vizio SB4551-D5, includes Wi-Fi streaming in the form of Chromecast built-in (aka Google Cast), the Nakamichi makes do with Bluetooth 3.0. We really prefer having the option of Cast, which has better audio quality and features (such as a multiroom option) than Bluetooth.

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The sound bar includes a backlit remote with its own LCD readout. That's handy as there's no display on the TV or the unit itself, save for some LED dots on the latter.

Setup

After hooking up the cables from our Oppo BDP-105 Blu-ray player, and running the wires from the subwoofer at the front of the room to the surround speakers, we spent some time exploring the Shockwafe's sound menu options. You can adjust the subwoofer and surround speakers' volume via the remote, but there are also lots of preset options available: movie, music, TV, sports, games and night modes, and each one of those has a subgroup of equalization options. The night mode reduces the subwoofer volume, or turns it off, to reduce the chance of disturbing people in other rooms.

We were happy with the Shockwafe's ability to fine-tune the sound to your room and taste. The downside to the multitude of tuning options is it's too easy to wind up with poor sound quality by accidentally pressing those buttons. Navigating the Shockwafe menu options via the small LCD screen on the remote, and the row of blue LEDs on the sound bar, can be confusing at first.

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Listening

We put the Shockwafe through its paces with the "Deepwater Horizon" oil rig disaster Blu-ray and immediately noticed that no matter how much we fussed with the mode settings and placement we were always aware of the surround speakers' locations in the CNET listening room. The speakers never created the sort of immersive surround we get from traditional 5.1 channel home theater systems.

On the plus side dialog was clear, and the soundstage spread across the front wall of the CNET listening room. When the movie's plot finally gets around to the undersea spill and explosive mix of churning mud and oil, the action sequences demonstrated the Shockwafe's considerable home theater prowess.

We liked the 8-inch subwoofer's power, but even after experimenting with the Shockwafe's DSP options the sub's integration with the sound bar wasn't all that seamless, and we were at times aware that most of the bass was coming from the sub. That's not a good thing, we prefer the illusion that all the bass is coming from the sound bar. We also noted the Shockwafe muted the movie's sound for 2 to 3 seconds when we changed chapters on the Blu-ray.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Sticking with "Deepwater Horizon," we changed over to a Klipsch RSB-8 sound bar/subwoofer system for comparison. The Klipsch sounded more natural, dialog was just as good, and even though the RSB-8 didn't have separate surround speakers (and its sub was a lot smaller), the overall sound was superior to the Shockwafe's. The RSB-8's sound tuning options were much more limited, but easier to fathom than the Shockwafe's.

Neither one was a clear winner with music, but again the RSB-8's tonality was more agreeable than the Shockwafe's. That said, the Shockwafe's larger sub packs a bigger wallop, which might be enough to sway some people.

Against its most obvious competitor, the Vizio, the Shockwafe held up well. Tom Hardy's mumbled opening monologue from "Mad Max: Fury Road," for example, sounded more natural coming out of the Nakamichi than the Vizio, which in turn made his voice sound too chesty. But the Nakamichi's old "satellites are too loud" problem continued, and was even more noticeable in this movie due to its reliance on rear effects. The sound of the Vizio's separate speakers blended together much more naturally.

Conclusion

The Nakamichi Shockwafe's deserves credit for its generous features and powerful sound. While it's comparable to the Vizio at the same price and arguably offers better build quality, the Vizio is still the better product overall.

Is Nakamichi Shockwafe worth it?

Best sound system, worth every penny! Nakamichi has confirmed that they have the best surround sound system in the market. I finally have the theatre sound I have been looking for and it's thanks to this system. It's clarity and bass is the best I have heard in a long time. I highly recommend especially for the price.

Is Nakamichi better than Bose?

The Bose offers impressive performance for a standalone bar, and it's better built with a better soundstage. It also has a better-balanced sound profile out-of-the-box, which some users may prefer. However, the Nakamichi is suitable for users with a lot of space in their setup.

Is Nakamichi still a good brand?

Since 2017 to 2020, Nakamichi Shockwafe soundbar systems have attained 2 prestigious titles in the industry - being the

1 Rated Dolby Atmos Soundbar and

1 Rated 4K soundbar by customer ratings in two of the largest consumer electronics retailers in America (Amazon and Best Buy).

Does the Nakamichi Shockwafe need a receiver?

DO SHOCKWAFE SOUNDBARS WORK WITH A/V RECEIVERS? An A/V receiver will not be necessary anymore. Our soundbars already contain all functions of an A/V receiver, and can receive, process and output all of the most advanced audio and video standards, including Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Dolby Vision and 4K HDR.