Audio Reviews

Having recently switched to DVD, I had to replace my TEAC ProLogic with something else to go with my BOSE Acoustimass 6 system. The Sony STR DE 575 fit the bill. Great sound, more than enuff power to disturb the neighbors (!), pretty EZ to hook up and use. The DTS decoder performs superbly with GLADIATOR, MATRIX, JURASSIC PARK III...this unit has overall great performance and features at this price. Initial setup is a bit tricky - but hey, for the guys, what else would you wanna do but fiddle with all the controls for a while? The Sony does a great job with its ProLogic (not ProLogic II) and VHS tapes...why spend tons more when you can get all this for less [money]? Grab one soon!

This is the one and only mother of my entertainment system. It creates harmonic rhythm's unlike any other reciever I have ever listened to, and I have heard many. Gladiator and Saving Private Ryan glisten on this baby, and are used to their fullest extent as far as DTS and 5.1 are concerned. Plus, it pack's a harder punch than the average amp you'll pick up at your local your local wally-world. (One note: Gladiator sport's a 6.1 DTS ES feature. The difference is, rather than using five speaker's, it can be upgraged by buying a 6.1 reciever, which this is not. But after listening to Gladiator, I was more than satisfied. This bad boy from Sony spreads out the action that would be in that 6th channel into the two rear surround's. I have read several magazine articles, and those reviewer's said the same thing, and were impressed.) You are literally going to have spears, arrows, and especially Hot Fireballs flying over your head. Back right to front left.

The only real complaint, and your not going to find a reciever without a catch, the menu is not very user friendly to start with. I had to play and play around with it. It's not really a big problem, just a small hindrance.

I ordered this because I already had speaker's. You will NOT, get speaker's with this order, so take that into account also. Other than that, I stand behind this system as the one that caught my eye as a possibility and then after I got it, has become the best I have seen. Sony has great product's, and this may be THE ONE for you, like it was for me.

Helpful hint: Order an optical cable to take advantage of the incredible DTS! And, if your starting out, I recommend making absolutely sure that the DVD player you are going to buy, or have bought already, has a DTS-out plug. (It will say "DTS output" in it's features.) I recommend mine: RCA RC5215 DVD-Video Player.

i have owned this product since april of 2002, and i am more than satisfied. Performance is great and i have never had a problem with this machine. Highly Reccomended

I did read the many reviews on this site about how slow the hard drive is and how the video card was no good. Unfortunately I read it all AFTER I bought the machine.

How wrong those reviews are. This machine is VERY fast, and can handle very graphic intensive games. Examples: I tried Return to Castle Wolfenstein on this while running a file sharing program. No problem. I ran some mathematical simulation on it for about 12 hours (think 100% CPU utilization). No problem. Video playback flawless. My previous machine was a workstation with a 7200 RPM scsi drive on it and the only thing I notice different on this machine is that it is MUCH quieter than my previous.

I've owned several sony computers over the last 5 years. I can vouch for their quality after drops, dozens of trips with them, and hours of very intensive use. THis machine, after 2 months 'hammering' it, is holding up great.

I bought this product because I had a similar Walkman by Sony which I had bought about 8 years back. This Walkman exceeded my expectations. The price remains approximately comparable to the my previous Walkman, but there are a lot more features such as remote control, much better headphones and many more channel memory on the radio. The only thing that is really bad with this one is that it does not have the clip hook which you can use to clip up the Walkman to your belt. I do think that this is a good buy

The WM-GX552 walkman is very impressive. The mega bass and groove make the music sound great. The recording quality is excellent and the remote on the headphone cord works most features. The presets are easy to store and easy to scan through. The AMS is a great feature, as it can find the beginning of three songs before or after the one you are on, automatically, and then play them through. The only negative thing about the walkman is when you record off the radio, and press stop when finished, the radio also turns off, making you have to turn it back on. This however is small compared to the great sound and recording quality it is capable of. It also gets great battery life.

Mini-Discs are going to be the music media choice for the next millenium! They are smaller than CD's and have more editing options available. There is no skipping in a portable Mini-Disc player like CD players. What people don't know is that they've been around since the early 90's, and are just now getting noticed. I recommend converting, I have........Amen! *L*

This is the best thing since sliced bread. I am a DJ in a club that has two mini disk players and i would be lost without them I think everyone should at least try a mini disk just once that will be all it will take.

Okay, when I bought my Ipod, I picked up the DLO Executive PodFolio. It looked nice, and it seemed to offer the access I needed and portect the player. BUT, I couldn't effectively dock the thing because the case got in the way, similarly use with the remote while the case was closed was limited. The final straw was when I noticed the thing was SCRATCHING my 40GB Ipod...
I'd seen this thing a few times and thought it looked sort of awkward. Yet, when the DLO went in the junk pile, I couldn't find anything that suited what I figured was the suitable balance between protection, access and looks, the flipstand won out in the end.
I am completely satisfied with this case, it feels solid and flipping the door open to access the wheel is not a problem since I'm used to opening a case flap. The case offers complete access to the dock connector and the remote works fine, though sometimes I have to push down on it more than I feel comfoortable doing...
A word on the dock, it isn't a "dock" rather, it's more of a cradle, it accepts the end of a dock cable and seats it vertically so that you can put the flipstand down over it. It doesn't have the advanced functionality of the actual dock, which features and audio line-out and accepts the dock cable in the back and has its own dock connector at the top. However, it's very effective and convenient.

I'm a clumsy 14 year old, and I tend to drop things very easily. So when I bought my iPod yesterday, I wanted a durable case to protect my expensive mp3 player. I didn't want the rubber skins, because they do not keep the iPod from breaking. When I saw this, I knew it was perfect. It's clear, and is very nicely designed. Unlike the skins, it doesn't take away from the iPod's beautiful design. The flipstand is also convenient for when you want to put it on a table. The dock is also very awesome, because my 10 GB iPod did not come with an included dock. It makes charging and syncing extremely easy. The plastic is very durable, annd I am extremely pleased with my puchase.

This is awsome it does every thing and more. i sugest that you also get an expansion card i got a one gigibite card and it holds alot more than what you would think i would also get pocket tunes it plays wma and mp3

As a long time PDA user (Palm OS and Pocket PCs) I was always looking for the latest, greatest new piece of tech. The Zodiac's specs and price impressed me so much that I started my own news and community site for it.

I bought the Zodiac 1 back when they first came out (end of November, 2003). It's compatible with most any Palm OS application and there's tons of freeware and inexpensive shareware apps to be found. While Tapwave is hyping this as a gaming console, it's really a do-everything device. Pair it with a Bluetooth cell phone and you can surf the internet or check your email. Pair it with a Bluetooth GPS and you can use it to navigate you around town or across the country. It has a Yamaha sound chip which gives you MP3 playback superior to an iPod and you can even play music in the background while you play games or do other things.

The library of cutting edge games is a little small right now, but it's growing. And, like I said, there's TONS more that you can do with this thing besides just gaming. But if you do want it for gaming, consider this...it's got a 3.8" diagonal 480x320 pixel screen, an analog controller, several action and shoulder buttons, and support for multiplayer gaming over Bluetooth. And Tapwave isn't being greedy with some proprietary nonsense either. You can use regular old SD memory cards to expand your storage space for MP3s, videos, applications, and games. Yes, you can download games over the internet and store tons of them on one single SD memory card rather than carry around dozens of cartridges.

If you want to take advantage of some of the advanced features, sites like Tapland will help you along. Plus, there's lots of useful game, productivity app, and accessory reviews there.

If you want more built-in storage, you can pay an extra $100 for the Zodiac 2, but my personal recommendation is to get a Zodiac 1 and use the extra money to buy a really huge SD memory card.

this was easy to put together, very sturdy and works great. worth the money.

Went together in a snap. The pick-up-at-Circuit-City thing was cool... just showed up and everything was ready, no talking to sleazy salesmen. I'll do that again.

No other radio is as good as this one for portability, great sound, and great reception. It is water resistant and I have taken mine into the shower without problems.

Best is to take this when working outside and get the rich full sound you can't get with radios 10 times the size.

For most stations, I don't even pull the telescoping antenna up, only on the weak distant stations.

The rechargable pack gives you an amazing long amount of play time before needing recharge.

The Model One has a slightly bigger speaker which gives it slightly better sound, but that one is not portable. I have two of each of these radios, and end up using the PALs more, because I can carry them from room to room, use them in the shower, take them outside, use them in the kitchen.

This was the very last radio Henry Kloss designed before his death. He also designed the Model One, but none of the others in the Tivoli line besides the PAL were his ideas. He would have cringed if he saw the way they turned his ideas into clock radios and stereo versions with all the other features he didn't want in the radio. He wanted them simple, without any gimmicks, and that is what this radio is.

You will have a real "Henry Kloss" original if you get this one.

I discovered this radio at friends house. I intend to buy one for myself as soon as I save up the money. The design of this radio is nothing short of "cool" in its simplicity. Though it looks plain, you can tell by the heft of it that it's going to be better than your average radio. It is built solidly, with minimal surfaces to collect dust(which would make it the perfect job site radio).
When you turn it on the speaker makes one of the rich bass "pumff" type noises that bigger stereos make as the speakers come on. It has the sound quality that I've heard from Boss acoustic wave machines. Okay, maybe not that good, but very impressive nonetheless.
The nicest feature for me is the tuning knob. The knob that you turn has a five to one ratio to the outer indicator knob. This allows for easy fine tuning, great for the crowded parts of the radio spectrum.
And finally the reception is nothing short of the best I have ever come across. I live about 80 miles from the radio stations I listen to. Sometimes my favorites just don't come in. Not with this radio. In fact I discovered some Seattle stations I'd never heard before.
If you like owning the best, and can cough up the money, buy this baby. You'll be glad you did.

I have had my yellow Tivoli for about 2 years and it sits on my desk at work. I either listen to the radio, or use the aux to plug my ipod in or my laptop.
The sound this little yellow box puts out is a-mazing.

If you like to listen to radio and need to bring it with you (from room to room, camping, backyard, etc.), then this is the one. The sound is fantastic and clear; the reception strong, and the design well done. Easy to carry, easy to hold, easy to recharge.

Strange that I could think so fondly about a radio.

Toshiba makes quality TVs, still own 20-inch that is about eight years old, never experienced a problem. Nice picture, even facing sun. I considered buying flat screen for this reason but I am glad I made a decision to wait a while on paying for a more expensive set. I do have to adjust the antenna when changing channels, but it's worth it to receive the quality picture (hopeful that once the satellite is hooked up, this won't be a problem), currently just a little grainy. Happy though.

I have always been impressed by Toshiba's televisions, and this one is no exception. I purchased this TV last week, and I am thoroughly satisfied with my purchase. The picture looks great (especially DVDs through the component video inputs), the sound is way above average for a TV in this range, and the features are equal to what you'd find on pricier brands. Basically, Toshiba gives you the quality you want but without the huge pricetag. One thing made me sad though: only one set of Component Video inputs. So if you want that high quality Xbox experience in addition to DVDs, you'll have to switch it through your receiver (which is what I do). Anyway, great TV and great price.