Amplifier Reviews

In my office I'm stuck next to a noisy air conditioner and have trouble hearing customers when they call. I can hear them with this thing. It doesn't eat batteries either.

No one knows I am using it at work. Very easy to conceal from view so no one knows I am losing my hearing. Takes a 9v battery. Adjustable volume is great. However, there is no instruction manual to tell you that you put it between the handset and the phone unit. Cheaper than the Plantronics model online and just as good.

This seems like a really nicely built amp. I bought a demo model for under $500 which makes is a real bargain. It runs warm but not hot to the touch. It sounds very dynamic and clean, I can't detect any kind of coloration from the amp. If anything it's too transparent because it will make bad sources sound as they are: bad. I haven't tried it with any big speakers to see how well the bottom end hits, but the top end seems real good. Very dynamic for movies with my Atlantic Tech. System 270 THX Select speakers. The retail prices are a bit high, for $1200 I'd probably prefer other amps such at Outlaw's Model 750 for $1099 or others from Parasound, B&K or Rotel. But if you can find a decent price on this amp it is a high quality product. It could easily meet THX Ultra specs for power and performance.

I bought a Sig 2.0/2.1 combo because my speakers are 25 years old, the size of small coffins, and have low impeadances. They love current. Even with 45 amps of current, the protection circuits in my old HK AVR500 would kick in under heavy (cranked to the max) loads, and shut the unit off.

Specs:

The amp has 5 X 100 watts per channel for home theater applications. Frequency response is <1Hz - 170kHz, +0dB/-2dB with ±100 Amps of current. Total Harmonic Distortion is rated at <0.03% at rated output.

IMPRESSIONS:

I did an a/b comparison between my AVR500 and the signature 2.1 amp. The AVR500 has some of the best amps available in an home theater receiver. The 2.1 amp is made by Madrigal, the division of Harman International which makes Mark Levinson and other ultra high end products, so, I expected some improvement over the 500. I plugged the preamp outs on my AVR500 to the Sig 2.1 using some midgrade RCA cables. To my surprise, the 2.1 is a real improvement. It is fast, detailed, articulate, controlled and powerful. The soundstage is very, very good. The balance is excellent, with a slight low midbass prominence.

What this means is that my speakers found bass I thought they lost to room accoustics or maybe never had. I put on the Fleetwood Mack DVD "The Dance." The grit at the edge Stevie Nicks' voice showed up along with the air over the mike. I put on Guennevere from the Crosby Stills and Nash 4 CD compilation. You could hear the flutter of the bass string along with the note. I always though my speakers were a bit analytical, but they found a warmth in the vocal harmonies I didn't think they had. Yes! (Keys to Ascention DVD) - Emerson, Lake and Palmer (Royal Albert Hall DVD) -- George Benson (DVD Audio) - The Doors (LA Woman DVD Audio) - Horowitz in Moscow (CD) - Cheryl Crow (CD). They all sounded better.

I subsequently bought a Carver M500t amplifier and a Harman Kardon Citation 22. Both are 2 channel low end audiophile quality amps with 200 watts per channel. To my ears, the 22 is better, but not by much, and I could not give you a reason for this impression. The Carver aparently was designed for a "tube" sound, and sounded soft and colored in comparison. The Carver was swiftly sold on e-bay.

Life is good.

Strengths:
Lots of amps. Warm, open sound. Lots of value for the money if you can find one. Made in the USA!

Weaknesses:
I had some problems with one channel of the the amplifier working only intermittently and had to take it back to HK several times. Made in the USA! They couldn't fix it, and eventually replaced it.

I don't pretend to be a major audiophile. When purchasing a receiver, I wanted surround sound and excellent quality music and video playback. This piece is the cornerstone of my stereo set, which includes a TV, CD player, DVD, VCR, and a surround-sound setup. In making the decision to purchase this item, I listened to a couple of my favorite CDs on it (in a stereo store connected to speakers similar to mine), and the sound was clearly superior to other receivers in its price range, and most priced up to $300 more. The remote control and face of the set are easy to decipher, unlike many other systems that try to overwhelm you with useless buttons. My one complaint is that it is difficult to perform some functions (switching inputs, etc) because the face is very dark. They could improve this minor flaw with lighted buttons. I expect this to be part of my stereo system for many, many years.

I bought this receiver after listening a Technics DD receiver. The sound response is better, THD lower. Its sound is soft and clear. The DSP is sharp in every mode.

Why buy an entry level home theater receiver when for just a bit more, you can get this great sounding Pioneer Elite unit? This receiver is well made and has Pioneer's newly revised owner's manual that makes setup far easier than other receivers. The unit's sound is smooth without sounding bright. Also, the remote's buttons light up when pressed and the receiver is THX Select certified-indicating a powerful amplifier section that won't wimp out on loud movie soundtracks! Highly recommended for the money.

This reciever has to be best I have ever heard for this price. Don't be fooled by the specification sheet where it says "90watts a channel"; there may be amps out there with up to 120watts per channel but only at 1000hz which humans hear the best, when the Pioneer will do 90watts across the entire audio bandwith 20hz - 20000hz which will sound very warm, rich, and twice as loud as a normal reciever. You will never find a THX certified reciever at this price for a very long time! The face of this amp is acually made out of a copper plate, not cheap shiny plastic which a lot of people think. It has a nice on screen display which makes it very easy for beginners to setup. It has everything you will need for both music and home theatre like, DTS, Dolby Digital, DSP, Pro Logic, and six channels for future upgrades. The only downfall I see about this reciever is looking at the higher Elite models and the flagships LCD remote control.

This amplifier is awesome.Especialy the price.The amp is so cool you can do all kinds of stuff on it.If you want to spend your money on $600 amps go ahead but i choose this one.

Plantronics has been in the phone business a long time, and it shows in the M12 amplifier. The unit is fairly easy to install. You start by pluggin it into the handset jack on the phone (some digital phone systems like Toshiba Strata Dk will offer an optional headset card - use that as you'll get better phone operation).

You may need 2 AA batteries (or the optional AC adapter), depending on your phone system. Plug in your headset (make sure its compatiable with the quick disconnect plug on the amplifier), and adjust a slider on the side of the amp to select one of five settings (use the one that gives the best quality sound and operation, you won't harm the amp by experimenting). Now you are ready to dial.

What makes this a good product? It is easy to install and configure, sound quality is excellent, and plantronics build quality is exceptional. It should last a long time and endure heavy use, even in a professional call center.

One note, this amplifier will not work with dial in the handset phones. Not too many of those around these days, but its good to be aware of it.

Very nice style, durable heavy quality construction, easy-to-follow assembly instructions, good for concealing A/V wiring. This stand serves well for putting various audio components on the shelves and a turntable on the top. Also can be used for a TV on top and VCR/cable/DVD on shelves. Although it's a very nice product, the price is much too high for what you get. Design is modern and a very nice additional piece of "furniture" for an image-concious consumer.

A good stand -- very sturdy; I was nervous based on the picture. The quality of the wood is good too.

If you have enough components to fill it, and plan on connecting those to other items (speakers, tv, etc.), it can be very challenging to run all of the cables through the cable hiding system in the back. A very minor complaint for an overall very nice stand....

This is actually the third Sherwood receiver that we have bought. We bought an entry level Dolby Pro-logic home theater package, with the 4050r receiver. This receiver is definitely a cut above the older one. This one has much better push through the high and low ranges than our old one. Even without a digital source, the clarity from the receiver is excellent. For an entry-level digital receiver for someone on a budget, I believe this receiver would be an excellent choice.

This surround receiver is a tremendous value for what you receive - both Dolby Digital and DTS decoders built-in, numerous functionality available only on more expensive receivers, etc. Its lower power (60 watts per channel) makes it most suited to smaller home theater speaker systems (I have the Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble IV). The receiver also does not offer S-video out. The RVD6095R is a great receiver value and has all of the features of its highly rated sibling, the RVD6090R. I highly recommend it for those wanting a highly versatile home theater receiver but who don't want to spend a lot or those who have smaller speakers to be driven by it.

Sounded great for a short while. Fuses keep blowing so something is very wrong. Hoping Amazon takes care of this one ... we'll see. Depressing to have something that should work yet won't ... I never cranked it up or drove it hard.

Stay away from Audiosource.

I was on the email list awaiting amazon to stock this item. I grew impatient since i have been on this list since the beginning of 2002. I ordered from an online competitor since i did not know of any retail stores in Atlanta that would carry this model of sub. I paid almost 50 dollars more per sub (I bought two). I still think that they were worth the price. I just wish i could have gotten them for Amazon's price.

I have a huge stereo with 3 reciever/amplifiers daisy chained together to supply 5 pairs of loudspeakers and one passive sub. One sub just wouldn't do, no matter what it's size. Boy was i wrong. One SW-15 could have done the job quite well. But i have two of them and the house shakes from foundation to roof. I have to check and see if my neighbors are home or not to see if i can turn these subs up or not.

I want to address a couple of issues from other reviewers. No banana clip connectors, wah wah wah, if you have them on your speaker cables, just clip and strip to get bare wire, problem solved.

The speakers plunge deep and unrestrained. The lowest of lows is as forceful as those in the upper register of sub frequencies.

Yes, these speakers did sound "tubby", but since i had two of them, i put one on left channel, and one on right channel which eliminated a lot of the tubbiness from playing both right/left channels through one speaker. I am also planning to add more polyfill to these cabinets (which another reviewer suggested) which should provide more definition.

Finally let me address the issue of price, the reason it is much cheaper is because Audio Source isn't as prevailant in the market as Pioneer, Sony, Cerwin Vega, etc. But that's just it, you aren't paying for the name. You are paying for the product only. Which is what makes this one of the best subs on the market. I am completely happy with my subs and turn them up every chance i get.

If you are planning on buying one of these, go right ahead, you won't be upset. If amazon is stocking them, buy it right away, they sell out fast. If you should be like me and decide to buy them elsewhere for a bit more, you still wouldn't be wasting your money.

As many others were before me, I too was skeptical of a 15" sub at such a low price. But I figured, what the heck, if it sucks, I can always return it. After a couple days, I decided it was a keeper.

Out of the box, it is indeed tubby. The really low end was there, but at a much diminished volume. It had issues with definition. The raw power though, my god man! This sub will bring out the harmonics of an entire house. Play something with a bass sweep in it and you will understand what I mean. It gets seriously boomy and muddy at anything over 100hz. The power switch is upside down by normal conventions (up is off, down is on).

Off to the store we go to get some polyfill. I bought 2 pillows that were on sale, ones with polyester filling. Upon arrival at home, I cut the pillows open and pulled the stuffing out. Then, I unscrewed the subwoofer, pulled it out and began stuffing the inside of the box. I put about four inches if not more of polyfill on every wooden surface inside that box. I made sure to cover the ports as thats the way it came. I put everything back together, plugged it back in, hit play on the cd player, and listened. The bottom end magically appeared! The bass tightened up so much, and all the little subtleties appeared. An absoultely amazing difference for a $7 mod and 15 minutes of time. This sub really *will* compete with other subs that go for hundreds more.

4 stars for music
5 stars for home theater (This is the one you are looking for, I can't say enough)
5 stars for value

Strengths:
Goes way deep.
Very Powerful.
Price.
Dead ringer for home theater.
Perfect sub for an already decent speaker system.
Knobs have "notches" for better feel of settings.
Will keep up with fast bass passages.

Weakness:
The mod is an abolute must. If you won't spend a little pocket change and 15 minutes of time, don't bother, you won't be happy.
Size (The manual says to hide it under a coffee table. That's some coffee table. Use it as a coffee table maybe...)
It's not a work of art by any definition.
Power switch is somewhat unconventional.
It's mush over 100hz.
Don't even try to hook this up with your $ computer speakers.
Makes you subwoofer proof your house.

This radio is by far the best sounding table radio I have ever heard. It rivals the sound of similar radios that cost $80.00 more! The bass response is superb, the highs are crystal clear, and it has good station pulling ability on FM. The stereo separation it very good, and it has plenty of volume. The controls are simple to use, and I must say, that I recommend this radio for space-limited areas. I have an ear for good sounding and mediocre sounding radios, and this one sounds great!

I was looking for a radio for my office, and I went to the local Target and found this radio. I liked the retro look (it reminded me of the radios my grandfather had on his table)! I took it to the office and everyone was commenting how cool it looked. The sound quality is good and for the price you can't beat it.

This is probably the best sound system I've ever bought. I never thought anything could be this high of quality... and for the price!



It has very good sound, good reception, big dials and a lit up display, and good bass. The best part is the audio input jack. Now I listen to my mp3 player with out the headphones. I'm amazed at how you can crank up the volume and still have great sound, especially considering how small it is. Wow!



I highly recomend this!!!

Well this is one cool looking piece of a/v equipment. But that is about it. I put this receiver up against my Onkyo which runs my home theater. The remote on the Kenwood is great for all those different components that you've mixed and matched over the years to build the perfect home theater, including IR commands for my Stewart film screen and Curtain control. But in every other category, it fell way off the mark. I used a typical 5.1 channel THX Certified speaker setup and a high end laserdisc and dvd player for sources. The Kenwood didn't have much of a problem routing video but audio was not good. At higher levels, FM channel bleed could be heard coming from the speakers. The amplifiers strained to push through programing material at higher dB's especially when all speakers were active. Eventually, the unit failed to even produce sound at all, barely spewing a whisper of what it should have been cranking out. Overall, I would give it zero stars but the remote and the fact that the unit is visually appealing redeem the 2 star rating. Save your money for a Sony or Pioneer if you're in this price range. At least they are more reliable.

The system is really loud and has excellent sound on all channels when in DTS 5.1 (DVDs and Digital Cable). You can really appreciate the bass. Also, the tuner is very accurate and I rarely get interference, something common in all other radios in my house.

Great sound but hard to set up. Looks great