Sony Ericsson W395 Quad-band Cell Phone - Unlocked Review

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(More customer reviews)The 395 is for all intents and purposes a walkman... I had the opportunity to use this phone for a week and within that time found things likable and some not. Firstly, the good stuff... This phone is LOUD! compared to other walkman "esque" phones sone produces, this phone is capable of blasting music at literally half the level of the others and still is louder. The slide system is quite easy to open close... as well as carrying the basics everybody who wish for music to have in a walkman phone... bluetooth, m2 memory card, headphones etc. Call quality is pretty good and that volume helps a lot.
Now the not so good news... The first thing you'll realize is just how smooth this phone is... it doesn't inspire confidence it'll stay in your hand... not to mention the phone is a small phone so in large hands like mine it tended to feel like it'll fall out. Also the keypad though nice to look at for its smoothness isn't the best thing for text messaging people... also not an advantage with big hands. Sony designed this phone to be more basically a music phone than feature ridden and you will find that out when trying to download themes... these isn't any, or at least I was unable to... doing some digging it seems that many others were unable to do so as well. Also, Sony Ericsson was a bit stingy with the pixel quality of the screen... it really isn't the sharpest LCD to look at and at 176 x 220 sizes, you'll feel like you were watching an old Motorola v600 rather than a New Sony Ericsson w395. The menus are all basic, and some of the commands are a little dull. The camera isn't the best quality at 2mp, but it does its job.
All in all, if you are looking for a phone in which music is your priority, and not so much the screen quality and features, then buy this phone without hesitation... you'll thank yourself for doing so. But if you are like me who needs a slightly bigger phone and more image quality and features phone wise, then try another in the walkman range... the w760i and w705a are good alternatives in that sense.

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Onkyo TX-SR876 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have had this receiver for several weeks now. I was a little leary about purchasing this unit as it was being used in a room that does "double-duty" of being a place where I listen to high-end analog and digital music along with occasional use of a home-theatre. The primary purpose is music reproduction and I was tempted to go with tube-style amps and other gear in support of my vinyl record collection. But since there are always compromises in this area (space, money, etc) I decided to take a chance with this Onkyo. All I can say is WOW. I run 5.1 channels with bi-amplification on the front speakers (my one concession to music versus video). The sound reproduction is excellent. I have done a lot of comparison shopping and looked at a lot of different systems and I would have had to spend over $4-5K on hybrid tube amps to get sound better than this.
In terms of home theater, it is even better. It performs as advertised. Set-up was a breeze and the audessy is a pleasure to use and instantly "balanced" my room. For home theater use, it is incredible. Ground-shaking lows, booming sound when appropriate yet the most subtle sounds (such as dialogue at a low level) is outstanding. Some reviewers complain about it running hot. I have mine outside of any cabinet (top shelf of a component stand) and have run it for hours at 75-80% of max volume with no problems.
My two complaints are: The remote as the buttons are a bit hard to read in dim light (even with the back-lighting) and it only has 3 digital optical inputs. Given I use seperate CD and DVD players, along with a Laser Disc and other digital sources, I had to use the alternate digital cable connects. Not a big deal, I just expected more digital optical inputs.
In summary, if you are looking for a leading-edge video processing unit that has outastanding home-theater characterstics at a low price, then this is definitely it. Throw in the fact that it processes music far beyond the expectations one would have for solid-state receiver (especially at this price point) and you really have a great unit.
If you do decide to buy this, please note the dimensions and weight. This is a large, heavy receiver. And given the heat concerns of other posters, I would make sure it has plenty of "breathing room".

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Based on a winning design for high-definition home theater reproduction, the TX-SR876 is a comprehensive A/V processing "hub" with a deep reservoir of amplification power to draw on. Reveling in its new THX Ultra2 Plus certification, the TX-SR876 shows its class with a broad range of capabilities, phenomenal performance, and noticeable finesse.With its advanced HQV Reon-VX video processing-which enables upscaling to high-def 1080p-and supreme high-definition surround sound decoding, this receiver belongs in elite company. It's also one of the first receivers anywhere to employ ISF (Imaging Science Foundation) video calibration. From whatever movie, music, broadcast, or gaming source you choose, the TX-SR876 will impress time and time again.

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Amplivox SW610A 50-Watt Wireless Half Mile Hailer Review

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(More customer reviews)We bought one of these Amplivox units about a year ago for our nonprofit organization to use at public educational demonstrations. As an electrical engineer, I had spent quite a bit of time reviewing specifications and prices, and finally settled on this one. It isn't the cheapest on the market, but you get what you pay for.
The cone speaker is fairly directional, allowing you to control the direction in which it projects sound. In particular, you can stand to one side to avoid feedback. Surprisingly, however, the unit is not prone to feedback even if you are standing in front of the speaker, as long as you are not too close. I found that I can stand 10 meters or so in front of the speaker, with volume at reasonable levels, and still not have a feedback problem. Ideally, you are off to the side, but that's not always feasible in all locations.
Sound quality is in my opinion quite good for a public address system, but you should understand that this is a *public address system* and not a music system. You can certainly play music through the amplifier, but it is optimized for human speech and lacks the frequency response and dynamic range for high-fidelity music reproduction. In engineering design, there are always tradeoffs, and the designers were able to make this device work better for speech by intentionally limiting its response range. I have also been very pleased that the speaker has plenty of headroom, and I have not heard any clipping or overdrive.
One very nice feature of this model is that it has inputs for an extra wireless or wired microphone as well as a line-level input for connection to an external source such as an MP3 player for sound effects or background music. This feature is hard to find on equipment in this price range.
The battery life of the unit is surprisingly good. I was skeptical of the manufacturer's claim of how long it can run on "D" cells, but I have to admit it really does run a long time. We bought the 12 volt adapter (and I recommend this if you're going to run it all day), but for most short presentations (up to 3 or 4 hours) I just use the inboard "D" cells.
The manufacturer calls this a "half mile hailer". I haven't tested it at that range, but I would believe the claim based on what I have observed. With the volume at about 40% to 50%, we are able to give educational presentations in very crowded outdoor venues such as a town festival.
The wireless microphones are of very high quality, with no discernable difference in fidelity between wired and wireless in my tests. They operate on different radio frequencies and have so far been immune to crossover in our usage. These are expensive microphones, but as with the amplifier you get what you pay for. My only caveat is that using the wireless microphones properly does require some training. Anyone can learn it, but audio novices may need some practice to get the mic placement right.
My overall opinion is that this PA system does exactly what its manufacturer claims, and does it very well. I would not recommend it to professional musicians because its sound quality is not optimized for that application. But within its intended application -- public address -- it is a high-quality, rugged, reliable performer that is well worth the money.

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Sony LBT-ZX99i 5-Disc CD Changer Mini Shelf System with Play Exchange Review

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(More customer reviews)When looking at the stereos that you had I saw this stereo I said why not, it looks good, the ratings from cusomrs wer good and the discription of the stereo sounded good. When it arrived we hooked it up and we give it a 5 star because its great. Easy to hook up, easy to program, and the ipod hookup is great. It was a great buy for the money. The sound has great clarity.

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