Audio Reviews

I was quite impressed with this unit until I tried to play a fourth tape. That's right, got to play three tapes for my 160 bucks.

Apparently the drive belts have started slipping on both wells. Usually starts a couple of minutes into a tape and usually clears up right at the end. In between is barely recognizeable as music. Cleaned the heads, retensioned the tapes on other decks - no go. All the tapes that won't play correctly on the JVC play just fine on two other older, cheaper decks.

This is a high quality unit at a moderate price. It has a solid feel to it; the controls operate surely and quietly; the tape transport is quiet; the sound quality rivals that of CDs. I cannot distinguish the sound of recordings made with it from that of the original source. Features such as AMS work perfectly. Even now there is need for a fine tape deck; this is one.

I bought this model after owning an older receiver by JVC. It is loaded with features; high speed dub, continuous play, auto stop, auto reverse, Dolby B and C, and my favorite, the JVC receiver remote works this as well, even though it is years older. I am very pleased with the quality of JVC products. I own the receiver, cassette deck, and 5 disc carousel. They are all very reliable, as they have never needed even the smallest repair. Even long after the warranty ran out, they work perfectly.

Sound quality is very good on this deck. I have cassette tapes that hiss or drag in lesser quality decks, but will play beautifully in this. I am impressed with the quality of cassettes recorded with this deck as well. I record cd's onto cassette for use in the car, so this gets a real workout. All the tapes recorded sound as good as the ones that come pre-recorded.

I am also pleased with the controls on this. Everything is easy to read and operate. No confusing buttons or knobs. Even the back of the deck where you hook up the wires is self explanatory. They are marked so that you never have to open the owners manual.

In overview, this is the best cassette deck I've owned yet. I've owned Teac, Pioneer and Sony, and from now on I will stick with JVC products. I can't say enough about this deck. It is reliable, good sounding, inexpensive, and easy to operate. This is the best value out there.

These cables preformed as well as a set of [$] cables on my new 30" Wide Screen HDTV, even at 1080i. I am not sure what the increase in price was for, maybe the gold plated connectors or thicker insulation.

I can't really recommend these over a cheaper set unless you have a problem with corrosion in your home (the only reason to have gold plating is to reduce corrosion, it does not provide enough difference in conductivity to matter) or you are going to be running your cables next to a source of a lot of interference, like a computer with a glass window on the side.

Save your money for something else that matters, or do like I did, take it back get a refund, and a new DVD player for the same price!

These cables WILL significantly outperform cheaper cables, as long as you have equipment good enough to take advantage of their quality. A system is only as good as the weakest link, and I have a feeling someone who returns a $100 cable and buys a 'DVD player for the same price' has several links in his system that are considerably weaker than these cables. If you have a $100 DVD player, you shouldn't buy $100 cables. If you have good equipment and you're looking for cables that will allow your system to show it's potential, these will definitely impress you.

I recently purchased a Widescreen projection TV and wanted the best cables for viewing movies from my progressive DVD player. In one word these cables are "Outstanding". I will never go back to S-video. I have always been a fan of Monster Cable products and the THX Ultra series does not dissapoint. Picture playback was crisp and sharp compared to my S-video set-up. Two thumbs up.

Smaller and less noisy than the Act400. I managed to trade my Act400 for this for the weekend to try out, and found it much better for sporting activity.

B"H

ok - listen up - this piece it great - it is really small and the sound is perfect it also has amazing antiskip.

pros:
small size
anti skip
remote
id3 tag
case

cons: (this is the setbacks)
battery life STINKS!!!!!!!
the LCD is not backlit
remote doesn't have id3 tag
the price

basically this is a great piece - if you care about the size.

i suggest you get the gamecube CD carrying case - it is a perfect match.

enjoy - but think about it

Moshiach Now!

The Nike Sport ACT300 is built by Philips for Nike. I've found this a pretty tough and excellent sounding portable. So tough I brought it to Iraq with me and used it throughout my year-long stay there.

Drawbacks? There are a few. The battery life is terrible and the lack of AM/FM is something that I wish would be remedied. The absolute worst drawback is the difficulty in placing and extracting the AA batteries. Terrible, especially considering the thought put into the rest of the design.

On the positive side sound quality is excellent for a portable cd player, the anti-skip works well and it gives the user several options such as repeat and shuffle. The Nike's build quality is also of a much higher standard then even most "sports walkman" players.

I highly recommend the Nike ATC300.

Did a side-by-side comparison at home with my old Yamaha DSP-A1 (which is Dolby Pro-Logic only) and I honestly didn't hear any improvement over the Yamaha after about a week of watching THX certified DVDs on a Sony Elite player with very good Paradigm speakers (7 speaker configuration for Onkyo, 5 for Yamaha). Actually I preferred the Yamaha which had a warmer and richer sound. The Onkyo is going back to Circuit City this week.

This is an awesome Reciever. The person who rated this with only two stars has no idea how to test a reciever of this caliber. I used a 7.1 channel Cambridge Soundworks speaker system to test this monster(T500's), also compaired it against a real reciever(Harmon/Kardon 525) and it did more than advertise. The seven seperate powered channels alone speak for themselves(which no other company makes).

This is Onkyo's best product for the price and it doesn't disapoint! THX only gives certification to the best built recievers which usually cost serveral thousands of dollars. I have this one and love it. In order to maximize the benefit of this system you have to hook up a decent speaker system. I used Bose direct/reflect system and makes for a 'theater like' experience. This unit is worth every cent!!

Do not expect this product to work with any D-Link ethernet device, e.g. router, switch, ethernet to wireless bridge. Also don't expect any type of tech support. The people you end up talking to expect an education from you.

If you want to stream mp3's from your PC, this product only works with an old version of MusicMatch Jukebox v7.2 MusicMatch in general is very unstable and I for one cannot get it work at all in Windows XP. It does work though when I log in as Administrator.

If you have a lot of time on your hands to try and get this stereo working properly go ahead and give it a try.

The MCI-200 Streamium was given to me as a Christmas present. I plugged it in, attached speakers (easy), and connected the ethernet caple to my router. WALAH! It worked! I was instantly listening to my favorite mp3 internet radio stations. Doesn't display track 1 track 2 track 3 for your CDs but actually goes through an online service to get track titles. GREAT customer support. Only con is that the AM antenna is really short.

Spencer P...

I purchased this stereo in December 2002. This is absolutely one of the best electronics buys I have made in while. On the pro side: The system was easy to install and delivered instant results without the need for a lot of technical adjustments. I have mine connected via Cat 5 cable. I primarily use this system for playing streaming audio music (vs. MP3's from my PC). The quality of the sound is excellent - CD quality. Philips provides a service they call Streamium. You can get a fairly robust set of stations with this service at no extra charge. Alternatively, if you want to create your own custom stations you will need to subscribe to a service like MusicMatch. This is what I have done. This service is fantastic. You can create virtually any combination of artists that you want as many as you want and change it whenever you want. The ease of use for the system is worth the price alone. This is a true network appliance. You do not need to be connected to a PC to operate this system. You can just walk up to the unit, turn it on, and select one of your favorite custom radio stations - it's that easy. I have had many friends over who have gone out and purchased the same unit once they've seen it in action. On the con side: Occasionally, the system drops a station - this is rare and easy to correct simply by repushing the connect button. Also, I wish the unit had a digital audio interface for connecting to higher end stereo equipment. It does have a full complement of RCA jacks which actually work pretty well for that purpose. There is a wireless version of this system which you might consider. It wasn't available when I purchased my system. The system is sized for a den type setting. It would be great if they offered a higher end version or a version that you set along side your main sound system. All in all this is truly an amazing stereo. It has changed the way I listen to music. I highly recommend it!!

Thought Polk would actually get a center channel right this time, so I took a chance and bought the CSi40. Muffled sound with sparse mid-to-high end sound reproduction. Terribly disappointed, especially since I wasted $... for the darn thing. Go with a Klipsch center for the type sound reproduction a center channel is supposed to provide.

I own two Polk RT800I tower main speakers, two Polk F/X1000 surrounds, Polk CSi30 rear center, CSi40 front center, and a polk PSW-650 subwoofer. All of this is bolted to a Kenwood VR-6070 THX rated 100 watt per channel 6.1 receiver and a Mitsubishi HD 73" widescreen gold rear projection TV. I have but two words: POLK RULES! I no longer go to the local mall theater because my system sounds better. I just wait until the movies go dvd and play them on my Samsung HD931 dvi rated dvd player. With dvi there is no digital to analog conversion. It uses a 24 pin cable for digital to digital video transfer with no signal loss. It's better than Proscan. It is the most advanced video process on the market. I also use optical cable to ship wide band audio directly from the dvd player to the Kenwood eliminating signal loss through the T.V.
But getting back to the Polk CSi40 - it's a hard driving dual 6.50" woofer plus a 1" liquid cooled silk dome tweeter system that will walk the dog. Get one, you'll like it.
You can buy professional studio speakers with better specs but the costs are in the thousands. I've owned, JBL (James B Lancing), Marantz, Boston Acoustics, Bose, etc, but I always come back to Polk. Trust me, I know what I'm talkin' about.
Fred

The biggest mistake of rookie, fast to shoot critics of speakers is not breaking in the speaker. A great speaker must be "broken" in for up to 100-200 hours at a low volume to show its worth. Just put on the radio at 10% volume before you take off for a weekend. When you come back you will be very impressed.

Sorry about the lesson but i had opinions like the previous critic before an industry vetran showed me the ropes. Now my polks SING. Polk has literally destroyed my other "reference" series speakers, just give them some time.

best,

jaz

el producto al parecer es bueno,pero faltan datos tecnicos, como para poder interezarse en el producto. el precio es conveniente

Don't judge this unit by the price! Sherwood has put together a powerful 325 receiver system that needs to be heard to be believed. You can't go wrong with the Sherwood RVD-6090R!

Looking for a inexpensive yet great sounding surrond receiver? This is it! Just enough bells and whistles that makes it useful, but not too much that won't be used or confusing to use. Does the job and does it well.

Really great bass sound though the treble could be a bit better... this could be a result of 10 year old JVC speakers, but I think it is the system. still if you are on a budget and looking to build an audio center, this is a good place to start. Even at almost max volume, there is no distortion. I live in an area with poor radio reception, yet I get NPR crytal clear... and in STEREO!! Usually I have to settle for putting the station on FM mono. I have my Dish Network receiver and DVD player hooked up and everything sounds great. Maybe I will splurge for some new speakers... after all I can hook up two pairs and I'll see if there is any difference.

This a good quality receiver. The price is comparable with most of the other receivers in this class. The big difference that I see is legendary Sony quality. I own many Sony products and have been pleased with their performance. I think this is one instance where a "name brand" will pay off. Sony doesn't make any "junk products"!

i JUST RECENTLY PURCHASED THIS SONY RECEIVER FOR MY NEW HOME THEATER i JUST PURCHASED. sO FAR I AM PLEASED WITH IT. STEW

I bought this Walkman because my old one broke down, after almost ten years of faithful service. This new model has a better ergonomic design - I love the plastic case. And I'm glad they finally put the belt holder the right way round this time!

The sound quality is much better than my old one. Tape playback is excellent, almost CD quality. And the anti-rolling mechanism is a godsend - thank you Sony! The mega-bass doesn't seem to add much oomph to the sound though.

There are two features that should've been included with this model - recording and a switch so you could automatically change sides. Because these two features weren't implemented, I gave it 3 stars instead of 4.

I bought this headset to help motivate me while I run because it is HUGELY cheaper than most sports cassette/am/fm sets. It is a great accompaniment to my workout. The sound quality is very good (for both cassette and am/fm) and most (not all) local stations come in very clearly. The one-touch system allowing you to switch stations from pre-set to the next pre-set is handy so you can keep your workout going and still make changes as needed. The lock prevents random switching of stations or hitting buttons unintentionally. The downside is that the clip on the provided case works fine if you are just walking around but really is inefficient for a higher activity level and it doesn't fit nicely into your hand for an easy carry so I'm still figuring out the best way to carry it comfortably. I did spend an extra few bucks and bought the earbud headphones, finding them much more comfortable and stable than the ones that come with it. You can pay double for a fancier "sports" model or buy this and get great sound quality.

I really like this walkman. I got it to replace a 5 year old Panasonic shockwave that lasted good but the radio never worked on it. The radio on the Sony has really good reception. The tape player sounds really good especially with really good tapes. It sounds 10 times better than the shockwave. on it the sound faded in and out a lot. I basically agree with the last review except that he's wrong about it being bad to not have a record feature. He obviously hasn't done much looking around at other walkmans. His old one must have record, but thats from 10 years ago. They don't have record on any of them except special expensive ones. Also the megabass on mine is the heaviest bass i've heard.

This is a good middle-of-the-road Walkman. The anti-jog feature makes this unit work well for listening while running. The buttons are in good positions for one-handed manipulation.

The sound you get is very good, but as with all portable cassette players you are at the mercy of tape alignment problems. Generally, the more expensive the player the more care is taken to keep the cassette and playback head in proper position. At $50, you can expect some problems in this area and you will find them in the WM-FS111. I've found that accidentally wiggling the PLAY button back and forth will increase and decrease the amount of treble in playback. The change is substantial, enough to make a brand new cassette sound awful. Clearly something is moving around inside the unit and it is most likely the playback head.

The standard mega-bass feature is nice when running outdoors, since bass is the first thing to go in that environment. The unit has a volume limiting feature that seems poorly considered. Basically with the limiter engaged, you have to crank the volume up to maximum to achieve a comfortable listening level. If you then turn off the sound limiting feature, the unit will assail your ears with a full volume roar of sound which may damage your hearing. You're better off being careful and conscious of volume levels yourself and not relying on this feature.

This is a fun walkman, especially for running. The strap is great. It's secure and good for keeping firmly in your hand while running. This is also good because the unit feels a bit light and flimsy and might not survive a fall. Otherwise it's a good walkman and Sony cut back on all of the gaudy yellow they have on most of their 'sports' electronics. They could include some more secure headphones, like the kind that wrap around the back of your ear. These are good but rattle around a bit which is a little distracting. Good walkman regardless.

I recently bought this cassette player and it is the best music player that i have ever bought in my whole life! It is well worth every cent. The music just flows so crisp, and clear it's like nothing you have ever heard! And it's so stylish, and the headphones are the best, the headphones fit to any sized head. This product is the best out there. Buy this product, you won't regret it!