Audio Reviews

As a long time user of Yamaha and Sony products, the choice between the Yamaha HTR-5560 and the Sony STR-DE985 was not easy.
Both have similar base functions, specs and price.
The Sony has the "bells and whistles", where the Yamaha is known for their high quality of sound.
I decided to go with the Yamaha and I'm glad I did.
After going through the instructions, I found many more options then are listed for this unit.
I also found I could live without some of the Sony extras, like multi-room output, phono audio in and the remote unit macros.
The Yamaha sound is excellent and this unit has plenty of high quality power. It also has more digital ins and outs.
The reason I rated this receiver a 4 star is I would like to have a 3 or 5 band equalizer built in,
a remote that has at least the main buttons illuminated for ease of use in darkened rooms and sub woofer out that has adjustable cross-over settings.
So, the choice is quality vs. options.
I chose quality.

This Yamaha receiver is a great mid-priced option for those who don't want to spend a fortune and yet are too descriminating for a boxed 'set.' Sound quality is clear and smooth, perfect for a mid-sized room. Sure, there are some similarly priced receivers that offer more features but I think if you listen to them with the same speakers in the same enviroment you will be pleased with the Yamaha.
The receiver has multiple inputs, but digital and analog. It also provides conponent video cable switching if you need this also. I have this receiver as part of a home theater system with a progressive dvd player, and widescreen HDTV and a nice matched set of surround speaker. I was worried at the time that the Yamaha was the weak element of the system, but not so... Dvd audio is incredible, especially using digital inputs and disks with decent Dolby 5.0 or dts soundtracks. Cd audio is also quite good and you have the option of changing the enviroment settings to suit your tastes... arena, rock, etc.
My two complaints are that the remote is not that user friendly and needs to be backlit. Buttons are small, as are the labels and the thing can be hard to use in low light. Also, there is only one digital coaxial input vs three (I think) optical inputs. This can be a problem if using multiple devices that don't all support optical cables. Hence, four stars instead of five but over all, for the price, this is a great receiver.

I was absolutely amazed at the difference a receiver can make in the quality of your sound. I had a Sony, Dolby Digital, receiver for about 3 years. Some friends had bought Onkyo receivers that put mine to shame (TX-SR600 & TX-SR800). I thought it was the DTS decoding, which my receiver didn't have, or the larger speakers. I only have bookshelf speakers, Bose 201s and VCS-10 in the front and 161s and VCS-10 in the back. Now movies at my house put theirs to shame. This receiver has all the bells, whistles and sound you could possibly want for $$$$$$$$ dollars less than its closest competitor and the Owners Manual isn't that bad.

Ps. my receiver was defective when I received it. Amazon.com had a new receiver to me in 3 working day of the notice, not when they received the item. Kudos to Amazon.com for outstanding customer service.

The TX-8511 Onkyo Stereo Receiver is an affordable, efficient way to upgrade the quality of your sound system. This receiver even made my old set of speakers sound great. I recommend this receiver for people who just want the basics for their sound system. For me, it was important to have a phono input, because I listen to records. The TX-8511 has the phono input as well as inputs for anything else you might want to hook up (e.g., CD players, multiple tape decks, etc.). It is also really quiet, with no buzz or hum whatsoever. It is clean, lean, and mean. The 100 watts per channel is more than sufficient to raise the roof, if you feel the need.

Besides its excellent performance, I also appreciated how easy it was to set up. The instructions were clear and written with simplicity, and everything is labeled clearly on the receiver itself. It only took a few minutes to get everything working. This is such a great unit that I hope that Onkyo doesn't do something ill-advised like discontinue it.

This is a great buy and has really good sound quality. Above all, it works very well with my phonograph,tape deck, casette player, and two channel speakers, which I send to two rooms. It is hard to find a receiver that works now with older components.
As one who has a vaste 33 rpm record collection, I am glad Onkyo
has this product and is selling it for a reasonable price. Note:It does not have an equalizer. By this I mean, on older stereo records that were not balanced, the sound comes out louder in one speaker than the other. The Balance control does not do much to correct this. Onkyo could improve this feature.
It does not have Dolby sound but sounds great anyway. The AM/FM
reception is good even though I have not yet hooked it up to an amplifier antenna. I highly recommend this product.

Looking for a great sounding two-channel stereo receiver at a reasonable price?

I did a lot of research on receivers prior to deciding to go with the Onkyo TX8511. I found that the ratings all over the web for this unit were very good for a basic stereo receiver, I do agree. Features I wanted in a unit was, multi-zone, 2-channel stereo, phono hookup. It had to be a basic stereo system with good quality stereo sound. I decided to purchase the unit a few day's ago at Circuit City on 2/2/04 based on reviews, I paired it up with my newly purchased Bose Acoustimass 5 speakers. I rushed home excited to here the unit for the first time only to find myself disappointed, at first. The sound from the unit was harsh and lacked base response. I decided to run a burn-in on the unit, thinking it needed a break-in period as many new components do. I loaded up the CD deck with 6 CD's, set it to loop and let it run at half volume for roughly 50 hours with the speakers switched off. WOW what a difference, I'm glad I gave the unit a chance and time to burn-in, the sound amazes me each time I listen. The Bose are still in there break-in phase the sound just keeps getting better each time. The receiver drives good crisp highs and more then ample bass response, a few tweaks to the speaker arrange and viola awesome sound system. I have been overly impressed with the sound from this receiver in all aspects. I do notice a low hiss occasionally when playing CD's in my collection; I believe it is due to poor replication/recordings that have been digitally re-mastered. The FM tuner is weak; I live in the suburbs, which contributes to the week signals received. Though my Pioneer CX770 tuner and amp that I swapped out for the Onkyo TX8511 had no problem-receiving signals. The Onkyo TX-8511 is a good solid unit; paired up with the right components I believe there is no better unit for the price. Other comparable units I considered where Denon, Harmon Kardon and Yamaha which where priced towards the $500 dollar range, I wont compare apples to oranges. I give Onkyo credit for blowing all other competition away within the $300 price range.

Other units: Pioneer CX770 tuner and amp that was replaced with the TX8511. A Sony Home Theater, which is wonderful for deep sound while viewing DVD's. Technics and Onkyo that are roughly 20 years old also exhibit signal strength issues in my area too, which I would expect from units that old.

Strengths
Great fullness & precision of sound
Neutral low distortion
Ease of use
Build quality

Weaknesses
Spring-clip speaker connections
Weak FM reception

My DCS901 MP3 disc player did not recharge the batteries recommended by Sony. I tried two different battery sets and now I'm sending the unit back in for repair. Also, I think it is too large for running comfortably. It is bulkier than the Sony Sport Walkman tape player that I previously used and I wanted to get away from that bulk. I would prefer a small flash MP3 player. Volume was almost not loud enough in noisey areas.

I was able to fit all 3 discs of Queen's Greatest Hits onto one cd.....and I still could have put on 6 more complete discs of songs......and that's only on the highest quality! First things first.....I saw a review on here with a person complaining about the beep that went off whenever you push a button and that there was no pause feature........... Read the manual......You can turn off the beep and there definitely is a pause feature (you push the play button...notice the double bar symbol under the triangle.) Anyways, this player has great sound and never skips. The radio that has the weatherband and tv features is really great. It's just an overall perfect player. The only thing that I don't like are the headphones. No, it isn't because of a bad sound quality......It's just that I don't like putting things inside my ears...especially when the things aren't a tight fit allowing them to move around and be annoying......... Anyways...... Amazing player.......I strongly suggest it.

If you are in the market for a high-end portable cd-player, this model is defintely for you. The sound quality and sampling is amazing, and it is easily the most durable portable player I've ever owned. I'd been looking for the "Sports" series for 3 years when mp3 portable players were just starting to come into the forefront, and at the time, the "Sports" model wasn't available for mp3 playback...until July. Sony has made tremendous improvements over the years, but I've always been biased towards their portable electronics since the 1980's.
The headphones are an extremely comfortable design...much improved from earlier models. Sony has outdone themselves, and hopefully Panasonic will be able to catch up to this unit, because, as of this writing, they have yet to come out with a "Shockwave" mp3 cd player. For now, if you don't mind paying a little extra money, you won't be disappointed.

I purchased this based on other reviews and were they ever right. Compact and clearly well built. This is my first purchase of a portable CD player and I suspect it could be my last. The earphones aren't adjustable and are a bit bulky relative to the portability of the set and there is loss of sound when using the remote control but the player itself is the best I've seen (I HAVE used others).

i have my philips cd player with me, during all 8 hours that i'm at work. it's pretty physical work, lifting, bending, etc, and my philips cd player has outlasted all the other brands out there. i've dropped it (several times) from several feet, which would have (and did) shattered the other players i've had. nothing has ever gone wrong with it yet, which left me very elated and content. you cannot go wrong with this player. i would give it 10 stars if i could.

this is probably the best CD player i've ever owned in my life. when i got it, i thought it was okay. i wasn't really looking for a durable cd player; just something that would last me for a while. well, i was in for a surprise! i have dropped this cd player on concrete over 20 times, and nothing has happened to it! i even take it with me when i mow the lawn!! the hold feature helps when i'm on the lawn mower or in the car. also, the ESP system is WONDERFUL! even when riding around on a bumpy lawn mower, it never skips! AT ALL! probably the best feature is the fact that this is not a batter-guzzling machine. i don't have to change the batteries often, and that saves not only money, but time, and by that i mean because the battery compartment is inside the cd cover, which could be a pain to open or a plus because you won't accidentally open it. however you look at it. all in all, this is definately a 5-star cd player.

I remember when I bought my first Walkman. It cost about 80 bucks and didn't even have a radio or auto-reverse. This portable stereo has it all and at a very reasonable price. It sounds good too and the microprocessor equalizer control helps you fine-tune the unit for your personal sound preference. The only complaint I have is that the headphones are not very comfortable. I would recommend buying a more comfortable pair of headphones to go with this player.

I bought this to listen to tapes on the subway. I was suprised at the high quality of sound from the radio and tape playback. There is minimal background noise. It is also very light weight, making it easy to carry around. The two things I didn't like are the earphones which are large and clumsy, it works better with earplugs, and the volume switch which is low set and sometimes difficult to turn to adjust the volume. Overall I am very satisfied with this product.

This unit can't be beat..great sound & great price. I use it for listening to music, talk radio and books-on-tape and it beats the $60.00 Sony I had on all counts.

ive had this TV for about 6 months now, and the only thing iregret about it is not getting the 36"! I choose this TV over thev-series wega tv simply because its color,(and it cost a few $$$ less)it had a much better color contrast than the wega, whites were white instead of light brown. I have, however, noticed a few proformance flaws. the geometry of the screen is a little off in the corners ,but the only time i really notice it is when i have test patterns on screen(this is possably due to a weak power supply). The other problem is the brightness of the set, its hard to get a perfect balance of brightness while still keeping blacks black. Other than that . . . no other non HDTV television at any price range can compete with the superflat!

This TV delivers high-quality home entertainment. I've seen the rest and bought the best. The super-flat black screen accentuates colors and contrasts better than the more expensive Sonys. When used in conjunction with DVD and a home theater you will know why I am so enthusiastic.

This TV rocks! It is very large. IT is really flat so it eliminates pretty mutch of the glare on the screen.If you want to buy a good tv this is the one for you.

I've had two previous CD/MP3 players (Philips Expanium & Rio Volt), and this Panasonic is the best so far, at a fraction of the price I paid for the others. It's not perfect -- I'd like to have a pause on the remote, would like it to restart at the time on the disc where the power was turned off, and would like a backlight on the remote. But on the plus side are the long battery life, particularly with the extra AA attachment, the absence of skipping, even on bumpy roads and hopping up and down stairs, and the sound (I use a pair of Sony NudeX buds rather than the junky buds that are included), which is excellent, and offers four different EQs. The remote operation is simple and intuitive. The unit also seems quite sturdy. I've played the heck out of it, and it plays every MP3 I've thrown at it, which I can't say for the quirky earlier models I've had (and returned as defective). If you burn your MP3s to full-size CDRs, like I do, and want something that will play regular CDs as well, this is a terrific little unit.

Outstanding Qualities
I own several Panasonic CD players, and this is a very refined CD player, with or without its MP3 capabilities. First, it's very quiet in operation, so you won't hear unmusical motor whirring or seeking while you listen intimately to bedtime music :) The audio signal is also relatively noise free, and there is absolutely no hissing noise when the music quiets down. My previous Panasonic SL-CT560 makes a high pitched noise in the headphones whenever the remote backlighting came on, but the with CT700, Panasonic fixed that, too.

Model Family Comparisons
In comparison to the CT700, the CT800 is basically the same unit with metal casing and bundles Ni-MH instead of Ni-Cd reachargeable batteries, offering twice the battery life of CT700. I chose a red CT700 based on the look. Stay away from the budget SL-CT500 and SL-MPxx models, because although they're all Made in Japan like the CT700 (a rarity these days), they apparently use lower quality electronics and have much more noise in the audio.

Comparison with other Brands
A major strengh of Panasonic CD players is their superior mechanical engineering, and you can expect much better compatibility with different CD-R/RW discs and much longer product lifetime than with Sony CD Walkmans. This Panasonic is quality built to last. The only reasons you may choose a Sony might be its second-accurate resume feature, which like cassette Walkmans start at exactly the same point in music from which you left off yesterday, and better sound quality of the top end models. But Sony's all about marketing these days, and sound quality is a mixed bag, as are reliabilty, value (pricing) and design.

I got mine off ebay for ... dollars, but even at retail price ($...+) it's worth the price. Very good battery time, even on the rechargeables.. I have played it on and off for about 2 weeks and only last night did the recharge batteries die out. The sound quality is great; before I had a minidisc player, and this surpassed the sound quality by leaps and bounds in my car, probably thanks to their MASH 1-bit DAC System, designed to inhibit distortion, a common problem with mp3 playing. cdr playing has been a relative non-problem so far, and most of my discs are 3 year old silvers.
The only peeves from me are the non-seeking ability and with the remote. It is hard to advance the tracks without turning off the player, operate it and you will see what i mean. The sound quality out of the remote is also not as good as directly out of the drive, but only slightly. Also the remote is not backlit, so it can be frustrating to see where you are at or what you are doing in the car at night. This is only small a small problem though. The remote is very simple to operate and easy to use when only using your sense of touch. All and all, i would take this over any other portable device that i've handled so far. It's light, efficient, and sounds excellent!

I was very impressed with the range of these radios. Other radios I tested also claimed to have a 5 mile range, and while they ALL failed to reach even four miles in perfect conditions, these radios managed to reach a respectable 3 miles while maintaining understandable transmissions. I was also impressed with the voice clarity of these radios. I was able to transmit without over exaggerating my speech and pronunciation. I had already bought different manufacturers radios and was highly disappointed. I had almost decided to give up on hand held radios all together until I found these puppies. I am very happy with this purchase, however, there are some things that could be improved upon. I would have preferred some kind of rubberized body to help protect against dropping or banging the radio, however they are pretty sturdy compared to most. I would also have preferred a charger base as opposed to plugging each individual radio into a separate wall outlet. Setting them in a charger base looks more professional than having radios lying everywhere charging up. Overall these radios are well worth the money and will give considerably higher priced GMRS radios a run for their money.

We just rec'd the radios via UPS and couldn't wait to try them out. Aft. putting in the battaries and reading the instruction manual, I went out around the neighborhood while my wife stayed in our apt. I was very impressed w/ the clarity of these radios. I had bought a diff. brand last yr. at Wal-Mart for hunting (in WV Natl. Forrests). They also had a 5mi. range. We were lucky if we could understand each other at 100yds and these were a major brand. Our older 2 channel Cobra Walk-abouts were better than those. Needless to say, I returned them for refund. These new Cobra's are incredible and loaded w/ features. The only thing that has me puzzled is that there's no place to clip the wrist straps that came w/ the radios. These I'm sure, will prove to be a great investment. Thanks Cobra!
Be blessed!
SN

I must say I was very impressed with the 950DX Radio. This is the first radio I have had where I did not get excessive static while talking. I tried another brand, instead of sticking with Cobra, and I will never do that again. I live in a woody and hilly area and the reception is still good, even from a couple miles away. I would definitely recommend these radios to anyone.

Pros:
plays mp3, wave, midi, kar and other format files; has composer mode; records (selectable resolution) via mic input

Cons:
No external power supply connector, eats batteries. PC software has a few bugs, don't know about the Mac s/w. Needs more generic styles than just the x-hop, mod stuff; i.e. rock, jazz, blues, pop, etc. Needs a better GUI for the "hiway/dj" mode. Fine for non-musicians, but lame if you want real control. A midi/grid type editor would be real cool. Also the headset-mic is junk, but it demos the possibilities. Last, I can't get the unit to use more than 32MB of a 128MB SmartMedia card. Tech support is good so far, but we're still working on it. As usual, most companies will or can not come out and tell you what the bugs are.

Still a way cool product, despite my cons list. I have a hunch they'll fix most of these issues.

THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE BEST PRODUCT I HAVE EVER BOUGHT. I LAY OUT LOTS OF LYRICS BUT HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO USE ANY OF THE PC MUSIC CREATION TOOLS VERY WELL. WITH THE MADPLAYER I CREATE MY OWN BEATS, BASS LINES, AND LEADS INSTANTLY AND THEN LAY MY VOICE RIGHT IN... I AM SO AMAZED BY THIS PRODUCT. INITIALLY I DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT AND WAS VERY SKEPTICAL OF WHAT IT WAS AND WHAT THE QUALITY OF THE MUSIC WOULD BE. AFTER GETTING IT AND PALYING AROUND FOR A FEW DAYS I AM JUST BLOWN AWAY BY ITS POWER. I BROUGHT IT TO A FRIEND WHO IS A MUSICIAN AND PRODUCER OF SOME LOCAL UNDERGROUND HIP HOP, HE PLUGGED IT INTO HIS SOUND SYSTEM IN THE STUDIO AND COULD NOT BELIEVE THE SOUND QUALITY AND EASY OF USE. IN A MATTER OF MINUTES WE LAYED OUT A NICE SERIES OF TRACKS TO USE ON A CD WE RIPPED.
I HAVE HAD THIS PRODUCT FOR TWO WEEKS NOW AND KEEP GETTING MORE AND MORE HOOKED ON IT. I FIND THAT I BRING IT EVERYWHERE I GO AND JUST PLAY AROUND ALL THE TIME CREATING LOTS OF GREAT MUSIC. ON THING THAT WORKS GREAT IS TO USE JUNGLE OR DRUMnBASS STYLES AND SLOW THEM DOWN AND USE THEM TO LAY RAP VOCALS OVER. I ALSO FIND THAT I USE THE FM RADIO A LOT TO SAMPLE OFF OF... THE SAMPLES ARE THEN MIXED WITH THE MUSIC IN REAL TIME. QUALITY AND FEEL OF THE MADPLAYER ARE GREAT, I ESPECIALLY LIKE THE SILKY FEEL. MY ONLY COMPLAINT INITIALLY WAS THAT I WANTED TO SAVE SAMPLES IN REALTIME IN THE SONG AS I CREATED A SONG... I FOUND OUT YESTERDAY AFTER VISITING THE MADPLAYER WEBSITE THAT THE COMPANY IS RELEASING A FREE UPGRADE NEXT WEEK THAT WILL LET ME DO THAT... I ALSO DO QUITE A LOT OF VIDEO EDITING AND HAVE BEEN USING THE MADPLAYER TO GENERATE BACKING TRACKS FOR THE VIDEOS... SINCE WHAT COMES OUT OF THE MADPLAYER IS COPYWRITE FREE "ACCORDING TO THE COMPANY" I AM FREELY USING THE MUSIC AND MAKING SOME GREAT VIDEOS AND DVD'S FOR MY FRIENDS.
IN SUMMARY, THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE MOST PERSONALLY EMPOWERING I HAVE EVER SEEN. ITS HAS GIVEN ME CONFIDENCE TO CREAT MUSIC, SOMETHING THAT I DID NOT HAVE MUCH OF A FEW WEEKS AGO.....

I saw the MadPlayer on fresh gear (TechTV) and said: well this looks cool, I am going to give it a shot. I also looked for a vendor which allowed me to return (thanks amazon.com) if I don't like it...
There is no thinking about returning the player. This little wonder is amazing... Create music and interact with it... I have to resist the temptation to play with it instead of doing my work :-)
I already created a couple of songs, tweaked, retweaked etc... Adding samples, Microphone voice with effect etc. is a lot of fun... I didn't even try the radio or mp3 player functions yet... Too much fun creating music....

It is surely a rare day when I buy a product that does exactly what I want and lives up to what the company says it can do.

Batteries fully charged in three hours, THE ABSOLUTE Winner hands down for staying power, my Toshiba digital would eat any other rechargeable, but with the Monster it lasts thru frame after frame, even with flash.(out performs projected #of frames). These people have made a friend for life!

Just a solid battery pack for your digital camera. My brother-in-law used this product a ton but then he forgot it at my house over X-mas and I've been using it ever since. Batteries seem to last longer than other times and it does charge a little faster although I don't know if that is such an issue. Monster stuff tends to be a little expensive so I'm glad he forgot it at my place.

i purchased this item and have been impressed! the power cells hold a charge for a long time!! i have not lost power when using my digital camera with these batteries. i would recommend an extra set of power cells, so that you can always have back up...just in case! but, even after a trip to disney (with lots of pictures), i am still satisfied.