Yamaha NP-S2000 Network Audio Player (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)Yamaha was a little late with this product, however, this is the direction music has taken. CD ssales are slipping and someday may be like the LP. This server has a much better digital to analog converter than my $1800 CD player. Interface to the PC was easy. One DISADVANTAGE is that it will not read anything greater than 96k - 24 bit files. It's a high end music server that does not read high end audio files!

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Let the Yamaha NP-S2000 become your home audio hub. This network player acts as the gateway between music locked on your CDs, PC, or other devices and your home theater system. It offers simple, full control of your music library wherever you are, with a richer, wider data stream than the standard DAP interface. All your music is now ready to be discovered on your home network.

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LG LHB975 1100-Watt Blu-ray Home Theater System, Gloss Black Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased this system in May of 2010. When it worked, it worked great and I really enjoyed the quality of the blu-ray player and sound.
About a week ago the wireless subwoofer stopped working. It has power but will not link up with the wireless receiver. I tried everything I could possibly do and couldn't get it to "remate" (connect) again. I then called LG and they were unable to fix it.
LG offered to repair the system but they wants me to spend $70.00 for them to look at it and this does not include shipping. From what the customer service representative told me, the 1 year warranty means that regardless of the cost to repair, my cost is capped at $70.00. I'm not sure how that qualifies as a warranty but according to LG it does.
What is troubling about this issue is that this problem does not appear to be an isolated incident. I searched the internet for reviews from people who owned the system. There are a number of people who are having this exact same problem after using the system for about 6 months. Mine started in just 5 months. It's starting to look like this product has a defect.
I own an LG cell phone, washer and dryer, and this blu-ray theater system. I've never had a problem with any LG product before. I'm surprised that LG would put out a product that seems to have a systematic defect. I'm even more surprised that the LG customer service would be so bad and not customer friendly. This experience has really questioned my brand loyalty towards LG. At this point, they must know this product has a problem. Rather than do the right thing - which is to correct the problem and send a new unit to everyone who is having this problem free of charge - LG is instead forcing the consumer to pay for service, pay for shipping, and hope that the repair is a long term fix. I'm afraid I'll spend the money to get the system "repaired" only to have it break again in another 5 months.
Rather than deal with the nonsense I'm going through, anyone who looks at this home theater system should just avoid it.


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LG's NetCast Interface lets you easily access a vast array of internet content. This model comes with two tower speakers.

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Panasonic SC-BT330 5.1 Channel Cinema Surround Home Entertainment System Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been in the market to get streaming content on my TV for a while now. I compared this unit against the LG-LHB535. The LG has some added features.
1. Built in Wifi
2. Streaming software... which means you can stream from your computer.
3. HDMI inputs.
Otherwise the Panasonic works awesome. It's fast and responsive, easy to setup, small and sleek, and it's cheaper than the comparable LG unit.
It includes the following features.
1. Amazon video rentals... Awesome.. However it's $3 for most regular rentals and then more for HD. I'm still a bigger fan of RedBox $1 for anything... Amazon I might be holding out on your steep prices.
2. Netflix the same as everything else... other than the interface is really simple and ugly like the PS3 interface. It's not as easy to navigate and search like the X Box 360 or on your computer.
3. Youtube which is cool.
4. Picas pictures which is neat but almost useless in some cases.
5. iPhone/iPod doc that allows audio and video playback. Very cool, it charges and doesn't display the "this accessory is not made to work with your device" message.
6. Blue ray, DVD, burned DVD's etc.
7. Two fiber optic inputs that allow you to plug in your infamous HD DVD player or some other audio sources. Would have liked to see HDMI here... LG has it.
8. Viera Link which is cool if you have a Panasonic TV like I do. It turns the stuff on off etc by communicating over the HDMI cable.
9. The sound is AMAZING for as cheap as this unit is. The speakers are crisp and clear. Very nice surround sound. I had a Sony STR-K750P, and this Panasonic system is way better.Overall the packaging was slick with everything well packaged for shipment. I couldn't find the electronic version of the manual online anywhere. The specs say it's wireless ready, which means it has a USB port on the back that you have to pay $100 to get the $5 Panasonic WIFI dongle. Total rip off. I just hard wired.
The menus are not quite as elegant as the Apple TV, it also has this hard switch thing.. Basically if you need to adjust any settings, it unloads the web content dashboard thing, then takes you back to the DVD menu. So there is a bit of a lag making adjustments. I don't understand why they just didn't layer the menus and then reload if your settings require it. It also has some sort of quick on feature. Basically if you start it up from scratch, AKA no power supplied, it takes about 30 seconds to boot.. So they added this quick boot thing which makes the unit run in some kind of a standby. It tells you it will consume slightly more power while in this mode. I did have a couple times where the web interface streaming thing had garbled text, I tried powering on off, but it doesn't fully reboot if you use the quick boot. In order to get it to fully reboot, you have to turn it off, then unplug the power and re-connect.
The manual isn't very descriptive and there is a lot of technical jargon as you wade deeper into the settings. Lots of color control, bit level, sound stuff, display stuff etc.
It does have the capability to adjust the surround and EQ levels while playing. It's not entirely intuitive, and the manual is wrong, but it works. When you use the buttons on the bottom of the remote to adjust the surround, it displays on little screen on the unit, the levels. In the manual it tells you to use up and down to adjust these. I must have wasted 20 minutes on this part before I tried left and right and then it worked. Looks like Panasonic needs an updated manual. The firmware on the unit is 1.0 which hopefully means there will be some software updates sooner than later. It would be nice to see layered settings menus, and they have some room on the dash board for new content.
The unit is so new that if you use a Logitec Harmony remote, it won't detect your unit yet. I had to use the older model Bt-300 or something to get my Logitec remote to work.
anyhow.. thats my review... Enjoy!

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Get your home theater going right out of the box with the Panasonic SC-BT330 home entertainment system, which includes a Blu-ray Disc player/amplifier plus a complete 5.1-channel surround sound speaker system. The Kelton subwoofer adds impact to your movies and music with dramatic deep bass, while the two tallboy front speakers add dramatic visual impact to your home theater.

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Fail-Safe 20 W Long Range Professional FM Transmitter CZH-15A with HI/LO Mode (20 Watt / 1 Watt) + FREE 1/4 Wave GP Antenna Review

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(More customer reviews)bought this for a local info dissemination system in Ghana africa and am blown away! its just as described. so JUST BUY IT. sorry i cant give u more than 5 stars

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Marantz NA7004 Network Audio Player (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)Have had this for 3 days now and am very happy with it. The first thing I did after setting up was to download the firmware update. Sound quality is very good using the optical output - especially if you use lossless material like FLAC. Through the optical output I would say sound coloration character is "neutral". I have read reviews elsewhere that say sound quality was uneven while using the analog outs. My past experience with Marantz leads me to believe that break in of at least a hundred hours is necessary for those type of analog output stages to "flatten up. I tested the unit with 320 AAC files, 24 bit 96 khz FLAC, and WAV files and very good sound was obtained. Internet radio is the best sounding of any unit I have ever used. I am foremost a fan of vinyl but I can truly say this unit makes digital files "listenable". Much better sound then I expected . I hear no evidence of fatique at all.
I went ahead and purchased the 50 buck firmware upgrade to enable airplay functionality with Apple Ipod, Itunes, iPad products and tested it all tonight. Very satisfying. I connected an iPod to the unit and that also worked very well.In conclusion I feel the unit is worth the price and recommend it.
So what are the "cons'? One I can think of is that it is outrageous that Marantz does not provide the Airplay firmware upgrade free of charge to people buying the product today. The other things I dislike is that the unit will not decode 24 bit 192Khz FLAC files or Apple Lossless ones. You are however able to play Apple Lossless files stored in Itunes on your computer or iOS devices via Airplay and sound quality is excellent.
Is this unit for the rabid audiophile with a 100k system? Probably not. It produces great sound for a mid range system though and I feel a large portion of listeners will be very happy with it.

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VIZIO E3D420VX 42 Inch Class Theater 3D LCD HDTV with VIZIO Internet Apps Review

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(More customer reviews)I was impressed with how well this TV produced flawless 3D effects without any ghosting at all. 3D Blu-ray movies appear brighter and even more rich in color through the polarized glasses. As opposed to some of the active shutter glasses I have tried out, the lightweight polarized glasses are less strenous on both the eyes and the nose they rest on. The TV also works well with the PS3 and generates an immersive 3d gaming enviroment. While I was easily able to link my computer to it through the hdmi port to play my downloaded 3d content, I was a little dissapointed that I could not access 3d controls while trying it on the RGB port. I also could not find a way to make it work with nvidia's 3d vision. However, I am hopeful that Nvidia will provide support for this TV in a future driver release. The TV can normally autodetect 3D content but when it doesn't you can push the 3D button on the remote for easy access to the SBS, TB, or Sensio 3d settings. The wireless setup was very quick and easy and involved no more then picking out my network and typing in my password. I also really like the one touch buttons for VOD, Netflix, And Vudu. The full QWERTY keyboard on the reverse side of the remote allows for painless browsing of online movies and TV shows. In conclusion, for the features, screen size, quality and price of this TV set, it's a fantastic bargain and I fully endorse it.
IMPORTANT NOTE -- When using the TV for gaming, make sure film mode is off or you will experience massive input lag.
Update: after a bit of tinkering I have found that the TV works flawlessly with IZ3D drivers on the interleaved setting, you don't even have to put the tv in 3d mode for it to work and it produces some truly amazing pc 3d gaming immersion. Don't even bother with nvidia 3d vision its a dead end on this tv, the IZ3D software works with both ati and nvidia cards.

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3D Technology Checklist
This product is 3D-related. To help you get a great 3D experience, use the checklist below to ensure you have everything you need. 3D viewing requires:

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VIZIO M420SV 42 Inch Class Edge Lit Razor LED LCD HDTV with VIZIO Internet Apps Review

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(More customer reviews)I spent months looking for a TV and finally found this one. After comparing different models i decided on this one for the price. The LED LCD screen at 42" is big enough for all your needs, home theater, casual watching, video games. its excellent, the TV is light and thin due to it being a flat screen and all :P. easy to use menu and set up. the only downside is you cannot turn off the WiFi on it. which tbh isnt really a down side. ive owned it for 2 months now and love it, so my suggestion if you are looking for a TV this is the one

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Internet-Ready Television

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Samsung HT-C6600 Blu-Ray Home Theater System Review

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(More customer reviews)I was originally planning on getting the 6500, but couldn't find one locally. During that search, I ran into a store that had one 6600 left and it was on sale, so I went ahead and got it. The only apparent difference that I've found is the 6600 has Bluray 3D capability, but other than that they seem pretty identical.
Setup was relatively easy. Everything is color-coded and Samsung has their own little speaker wire plug, so it's hard to screw up. That makes it easy, but more difficult to do any kind of customization of your own with other speakers. The speaker calibration seemed to work pretty well, although now and the audio track randomly gets out of sync on occasion, requiring a re-boot to reset things. So far this has only happened when I've been watching the DVR, so I'm not sure if it's specific to that device or input or not.
I have my Xbox 360 and HD Cable plugged into the HDMI inputs, and it plays everything well. It's great playing games in surround sound, too. That adds a whole new dimension to the gaming experience. All of it is running to a 50" Panasonic plasma TV, which has one of the best pictures in the TV business to begin with, so the video quality is awesome.
I expected the sound to be marginal at best, coming from a bit of a home-theater customization background. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it actually sounds, though, particularly when playing DVD or Blurays. Don't get me wrong here, though. This provides the most basic of surround sound, which still greatly enhances watching movies, but it does not provide the same depth of sound as much more expensive and more powerful systems. That said, the subwoofer does get low enough to simulate most sounds, and the rest of it sounds pretty good. Dialogue is the best part, as this is actually sometimes the hardest part of a soundtrack to find a happy medium for comfortable listening without having to keep the remote handy for turning it up and down as the scenes change. The Samsung finds a balance between action and dialogue where you don't have to constantly adjust things, which is proof that they have the auto-calibration down pretty well.
I have mine wired directly to my home network. I didn't even bother with the wireless dongle, as I've yet to use one that works to my expectations. Even with a wired connection to a 10gb connection, I experienced Netflix issues. The entire internet-based menu and apps system is sluggish at best, so I will probably only use the internet for firmware updates. I believe this is a Samsung issue, not my internet, for the simple reason that I can watch full HD Netflix movies through my Xbox wirelessly with no issues at all. And that's fine with me...I still play them through the Samsung surround sound, so it's not a loss, although it would be nice to see Samsung come up with a fix to smooth things out.
There are various apps and whatnot you can play with online, but the remote is clumsy and poorly designed in my opinion. It lacks any intuitive way to type, for one thing, which limits what you can do efficiently on the web. You have to create an account at the Samsung app store, and another at their internet@tv or whatever it's called site, and I just haven't had the patience to sit through it all. I have enough computers and apps already, so I guess I'm happy with just being able to play Blurays in surround sound for now. :)
For the price, I don't think you can beat what you get with this system. $450 and it does almost everything. I do wish it would tell you what resolution it was outputting to the TV and what kind of sound it was playing in (i.e. DTS, Dolby 5.1, etc). As far as I've been able to discover, there is no way to tell if it is truly playing the encoded surround signal.
Pros: Price, good sound, easy setup, better than normal auto-calibration system for speakers
Cons: Confusing remote, unexplained slow-down in internet signal run through system that makes using Netflix almost impossible.

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Be surrounded by superior sound with the Samsung HT-C6600 3D Blu-ray home theater system.

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IntelliTracks Digital Jukebox Featuring LCD Touch Screen Technology, Supports IPod/MP3, Wireless Internet, Radio Streaming, CD's & DVD's. Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought the Intellitracks Jukebox back in the spring from Game Cabinets. Before making a big purchase, I wanted to get more info. I called the factory (Game Cabinets)and talked to the factory Tech. This guy was very nice and able to answer anything I could throw at him. I wanted to have something at a party where people could pick the songs they like but still have preselected dance songs playing. It was a big hit at my last party. It has plenty of power to push a big set of speakers and subwoofer. I have it ready to hang on the wall outside on our deck but will buy another slide bracket for inside too. Game Cabinets did an excelant job on the construction. This is a very nice piece of equipment. The software will take some getting use to, but if you have any problems they can troubleshoot it remotely.
All and all I am very happy with this product.

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Viewsonic NexTV VMP75 1080p Network Media Player - Stream Netflix, Internet radios/videos & access to Twitter, Facebook w/free HDMI cable Review

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(More customer reviews)The ViewSonic NexTV VMP75 is a real mixed bag of tricks. At first glance, the device is feature packed. Not only do you get the typical features (like Netflix, internet browsing, etc), but you get playback of ISO files, which until recently has been hard to find. This device has many things going for it, but the negatives really take my excitement for the VMP75 down a notch.
This device is small and the size is great for mobility (if you choose) and for the fact that it can easily fit behind mounted TVs or stuck in a corner somewhere. Of course, no matter where you put the player, it will need to be visible for the remote. It's a nice, compact device that stays cool while running.
I loved the fact that the player would access ISO files, but in my tests the success was limited. Playback was slow at times, but that could have been my connection. However, sound would cut out and I would get a connection error at times.
As for Netflix access, it did a pretty good job. Connecting to Netflix would take some time (actually, many of features for this player took time to load and I would definitely call this device SLOW), but once Netflix was loaded up you could browse your instant queue and get going with your movie. There were a couple of instances that sound wouldn't work and I was forced to exit the Netflix feature and restart it.
Another negative to the device was that wireless was not included. I know many people have wired connections, but many do not. With most of my TVs I do have a wired connection and I tested this device both on a wired and wireless connection because I really wanted to put this in a room that had only wireless available. In this day and age, the manufacturer should include wireless. I had to buy one of the USB wireless dongles that was recommended by ViewSonic (and let me say their list was small and the devices were hard to find).
I hate to list so many negatives and not list some positive aspects, but for me, the negatives were a sore spot. For my particular purpose, this device was going to primarily serve up Netflix and it worked perfectly (minus the SLOW startup time) about 90% of the time. However, I think some better firmware from ViewSonic might fix some of the real problems. All in all, it's a decent NetFlix player, but there are too many devices on the market that can already play NetFlix well. Personally, I'd consider waiting for another model from ViewSonic.

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Streaming internet content is easy with the ViewSonic® NexTV® VMP75 Full HD 1080p network media player. Enjoy movies, videos, music and photos from your storage devices or accesscontent from YouTube, Live365, ShoutCast internet radio, Flickr and more. Now you can access the Netflix streaming platform with your Netflix subscription to access thousands of movies and TV shows instantly. The NexTV VMP75 supports a full range of the most popular video, audio and image formats and can be connected to your home entertainment system. With its web browsing capability (not available for rich Flash content) and custom RSS feeds, your connected TV experience is greatly expanded.
A full range of format support With the support of the most popular video, audio and image formats, the NexTV VMP75 offers an unrivaled and ultimate entertainment viewing experience. Additionally, with the support of DTS and Dolby, you can enjoy digital media in full surround sound with your home A/V system.

Formats supported include:

Video: MPEG1 (AVI/MKV/TS/DAT/MPG/MPEG/VOB), MPEG2 (MKV/DAT/MPG/MPEG/VOB/ISO/IFO/TS/TP)/M2TS, MPEG4 (AVI/MP4/MKV/MOV/WMV/ASF), DivX 3/4/5/6 Xvid (AVI/MKV/MP4/MOV), H.264/AVC (TS/AVI/MP4/MKV/MOV/FLV)/M2TS, VC-1 (TS/AVI/ASF/WMV)/M2TS, WMV9 (ASF/WMV)

Audio: MP3, MPEG Audio, Dolby Digital, DTS, WMA, WMA Pro, PCM, LPCM,FLAC, WAV, AAC, HE-AAC,OGG, MKA,VORBIS

Photo: JPEG,GIF, PNG, BMP,TIFF

Subtitles: SRT, SMI, SUB, SSA,IDX+SUB, IDX, AAS, TXT

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