Multiroom Digital Music Systems Reviews

Great Sound!
I just received this sound bar today. Took it out of the box and hook-up was a breeze! It looks bigger in the picture but it's only 31 1/2 inches long, perfect for my TV and stand. It does come with wall mounting hardware also.

Once I turned it on, what a difference! The remote has different adjustments for sound depending on what you might be watching; movies, news, sports and just "normal". As you might have noticed, it doesn't have a "music" adjustment. I did put a CD station on my dish network and the sound was really nice, just not really loud like you might get from a regular receiver. If you want to turn your music really loud, this is not the unit for you. I tuned in on a movie, hockey game and the news, all sounded great with this bar! I cannot wait for football season!!! It's a decent size for my room of 13 X 15.

This will do awesome until I can afford a receiver unit with 5 speakers!

It do what it do.
My sound bar connected to a Sharp LC 42bd80u LCD. Good size, good components, good look, good sound, good price. Several options on remote control to change sound. (bass, treble...) Did I say good sound. I made a good choice.

A must have
After some initial setup snags, mostly due to a weak cable signal on my end, I am now enjoying Pandora, internet radio and my music collection with ease through my Nuvo essentia whole home audio system. Overall setup was minimally painful. User guide could be a bit more detailed but found what I needed on the internet. If you have a whole home audio system I would highly recommend this as a source. Much less expensive than the options Nuvo has available. Was the best product for my needs when I compared this to others out there such as airport exp, casatunes, etc.

Love It
The squeezebox will change the way you listen to music. You will listen a lot more with greater pleasure. I think it is important that you have a good wireless network with good range, the only issues I have are when I push the distance between the remote and the network router...my router is about 10 years old and is going through a lot of walls, HVAC equipment, & washer/dryer room. I think the effective distance my remote works through all the above is about 60'. I plan on getting a newer router soon. However, when you are in range...lookout, totally amazing.

Logitech Squeezebox Duet
Decided to buy this after reading all the review. I must say the device works as it advertised. I initially too a while to install it as it needs to download the software patches. etc. However I am bit disappointed on the remote. Given that its almost 0 for the remote stand alone. the battery compartment are not tightly fitting. when ever selection is made either on the wheel or buttons I can feel the battery shift and creek. That spoil the over feel of the remote.

Other than that I am pretty happy with the interface and performance. Becoz of the build of the remote I feel logitech could have spend a bit more quality on the remote and the rotating wheel.

Just have to write this
Don't usually review, but this one deserves it.
The Squeezebox does have beautiful looks and sound.
It works: in my case, I was listening to my music in just 5 minutes. All of it. My CDs are being boxed as I type, and I feel no loss at all (thanks to FLAC).
Quite a favourite.

Great - with a couple of flaws
I did a lot of research into finding a way to stream music from my PC to my home stereo. I began with a list of requirements:
- the streaming had to include the ability to handle "lossless" formats, such as Apple uses for iTunes,
- the connection had to be wireless,
- the setup should be straightforward and not technically demanding,
- the user interface needed to be simple and web-based if possible,
- the product should integrate with iTunes at least to the extent of using my existing iTunes library, genres, and playlists,
- the device needed to be visually unobtrusive,
- the ability to use a remote control would be a plus.

I'm happy to say that the SqueezeBox meets all of my requirements and, once set up, it simply works. The SqueezeBox requires a separate piece of software (known as a server) to be running on the PC which controls the music library, but the installation of that software is straightforward, takes about three minutes, and doesn't place any noticeable load on my PC - which is an HP laptop running Windows Vista. As an additional benefit the server also runs under Linux and Mac which is a distinct plus as I plan on migrating my music to a Linux server in the near future.

The set up process for the SqueezeBox is about as simple as it can get and is well explained in the documentation which comes with the device. However, the overall level of documentation leaves a lot to be desired and is the only real problem with the hardware. There is an active on-line community and it's easy to obtain the answers one needs from there. The on-line help function takes one to the SlimDevices website which has links to the on-line forums. So far I haven't had a question that I couldn't get an answer to, it's just that I'm old enough to appreciate the feel of a "real" owner's manual.

Using the SqueezeBox via the built-in web interface is also easy. The device allows one to make playlists though here the process is not as straightforward, or obvious, as it could be and better documentation would be helpful. If one uses the available iTunes integration all of the genres, etc. that are set up under iTunes are available via the SqueezeBox. Be aware, the iTunes integration is not perfect and, sometimes, playlists and album artwork don't transfer properly. However, given the overall capabilities of the unit I'm able to live with the occasional flaw of this type. All of the web interface functions can also be accessed via the unit's remote control, though it sometimes takes a few button pushes to get to where one wishes to be in the various menus. I'll be honest and say that I do 90% of my control via the web though I have found the remote to be useful under some circumstances - such as when I need to stop the music to get a phone call and I'm not at my PC when the call comes in.

Overall, I rate the SqueezeBox with five stars. If this were a ten-star rating system I'd give it a nine, primarily because of the paucity of user documentation that comes with the unit. It does take a while to get used to all of the functions that the SqueezeBox offers and there are a number of third-party add-ons that extend the product's basic abilities. I haven't really touched on the device's ability to play Internet radio feeds - that's a whole 'nother world and I haven't played with it much other than to set up links to some local NPR stations, which was a simple process. I've had my SqueezeBox for about two weeks now and I'm still finding new things that I can do with it. If you're serious about streaming high-quality (non-MP3) audio from your PC to a stereo there is simply nothing else that matches this product for overall performance, user interface, and usability. It is more expensive than other solutions, but it's the only one I know of that allows for streaming digital audio all the way through to the receiver if desired. The SqueezeBox does have a very good 24-bit DAC built-in and, for my money, I think it's better than the DAC in my Pioneer Elite receiver. In any case, the product has a lot of capability, is well-built, has an active user community, and simply works. It's well worth the money and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

This thing is worth so much more
I'll keep it simple: I now have instant wireless access to every song I've ever wanted to hear and with outstanding sound quality coming from my nice speakers in the living room. All the Apple lossless music stored on my computer, Rhapsody (it is a difficult task to find a recorded album they don't have for only a month), Slacker (awesome personalized internet radio), Pandora (also good but not as quality as Slacker), and any other internet radio station I want.

If you have a computer and a wireless router, don't waste your time fumbling through CDs - the Burr Brown DAC on this thing is excellent and is found on a lot of very expensive equipment. The digital files on your computer (if lossless) are the same as what is read by the CD player, the only difference being how those digital signals are converted to analog for your speakers. So while it can be beat by some CD players, you would have to spend a lot more money to do so.

And finally, I must recommend getting this over the Duet if you have an iphone or ipod touch. There are some apps you can get to have complete control of the squeezebox, including searching Rhapsody. iPeng is the one I use and while not without flaws, it is a good substitute for the remote that comes with the Duet. This is cheaper and has the display so you can see what's playing without having to look at the remote.

FANTASTIC!!! Why oh why doesn't everyone own one of these???
Internet Radio: Thousands of channels for free!

This device allows you to listen to internet radio from around the world right out of the box. Talk about thousands of channels of every imaginable style/interest for free. Forget about XM radio, forget about moving to a location where the radio sucks (can you say most places in California?!?!)
You get all the radio you can imagine and then some.
For my wife, it was having access to a handful of NPR stations and a cherished radio station from her home town of Seattle.
For my 2 years old it was getting a couple of kids tunes channels (all kids music, all the time).
For me, it was getting a good selection of Celtic music, some channels from Canada and some French channels. That alone was worth the price tag! But there's more.... much more!

My CD library:
The website for this device gives you good instructions on how to rip your CDs. The short version is this:
+ Rip into FLAC format. Flac is non-lossy, top quality (as good as the original CD
+ Use EAC (exact audio copy) [for windows] or some other recommended software if running on mac/linux.
+ EAC has an overwhelming set of options but the sqeezebox / logitech website has a good cheat sheet on setting up the correct options. Once you have set it up correctly, this software will create perfect rips and verify the result against an internet database to make sure no error occurred.

Usability:
The system is easy to use, the interface is very very similar to that of an ipod.

Sound Quality: FANTASTIC!

Setup:
1) Setup the squeezecenter server software (on your mac/pc/linux box).
The software is written in perl (at least on linux it is) and has
a web interface so you can access / manage it from any computer
in the house.

2) Setup the player device (the item you are buying here).
+ Plug it in the AC
+ Connect the audio connectors to your sound system
+ Either connect an ethernet cable in or use your local wifi network.
(I ended up connected over wifi and it works very nicely).
+ Answer the setup questions (decide if you use ethernet or wifi,
enter the wifi network name (from a list of network found),
password (if your wifi network is password protected) and an IP
address (or let the device request a dynamic IP address from your
wifi router).
+ Answer the question about what squeezecenter to use
(If you have setup your server software and it's running, the
device will recognize it and offer to choose it as your server.
+ That's it, you're good to go!

How it works:
There are talks, mostly about the duet model, of people experiencing
trouble with intermittent connection problems. I suspect the remote
for the duet is a stand alone little wifi computer device (similar to
using your Iphone as described below) and that some people simply have
problems with their wireless home network. This device has a small
InfraRed remote control so you only need a good network connection to
the main device itself. I setup my device using wifi and it works
flawlessly.

There are also mentions of multi-room system in the literature etc but
very little explanation of how it actually works. It's actually pretty simple. Here's the scoop:

You have a squeezecenter software running on a PC/mac/linux box in
your house somewhere. That's where all your ripped CDs will reside.
This software is the real brains of the operation.
It has a web interface from which you can configure your server,
index/re-index songs, set favorites, create playlists etc...

From the interface you can also control what is playing your sqeezebox
device (in the living room) (what song, set the volume etc...)
The server software let's you specify what device you are playing
music to (and hence you can support multiple devices in multiple rooms).

This sqeezebox has a little Infrared (IR) remote since it can be controlled
from the server, you can also control your music playing from any web
browser. This means that in addition to the IR remote you can use:
+ Any web browser (can you say a little netbook in the living room?)
+ An iphone / ipod touch (there is a free application you can
use to control the server software over wifi connection).
+ Any other internet device that has a web browser (such as the
sqeezebox duet remote control which looks like a glorified ipod touch)

Because the server software is written in perl and the architecture was
made modular, there is a large collection of "plugin" modules written
by various enthusiasts that provide additional functionality to the
system. Some will harvest CD art to view from the web interface,
others will present you a bio of each artist, others will collect
reviews of the albums etc...

I ended up buying my unit from the popular auction website E..y for half
the price of a new one but after having played with it for a week, I can tell you that paying even full price is such an amazing bargain for this fantastic device!

I hope you get one and enjoy it as much as my family does!
Enjoy the music!
- Christian

Squeezebox Receiver
Fantastic product with a lot of flexibility. Easy hook up and operation along with the remote control.

Best thing since the CD
Absolutelly wonderful. Can listen to MP3's, internet radio, satellite radio and local as well as international radio stations. Will never go back to regular radio systems.

Very convenient, 95% would be my score. Works very well in Linux!
It is not 100% because the software that runs on the server is still under development and have a couple of rough edges. Nothing major.

Also, one can setup the receiver without the remote control. My remote control is my wireless laptop. Works beautifully.

If you are into music, this is necessary
I didn't purchase this from Amazon, although it is the lowest price around, instead i was able to purchase mine from Circuit City at an insane price due to liquidation.

At first installation was tricky, but i mostly blame this on a bogged down 9 year PC I was using. My laptop had crashed a week prior to purchasing the Duet. i figured I would at least get a "taste" of the Duet's features while i waited for my laptop's recovery disks to arrive.

With squeezecenter(program needed to stream throuhout house) installed on my PC i was able to get internet radio and Rhaposody to steam. But i was having problems streaming my Itunes library. At the end of the day i really blame this on my old bogged down PC.

Into the picture comes my newly formatted laptop. I installed the squeezecenter on there. At first I was still having the streaming problem with Itunes. I was able to find the FULL manual on the slimdevices(Logitech) website. After reading through it a quick change in my settings and resestting my Duet painlessly solved my problem. Within seconds i was streaming my 3,000+ itunes music.

My only real gripe with the Duet was it not including the FULL manual, but instead a Quick Setup Guide. I now enjoy listening to music more than ever and plan on converting all my music to FLAC and eventually purchasing a DAC to really get the most out of this unique system. But don't get me wrong the squeezebox sounds pretty good as it stands right now

From casual listening to audiophile appreciation - the Squeezebox Revolution
If you love music, and if you have a decent home network, wireless (preferred) or wired, do not hesitate to take a plunge in the Squeezebox Revolution. I first bought the Duet, then a few more Receivers, then the Classic, then the Boom, well you get the picture. If I had set up my house in the traditional way of distributed music system, with in-wall speakers and zone-based amps and a rackful of disc changers, it would have cost me over ,000 to achieve half of what I have accomplished with the superbly cost effective Squeezebox. But cost is not even the point here. It is about quality and philosophy. Squeezebox products simply work, in a elegantly simple and reliable way that you would usually only expect from Apple. And they work both as joyful listening devices for causal internet radio, home server streaming, and as utterly serious audiophile grade equipment to digitally feed you high-end 2-channel system. Sync them, run them independently, set an alarm, wake up a sleeping computer, read an artist bio, hide it in a closet or display it on your precious system rack, Squeezebox simply rocks. Unfailingly. Now the philosophy. I love the technology, but it is the Squeezebox vision of freeing your music by way of adhering to open audio standards and open source computing that has earned my highest respect and devotion. If you are a passive user, great - Squeezebox will be routinely updated to bring you the latest new features, from 192/24 high definition audio decoding to power saving digital amp update, just enjoy them all without having to go out and buy new components (remember the days when you just bought a great CD player then SACD suddenly came out?). If you are geeky (not that anything's wrong with it), you can tweak your SqueezeCenter (the totally free software server powering your SqueezeBox hardware devices) in a myriad of creative ways, from importing your entire iTunes library to writing your own plug-ins, so that you can make your SqueezeBox experience that much more special. It is unfortunate that most reviewers reporting problems are in fact having underlying issues with their home network. Let's hope SqueezeBox keeps making its products more user-friendly to overcome some of the more complicated computer / network difficulties associated with enabling such a powerful digital music reproduction experience. One beef I have with the product - in this day and age, it is a shame that the N wireless protocol is not yet integrated in SqueezeBox. While I applaud you and thank you for all the great new firmware and software upgrades, it will be a dream come true if all my devices can be updated with N support one of these days. Remember folks, it is all about the music! Happy Listening.

The squeezebox Product line is the best choice in streaming music for the $
I own multiple squeezebox products (Boom, Classic and Duet in multiple rooms) and I find them one of the best wireless music systems for the money. Based on your need they have a product to put streaming music in that room.

Set Up
All products can be set up to run over a wireless network or via ethernet. The excpetion is the duet controller which only operates over wireless. If you are setting up multiple products over wirelss logitech reccomends no more than 6 to avoid overloading your network.

To set up any squeezebox product you will need a squeezenetwork account (free). This account will allow access to assorted music services (some free and some subscription based) and internet radio. Squeezebox can access all these services/internet radio through squeezenetwork without using a computer (except for the intial set up).

One of these fee based services is MP3tunes.com which is a online music locker. You upload your stored music files and they store them allowing access using web based applications (including squeezenetowrk, cell phones and some next gen game systems). With this service you can access your music library without a computer.

You have THE OPTION of installing squeezecenter on one or more computers. Squeezecenter allows access to the stored music files on your computer. however, you do not need to have squeezcenter running (or a computer on) to use squeezebox.

In addition, Netgear sells network storage devices with squeezecenter built in. With one of these devices you can store your audio on it and get access to it with squeezebox without turning on your computer. Personally, I use my old computer and just leave it on. The computer has no interface (keyboard or mouse) or monitor.

As a side note: The Duet appears to have more trouble with install/usability when compared to BOOM and Classic. As example was the weekend of 6/12-6/14, Duet would not connect to Squeezenetwork (however if you were connected to Squeezecenter there were no problems)but both Boom and Classic had no issues. These connectivity issues are rare but have occured.

Control
All squeezebox devices can be controlled using the Duet controller, squeezenetwork (web based), squeezecenter (web based), and third party app for I pod touch/iphone. The 2 web based applications require a computer. All squeezebox duet devices except Duet can be contrlled via the IR remote (included). the remotes cross control (i.e. Boom remote controls classic and vice versa).
If you have squeezebox multiple products they can be sycronized (some other products call this "Party Mode"). I find this one weak area because it has to be done one product at a time (e.g. sycronize Boom to Classic, Sycronize Duet to Classic, etc...).

My only complaint on the control side is the Duet remote is too dimm to be used outdoors during the day. However it has decent range (I can go anywhere in my backyard and still control the Duet).

Sound
The Duet and Classic sound is as good as the material you are listenig to. Most of my ripped music is 320 Kps in MP3 format. I hear no differences between these files and the CD I ripped from when listening through the same amplifier/speaker combo. Between the Duet and Classic I hear no differences between the two however the Classic does have abetter A/D converters; so in theory, the Classic has the potential to sound better.

The Boom has a line out to hook up to a stereo however why would you buy the Boom if you are hooking to a stereo? So I di not evaluate the Boom using this hook up. The sound using the Boom was surprisingly good. did it compare to my other squeezebox products through reciever/speaker combos, no. Was I expecting that, no. Was i expecting this product to be used for "serious listening", no. I use this product for background music.

The sound was sufficient (quality/quantity) for a device it's side. I only heard distortion at the upper ranges of the volume (but then again I listen to Hard Rock/Metal). I found the sound balanced with some lack of low end. But the lack of low end is a given considering the "woofers" are basically midrange drivers. Personally, I think it is as one of the better sounding Table radios (granted the device does not include a radio); for the price it is still one of the best sounding.

Overall
Squeezebox products do have connectivity issues (as all network devices do) however %99.9 the time they work great and sound great. I think the duet is the weak product. But it is also the most different since it must be controlled via the network (Duet controller is a network device) and does not have LCD diplay or IR remote.

Excellent Radio
The Squeeze box has made life very pleasant. It connects to Pandora Radio and enabls me to have the type of music I have selected, with no ads. I have subscribed to Pandora radio. The music is the category selected, with variety, and NO ADS!

My router indenified the Squeezebox and was connected quickly. The combination of music with no advertisements is terrific.

Squeeze needs no additional amplifier or speakers (although a Connector for a sub-woofer is provided) to play.

The future of radio
This product cuts the cord between internet based music and radio and your computer. For the past several years, the internet has provided an unbelievable selection of radio stations and music services. The only problem was, who want to sit in frot of a computer to listen to music.

This product works with your wireless router to pick up music and radio from the internet and let you listen to it anywhere you want.

Setup is farily easy if you know anything at all about wireless networking. The sound quality is very good. I would recommend this product to anyone that wants to take there internet music away from the computer.

Amazing gadget
I call gadget coz it has a lot of features, very beautiful and excellent sound quality, i recommend this item for all sound lovers.

so far so good
First, this took me 15 minutes to set up

Yes, I am running 32-bit Vista. Yes I am a computer professional

So far I love this thing.

The only real negative is the UI/Screen/input system. Yeah, it kinda stinks.

I am looking forward to applying the firmware patch. Streaming any/all radio stations (EDIT: MP3 streaming stations) would be a big plus. I will update my review after the fact.

UPDATE 3/23/09
After playing with if for a couple of days I have some additional comments.

Do install the firmware. The instructions given in an earlier review are spot on. If you follow them and the prompts of the install you should be fine.

The single biggest benefit of the update is the ability to use the unit as a remote speaker. This confused me for a bit. Would it play anything my PC was playing? No. It will, however, play whatever a registered output application ("program that transmits audio" in the configuration tool) is currently playing. I am using Windows Media Player pretty much for the first time as it is a supported output application.

What this gets you. The menuing is aweful for the unit. Barely usable (as has been commented). But now with the firmware upgrade you can create playlists, kick them off, and then set the unit to simply play whatever WIndows Media Player is outputing at that moment, thus bypassing the maddening UI. Genius!

ALSO - The sound, to my ears, is amazing. The tone modifications are fun to play with, but I found that the base config of the unit sounds just great. And it gets properly loud. I played quadrophenia today just as a good test disk, and it was powerful.

Sure this baby takes some tweaking and futzing, but to me it has been 100% worth it.

Great gadget for the digital music buff & GET MORE RADIO!
I have all my digital music on a Buffalo NAS (network attached storage), which is a hard drive that attaches right to my network router without a computer. It came with a built-in "DLNA" media server. Since the VGF-WA1 was advertised to be a DLNA client but didn't specify it worked in this manner, I took the chance and gave it a shot. While I had to intitially set up the Sony device with my computer, afterwards the VGF-WA1 discovered the Buffalo NAS through my wireless network without any problems, with no other computers on the network turned on. Now I can play my digital music with this player without having a computer on.

Since it's wireless and has a battery, I can carry it out to the deck, down to the basement, or out to the garage - anywhere I want to listen to my MP3's.

I would compare the quality of the sound to a portable Bose system. It doesn't sound as warm as a full size receiver, but definitely sounds better than a typical boom box. It looks great, and has a hidden handle on its back for portablity.

The small screen and interface isn't the best for navigating large music collections. It's a little tedious and working with playlists will simplify its navigation. There are many equalizer options, typical play modes, etc.

My only real criticism is the internet radio option has let me down a little and doesn't really meet my needs. You get free use of the entire Live365 system for a period of time, then it defaults to a small number of stations unless you pay a monthly fee. I lean toward Indie label rock, and there really isn't a free station I like. I would consider subscribing, if the service worked on other Sony devices that I own. I wish Sony had their act together on this one, and given the list price I think the number of free channels is a little stingy. I just don't use the WA1 enough for radio or listen to enough radio in general to justify the purchase of a subscription.

I checked out the Sony VGF-WA1 at amazon.com after already purchasing it at a Sony Style outlet store. I was a little surprised at all the negative reviews, given the miles I'm getting out of it! I have been really happy with my purchase.

Hope this helps, BL

2/09 EDIT:
At another reviewer's suggestion, I sought out the Japanese firmware upgrade. It ads quite a bit more functionality that includes SHOUTCast internet radio, the ability to ad 20 of your own radio station links (that are in MP3 format), in addition to a function that allows you to turn the unit into an external remote speaker for what you have playing on your computer (doesn't work with my NAS set up). Anyway, this is how I found the file.

Do this at your own risk! The upgrade appears to be designed for Sony's Japanese market. It does not specifically discourage installation on a unit outside of this market and everything is in English, but nonetheless I went through with the upgrading considering the remote possibility exists I could brick the unit. However, it ultimately worked for me without any problems.

** Go to Google and search for this file name: SOFOTH-01589600-UN.exe

** You'll get a Sony link in Japanese. don't click on the link, but instead click on the "translate" option.

** Toward the bottom of the page under the user agreement, there's a download button written in Japanese. Click on it and the download routine should begin.

** Click on the file to install after the download, and follow the instructions.

** One more offer of clarity. In the "Enhanced Settings Tool", there's a page that discovers the WA1 unit. When it's discovered, it appears highlighted toward the middle of the page. Double click this area to access the set up pages. It took me a few tries to figure this out.

Again, hope this helps! I have relied on hundreds of reviews before making purchases, and hope this gives back a bit.

BL

Great little stereo
Terrific little stereo. Powerful for it's size. Especially enjoy the 3-CD capability and remote.
Wish it weren't such an ugly design but the price makes it well worth it.

Wonderful Product
As all the Sony products I have bought in the past, this is Stereo is another example of satisfaction. The Stereo is easy to operate and I was very happy of delivery service. I only wish it had a cassete player. I just assumed that today's systems have all three, disk player, radio and cassette. I bought it for my daughter and she was very happy with the sound of the system. LoisSony MHC-EC55 Mini Hi-Fi Component System

Fabulous
Sony MHC-EC55 Mini Hi-Fi Component System
Is been working perfectly well , and the service of Amazon has been fabulous. Was a gift for father`s day and he is satisfied , thank you.

A little big but.. good value for your $$$
I bought this player because of its value for the money and no fuss system. I do not have an I-pod, and for my needs I just wanted a simple to use system that had a CD player and radio for use in my office. It sounds good, works great. The only drawback for me is that I wish the instructions were better written for the electronically challenged (me), but don't let that scare you away.. I am figuring it out and so far I am enjoying this system and would recommend it for your office or home.

good product
It was not what I wanted. I sent it back and awaiting a refund

Not so great...and a big price too!
I thought htis was going to be hands down the best compact piece I would ever buy...WRONG...couldn't be less impressed with it!!! No adjustable sound quality and the bass is just way too heavy against the treble. I actually prefer to play my iPod at home off of a Logitech portable that cost 9, versus this at about 0! The Logitech is actually clearer!!! Bose offers NO options to adjust aything on this unit and they somehow made the assumption that the sound is just perfect, but it isn't at all, whetehr it's by a wall or not, makes no difference...I wish I hadn't bought this, it's crap!

Not As Good Sound Quality As Original Wave Radio
I own a Bose Wave Radio that I bought way back in 1994 and it is still going strong today. I recently bought one of these and tried out for about a week. The inclusion of a CD player is nice but I was really disapointed in the sound quality of the unit when compared side by side with my old Wave Radio. Many people will be happy with the sound but as an audiophile I just can't get used to its different tonal quality. It just plain does not sound as good as my old unit.

Great for the convenience
The guy that wrote the review on December 2, 2008 titled 'worthless' is simply wrong and obviously did not read the instructions. When you swap in the new wireless receiver card, you have to do the 'ID reset' on the rear of the other wireless speakers that came with the home theatre (20 second procedure for each speaker). I bought two of these wireless speaker systems to go along with my Panasonic SC-PT1050 home theatre (which has a wireless subwoofer, and wireless rears) and all 5 speakers work. The base is decent for the size - obviously no subwoofer, but it has good mid/hi range.

SH-FX85
TO AVOID THE HIGH PRICE OF A TRUE MUTLI-ROOM MUSIC SYSTEM, THIS FITS THE TICKET. IT INDEED PROVIDES WIRELESS BROADCAST OF YOUR PANASONIC SOUND SYSTEM, BUT THE SOUND QUALITY IS AVERAGE, JUST LIKE ANY OTHER SMALL COMPACT SOUND SYSTEM. IF A SUB-WOOFER COULD BE ATTACHED I WOULD RATE THIS HIGHER. THE WIRELESS FEATURE REACHES APPROX. 50" AS DESCRIBED.

i did not open a box, i have no idea,
I did not open a box, so i have no idea, so how can i give a rate, sorry my friend.

The squeezebox Product line is the best choice in streaming music for the $
I own multiple squeezebox products (Boom, Classic and Duet in multiple rooms) and I find them one of the best wireless music systems for the money. Based on your need they have a product to put streaming music in that room.

Set Up
All products can be set up to run over a wireless network or via ethernet. The excpetion is the duet controller which only operates over wireless. If you are setting up multiple products over wirelss logitech reccomends no more than 6 to avoid overloading your network.

To set up any squeezebox product you will need a squeezenetwork account (free). This account will allow access to assorted music services (some free and some subscription based) and internet radio. Squeezebox can access all these services/internet radio through squeezenetwork without using a computer (except for the intial set up).

One of these fee based services is MP3tunes.com which is a online music locker. You upload your stored music files and they store them allowing access using web based applications (including squeezenetowrk, cell phones and some next gen game systems). With this service you can access your music library without a computer.

You have THE OPTION of installing squeezecenter on one or more computers. Squeezecenter allows access to the stored music files on your computer. however, you do not need to have squeezcenter running (or a computer on) to use squeezebox.

In addition, Netgear sells network storage devices with squeezecenter built in. With one of these devices you can store your audio on it and get access to it with squeezebox without turning on your computer. Personally, I use my old computer and just leave it on. The computer has no interface (keyboard or mouse) or monitor.

As a side note: The Duet appears to have more trouble with install/usability when compared to BOOM and Classic. As example was the weekend of 6/12-6/14, Duet would not connect to Squeezenetwork (however if you were connected to Squeezecenter there were no problems)but both Boom and Classic had no issues. These connectivity issues are rare but have occured.

Control
All squeezebox devices can be controlled using the Duet controller, squeezenetwork (web based), squeezecenter (web based), and third party app for I pod touch/iphone. The 2 web based applications require a computer. All squeezebox duet devices except Duet can be contrlled via the IR remote (included). the remotes cross control (i.e. Boom remote controls classic and vice versa).
If you have squeezebox multiple products they can be sycronized (some other products call this "Party Mode"). I find this one weak area because it has to be done one product at a time (e.g. sycronize Boom to Classic, Sycronize Duet to Classic, etc...).

My only complaint on the control side is the Duet remote is too dimm to be used outdoors during the day. However it has decent range (I can go anywhere in my backyard and still control the Duet).

Sound
The Duet and Classic sound is as good as the material you are listenig to. Most of my ripped music is 320 Kps in MP3 format. I hear no differences between these files and the CD I ripped from when listening through the same amplifier/speaker combo. Between the Duet and Classic I hear no differences between the two however the Classic does have abetter A/D converters; so in theory, the Classic has the potential to sound better.

The Boom has a line out to hook up to a stereo however why would you buy the Boom if you are hooking to a stereo? So I di not evaluate the Boom using this hook up. The sound using the Boom was surprisingly good. did it compare to my other squeezebox products through reciever/speaker combos, no. Was I expecting that, no. Was i expecting this product to be used for "serious listening", no. I use this product for background music.

The sound was sufficient (quality/quantity) for a device it's side. I only heard distortion at the upper ranges of the volume (but then again I listen to Hard Rock/Metal). I found the sound balanced with some lack of low end. But the lack of low end is a given considering the "woofers" are basically midrange drivers. Personally, I think it is as one of the better sounding Table radios (granted the device does not include a radio); for the price it is still one of the best sounding.

Overall
Squeezebox products do have connectivity issues (as all network devices do) however %99.9 the time they work great and sound great. I think the duet is the weak product. But it is also the most different since it must be controlled via the network (Duet controller is a network device) and does not have LCD diplay or IR remote.

Excellent Radio
The Squeeze box has made life very pleasant. It connects to Pandora Radio and enabls me to have the type of music I have selected, with no ads. I have subscribed to Pandora radio. The music is the category selected, with variety, and NO ADS!

My router indenified the Squeezebox and was connected quickly. The combination of music with no advertisements is terrific.

Squeeze needs no additional amplifier or speakers (although a Connector for a sub-woofer is provided) to play.

The future of radio
This product cuts the cord between internet based music and radio and your computer. For the past several years, the internet has provided an unbelievable selection of radio stations and music services. The only problem was, who want to sit in frot of a computer to listen to music.

This product works with your wireless router to pick up music and radio from the internet and let you listen to it anywhere you want.

Setup is farily easy if you know anything at all about wireless networking. The sound quality is very good. I would recommend this product to anyone that wants to take there internet music away from the computer.