Product Description Play songs stored on your computer, tune in to thousands of Internet radio stations, or connect to online services such as Pandora and Rhapsody. Plus, the multi-room controller with 2.4" color display and scroll-wheel navigation makes it easy to browse, select, and play music from the palm of your hand. Unsurpassed sound quality: High-fidelity 24-bit DAC audio rendering technology, and digital outputs provide crystal clear CD-quality sound. Wired Ethernet and true 802.11G Wi-Fi Support provide excellent range and connectivity. Easy to set up and use: Start listening to your favorite tunes within minutes. A wizard walks you through every phase of setup, including connecting to your home network and the Internet. Enjoy your favorite tunes anywhere in your home. Connect the Squeezebox Receiver to a stereo system or powered speakers. Even add more Squeezebox players and create a different soundtrack for every room. Use SqueezeNetwork and tune in to thousands of Internet radio stations as well as online music services.
Excellent product, but some tech knowledge requiredNovember 20, 2008 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
So as not to bury the lede, I'll state up front: I really like this product. It works well for me, and meets exactly the need for which I purchased it, which was: to make my entire CD collection easily and conveniently available throughout my house, in a way that was simple enough for family and friends to use without lengthy tutoring. I wanted a way to get my music from a central source to different parts of the house, wirelessly, without having to go back to a central location every time I wanted to change the music. And the Duet delivers, beautifully.
Now for the "however": this is still new technology, and for people lacking experience, knowledge and vocabulary of the technology involved, it could possibly be troublesome to set up, get working, and keep working. Many advocates of the SqueezeBox line of products (or other networked streaming music systems) seem to forget that not everybody is as savvy as they are regarding ripping; configuring router ports and DNS options; IP and MAC addresses; audio compression formats (lossy or lossless) and codecs; ID3v1, ID3v2, APEv2, and VORBIS tags; or the vast array of computer programs and tools available for handling these things.
If the list of geek-jargon terms in the preceding paragraph are unfamiliar or intimidating to you, you should still be able to use this system once it's set up, but to get it all set up and working, you will probably have to spend some time on the Internet researching and learning about those things. If the prospect of that scares you off, perhaps you can get a tech-ish friend to help you get going. But to think that a technical novice can get full use out of this system without having to learn some of the computer-networking-techie arcana is probably overly optimistic. I found it relatively painless to set the system up and get it working, but I'm a computer geek by profession; I wouldn't suggest that my parents tackle the project without assistance.
Fortunately, there is a lot of excellent information available to help the novice along, much of it in the SlimDevices Wiki at http://wiki.slimdevices.com. There is also a good support forum available at http://forums.slimdevices.com. If you are reading this review trying to evaluate the product and decide whether to purchase one, you would do well to explore the Wiki first (the Beginners Guide is excellent), and then perhaps skim through the support forum. (Remember, though, that the support forum, by its nature, gets a lot of questions and complaints from people having problems. Take that with a grain of salt, because most of the people who don't have problems don't spend time posting messages saying "I'm not having any problems.")
As for the product itself: it works very well, the sound quality is excellent, and the controller is terrific. It offers just the sort of interface I was looking for: portable, convenient, easy to use; it allows me to browse through my music collection quickly and select music in a variety of ways, including by artist, by album name, and by genre. I can also search for songs or albums by title, though it is true that entering the letters of a title via the controller can be tedious. However, I personally don't take that approach very often; I generally know what album I want to put on, and get at it by scrolling quickly through the albums or artists in my collection. The browsing/scrolling wheel works very well; I can go through over 500 albums from A to Z in seconds. The design of the interface might not be completely perfect (what in life is?) but it's very, very good, and very flexible to use.
Another feature I really like is Playlists, which should be familiar to any user of media players. Essentially, this is just a collection of songs, as many or as few as you like, which you put together and give a name, for future access. Playing a predefined playlist is very simple, quick and easy. Putting together an extensive playlist using the controller, however, can be quite tedious and time-consuming. But the good news is, you can (if you have some slight technical know-how which isn't difficult to learn) put together a playlist using any one of dozens of media-player applications on your computer, and then make it a part of the playlist collection available to your Duet.
One aspect of the Duet I hadn't given any consideration before buying is the use of Internet radio. However, after getting my own collection of music up and running, I started playing with this feature, and found several stations and services that suit me, and Internet radio (particularly the free Pandora service) is now a common source of music in my house. There are also many other options and features (too numerous to go into here), either built-in or available as "Add-Ons" from the SlimDevices website.
In summary, I'm extremely happy with my Duets, and use them to bring music (not only my own personal CD collection, but also Internet radio) to different parts of my house, with a controller that makes it easy and convenient to select what I want to listen to, and where. But people who are unfamiliar with the world of CD ripping, audio codecs, network administration and other computer-technical jabber should approach it with open eyes and a willingness to do some reading and learning, rather than just assuming it's as easy to install as an old-fashioned record player.
Logitech Squeezebox DuetNovember 20, 2008 I am generally happy with the Duet when it works correctly. I have had two issues with it: 1.) It has gotten into a locked up mode where it was stuck "connecting to squeezebox"; I fixed it by unplugging / rebooting everything and 2.) the XM add-in does not work. Overall, the sound is great, especially with FLACs, and unlike some reviews I read, I have not had any trouble with delays on playback.
Music in the kitchenNovember 16, 2008 Great product along and straightforward service. The box showed up within 5 biz days seemingly brand new yet almost $100.00 cheaper.
Wow! Just Wow!November 15, 2008 I was so impressed with Logitech's Squeezebox Boom that I decided to give the Duet a try. Now I'm kicking myself for not trying this brilliant peice of equipment sooner!!!!! I realized I'd probably never be able to afford the Sonos music system, but I really wanted to pipe music in just about every room of my house, and the Squeezebox Duet does it easily and affordably. The remote isn't as fancy looking as the Sonos, but it appears to be easier to operate with one hand, and the range is incredile. I haven't found a spot in my house where the remote can't get a signal to control recievers.
What impressed me the most about this system is how perfectly it puts so many music sources at your fingertips. From Rhapsody to Last FM to Shoutcast to Sirius it's all right there in the palm of your hand!!!! Simply amazing. If you have any doubt that this product is worth the money just read the other reviews. I love mine so much that I picked up another one! Logitech does it again!
Logitech Squeezebox DuetNovember 13, 2008 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
It sounds nice, command tree understandable, and looks great. Great support.
But: it would be better if installation simplier and support was not needed, it hangs too often (the software updates seemed to have helped), no easy way of entering a long key, and finially it would be much more useful if it worked with network disks without the need for having a computer on also.
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Onkyo HT-SR800 Black Home Theater System $335.96 - $499.00 from 2 stores. User rating:4.0 out of 5.
Neatly Covering All A/V Formats, Precisely Tailored for Your Home
When it comes to all-in-one home theater, the HT-SR800 has made a clean break from the pack. You're looking at packaged home theater that neatly integrates your high-definition entertainment and your HDTV through an HDMI channel that transports video with a resolution all the way up to 1080p. Ably supported by component video switching, the HT-SR800 will handle most of the A/V components or formats currently available, as well as the spectacular quality of high-definition discs. Also, reinforcing the convenience of matched components, this package is the first to use an Audyssey room-correction technology specifically designed for integrated systems. The options - XM Radio (including 5.1 surround sound radio with Neural Surround decoding) and iPod integration-can really extend your reach, making the HT-SR800 one of the more complete home theater packages available.
Special Features-
HDMI Pass Through (2in/1out , 1080P compatible) - A separate audio connection is necessary
"Audyssey 2EQ" Auto room calibration w/Microphone
XM and Sirius satellite radio ready
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Five speakers are replaced by two. A stack of electronics is replaced by a single media center that includes an integrated DVD/CD player, AM/FM tuner, amplification and signal processing. A patented Acoustimass module hides easily in a corner or behind your furniture. And everything is easily connected with just three wires and a power cord, making setup a snap. The 3-2-1 system combines an Articulated Array speaker design with proprietary signal processing to give you much of that same performance. Hear the roar of a train from left to right from just two visible speakers positioned in the front of your room. Enjoy a spacious soundstage and lifelike surround effects whether you're watching the game, listening to a favorite CD or enjoying the latest on DVD.
Sony DAV-IS10 Home Theater System $399.97 - $558.99 from 5 stores. User rating:0.0 out of 5.
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While the system features small speakers, it packs all the power of conventional home theater-in-a-box systems with 450 watts of total system power (satellite speakers 50W x 5, plus 2-way subwoofer 100W x 2). The system is specially tuned to deliver a natural sound field that takes the focus off the subwoofer while supplementing mid range and lower frequencies.
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