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OT - compact sound system recommendation
 

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Pat Clancy
Joined: 13 Jan 2004
Posts: 1353
Location: Manchester, CT

7/30/13 7:01 AM

OT - compact sound system recommendation

I'm looking for a compact sound system - something with integrated speakers like the Bose Wave. It will be used in a seasonal cottage. Portability is important since we remove the electronics from the cottage at the end of the season to lessen the threat of burglary. I'd like better sound than is typically offered by a simple boom box, but I hesitate to spend $500 on the Bose since in-season theft is still possible.

Any recommendation on a decent system that might be under $250ish?

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Wheels
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 1160
Location: Needham, MA

7/30/13 8:06 AM

Table Top Surround Radio

http://store.cambridgesoundworks.com/dp/B00345Y144

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rickhardy
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 1492
Location: Needham outside of Boston - the hub of the universe

7/30/13 8:14 AM

Got Wifi?

http://ue.logitech.com/en-us/smart-radios

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Pat Clancy
Joined: 13 Jan 2004
Posts: 1353
Location: Manchester, CT

7/30/13 8:54 AM

no wifi

Cellular connectivity is iffy at best and while we do have cable TV, we're too cheap to install wifi for seasonal use.

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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3234
Location: Midland, MI

7/30/13 6:44 PM

+2 on Cambridge

Agree w/Wheels on the Cambridge recommendation. Direct to consumer shaves a little off the price and their stuff is generally near the top of the ratings across the board. Not super high fidelity of course, but that isn't what you're looking for. There are a fair number of good components in your price category but it's kind of pointless to spend a lot of time researching things - some will have better bass, better treble, better this or better that but none will be outstanding.

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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield

7/30/13 9:07 PM

The sound of the Bose is nice, but it has a distinct color. I call it hollow bass. They're a bargain at half the price.

If you think someone might mistake it for a pillow mint, I wouldn't buy Bose.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

7/30/13 9:09 PM

"I call it hollow bass"


It seems out of phase on the bass frequencies to me on the Bose desktop sets I have heard.

Wonder if that is the case....

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Nick Payne
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 2625
Location: Canberra, Australia

7/31/13 2:18 AM

Way outside your budget, but for a portable sound system I reckon it's difficult to beat one of these - a Beosound 1:

http://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=946


We've had one for about a decade, and since purchasing it, we use it more and more and the big separate component hifi less and less. It can fill a fair sized room with excellent quality sound. It also comes with a wall mount bracket, and we have an AUX input cable for it that enables us to use it as an iPod dock, and we have our entire collection of about 800 CDs ripped lossless onto a couple of 160GB iPods.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

7/31/13 5:11 AM

Sony has made a few over the years

I have a CMT-L1 system in my home office that has excellent sound for its size. I also happened to find one in mint condition on Craigslist for $30, which was ~1/10 of what it sold for new. Mini systems seem to be quite common in estate sales, too.

There are also plenty of small receivers out there that can be paired with small bookshelf speakers to create a simple, compact sound system.

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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield

7/31/13 6:41 AM


quote:
we have an AUX input cable...ripped lossless onto a couple of 160GB iPods
I haven't been very satisfied with the output of my smartphones / devices - headphone out- when I use the AUX input (3.5mm out to RCA in.) Are you using a headphone amp? I'm considering this FiiO ANDES-E07K amp / DAC. Do you have any recommendations?

BTW, which lossless format?

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Jesus Saves
Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 1150
Location: South of Heaven

7/31/13 7:13 AM

iHome

I use these products:
http://www.ihomeaudio.com/

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

7/31/13 11:43 AM

Go old, a pair of AR9s for example are so heavy I doubt anyone would try to haul them off. ;)

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Nick Payne
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 2625
Location: Canberra, Australia

7/31/13 2:31 PM


quote:
I haven't been very satisfied with the output of my smartphones / devices - headphone out- when I use the AUX input (3.5mm out to RCA in.) Are you using a headphone amp? I'm considering this FiiO ANDES-E07K amp / DAC. Do you have any recommendations?

BTW, which lossless format?

We're just using the headphone out to aux in on that unit. We have another B&O unit which is designed as an iPod dock, a Beosound 8, and as it also has line in, with an iPod to RCA cable I can do a direct comparison between playing through the dock and playing through the headphone out, and as far as I can tell - I have to adjust volume between the two ways of connecting the iPod - there's not a difference that I can detect between the two.

The CDs are ripped in Apple lossless format.

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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield

7/31/13 4:42 PM

For my comparison, one car has a cassette adapter, the other one uses a radio transmitter that plugs into the cigarette lighter, errr, the 12v adapter. With the devices turned up to about 80% the input compared to the radio volume is about equal. BTW, the cassette adapter sounds better.

The stereo / PC / and Bose need to be turned up stupid-loud or I can't get no, satisfaction.

Apple lossless, of course!

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ErikS
Joined: 19 May 2005
Posts: 8337
Location: Slowing boiling over in the steamy south, Global Warming is real

7/31/13 6:34 PM

I have an ihome speaker that bluetooths and use it all over the house. My ears will never be audiophile quality so the little idm12 (I think) works great. I take it on the patio and by the pool too.

In my Tahoe I have a cassette adapter and a FM thing. The cassette sound much better but the cable is dead inside the audio earphone jack so the FM adapter gets used more.

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