Tuners - Music and Hi-Fi

Sony STRDH100 Receiver 2 Channel

• 2x 100W Power Output
• Digital Media Port
• In-built AM/FM Radio Tuner
• 5 in/2 out analogue connectivity
• 430mm x 132.5mm x 279mm

Sony STRDH100 Receiver 2 Channel, 2010-02-24
amplifire is very strong I have never seen before hifi strong like that nice sound good price for good stuff

SONY MEX-BT2700 CD-TUNER

• Sony's MEX-BT2700 provides 4 x 52 W of power and includes a CD/MP3 player. It even has a Bluetooth mode just for your mobile phone. The MEX-BT2700 is packed with user-friendly, reliable technology. You can combine it easily with your mobile phone thanks to the hands-free mode, or use the remote control to flick between radio stations.
• SONY MEX-BT2700 Car Radio with CD/MP3/Bluetooth Head Unit In-car entertainment
• Head Unit

Works a treat, easy install..., 2009-08-27
I've had this in my car for about a day, but I'm already very pleased with it. I had three reasons for buying it:
1. The old stereo was silver in a black dash and ruined the interior appearance of the car.
2. I wanted bluetooth phone pairing for calls... no more struggling with earpieces on bits of sticky rubber string
3. The interface and button placement on the JVC already in the car was utterly useless and resulted in constant jabbing of the wrong tiny button unless the car was on a lovely smooth road (sadly this is england and those are rare). Plus the display was constantly scrolling from one set of info to another, needlessly drawing my attention with its pretty little flourishes... very annoying.
So...
1. Its black and looks fine now. Phew.
2. Bluetooth pairing worked very simply with my nokia handset and calls seem to be totally fine. Everyone says they can't hear any feedback of their own voice and that they can hear me fine. You can't ask for more than that. I drive an mx5, which isn't the quietest cabin in the world, so it must be pretty decent. I haven't tried it at 50mph with the roof down yet, but I think that would be asking a lot!! You can answer calls, do voice dialling (if you've set it up on the phone) and dial the last number you used from the stereo very easily. You can also stream music from your phone, with the stereo allowing you to pause or skip back and forth. Minimal but useful functionality there...
3. Button placement and interface are fine. They're not great but they're certainly better than the JVC and all buttons are seperated enough that you don't poke the wrong one accidentally when you hit that ripple or pothole. Oh, and you can turn off the annoying twiddly scrolling and flashing. What a relief.

Installation was a piece of cake despite never having tried to install or remove a car stereo. Once the old one was out (who decided to fit a silver stereo in a black dash before I got this car...) the new one slotted in easily and the provided wiring adapter clipped right into the wiring loom. I think I was done inside 30 mins. Just a few plastic clips to prise off carefully on the old unit and some unbending of metal tags that hold the cradle into the dash.

All in all, its very well featured, works fine, sounds good (a first mention of how it sounds in this, a stereo review! I figured a Sony unit would be at the very least adequate), didn't cost the earth and went in very easily. Top marks.

Sling Media Slingbox Pro

Superb product, 2010-03-07
I had some problems setting up the slingbox. The software did not recognise my router. I did however have a very good response from slingbox support team who got me up and running very rapidly. Once the box is configured it is a simple matter to download and use the slingplayer software on any computer with a broadband connection.

I recently spent a week in Dubai and had no problems in viewing my sky+ programmes on the netbook I took with me. A truly excellent product with great support.

Pctv Nanostick 73e Ultimate + Mac

• Ultra-sensitive digital terrestrial TV & radio1
• Watch and record digital TV in standard and high
• Works with Windows Media Center
• Remote control and mini-antenna included
• Watch pause and rewind live TV

Works, but has problems, 2009-10-26
I bought this to use with the supplied mini-aerial and was dismayed to read on the side of the box: "In Great Britain, in most cases indoor reception with the rod antenna provided will not be possible." I plugged the thing into my iMac, installed the EyeTV Lite software, and indeed no channels were found.

However, after repositioning the aerial, I did manage to receive all of the Freeview channels available in my area. The quality of the picture is pretty decent, but is dependent upon the aerial's position. For example, it needs to be moved when switching between BBC and ITV channels. The magnet in the base of the aerial greatly aids with this, and I found that attaching it to one of my desktop speakers improved the picture. Even then, the picture and audio are sometimes choppy.

I would definitely recommend upgrading the software to the full version of EyeTV. Apart from the improved features (programme guide, recording, preferences, etc.), it also improves the picture via its deinterlacing option.

Despite the relatively poor reception, I decided to keep the Nanostick for use with my MacBook Pro, turning it into a portable television. Using a static, external aerial would undoubtedly improve the Nanostick's performance, but this is impractical for me and I haven't tried it.

Sling Media - SlingBox Solo

• Single Input
• HD Component Input
• No Monthly Fees
• -

Sling Box Solo, 2010-02-18
First I want to say that the shipping was superfast! I had in within 5 days of my order! Concerning the Sling Box Solo, I am very satisfied with this product, I use it to live stream digital tv to my iphone and it works great!!!! There is only a slight problem with Humax decoders, (it skips an extra channel when changing channels) but that will be resolved in the future according to the excellent helpdesk!

KORG MA-30 DIGITAL-METRONOME

• Tempo-range of 40 - 208 BPM Different beats Voice accuracy in the range of ?1 cent Dynamic loudspeaker.
• Different beats Tempo accuracy of ?0.2 %
• Dimensions: (W x H x D) 104 x 15 x 64 mm

What a quick service!!, 2010-01-10
Fabulously quick service, good value for money - did take strength and dexterity to open the battery cover though. Very happy customer

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2200 Dual Hybrid Analogue and Digital PCI TV Tuner with Hardware Video Encoders

• Watch Freeview digital TV (DVB-T) or analogue TV
• Pause analogue or digital TV with instant replay
• Record digital TV programmes in original MPEG-2
• Record analogue TV to disk in high quality MPEG-
• -

Teac TR610DAB DAB Tuner, Black

Nearly there, but don't forget the aerial..., 2009-02-10
Nicely built - very slick tuner dial, and comes with (yet another!) remote control. Once set up - a no-brainer - DAB excellent, although the floppy, 'bit of wet string' wire aerial is a disappointment, needs hanging up somewhere and doesn't perform at all for FM out-of-the-box, at least where I am. Allow for a half-decent, metal element vertical dipole with coax cable or multi-signal jobby to pick up both DAB and FM stations: the sensitivity is good, so you don't have to break the bank on this. Otherwise, good value and performance.

Teac AG-790A 200W Stereo AM/FM Receiver

Awesome piece of kit!, 2010-03-02
I spent many days looking online, reading reviews and visiting hi-fi shops before I purchased this. I was looking for a simple amp / CD and speaker setup to play my vast collection of music on, much of it stored on my iPhone. Time and time again, I kept coming back to the Teac AG-790 because it sounds amazing, has everything on it including a Phono stage if you want to add a turntable and it really looks the part too. It's very solidly built and I got it for a bargin at Richer Sounds with a 5 year warranty. I mated it with a Teac CD Player and Tannoy F1 Custom speaker that are now 3m apart. Well wow, it blows the Denon away at £200 and many others. I used to work in a HiFi shop when I was younger so I know what sounds good and bad and this is very bassy if you want to turn it up, perfect for Yello and Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon. I would say "Get One Now" whilst you still can, it's future proofed for when we move house soon and I can hook it up to Sky etc as well.

Acoustic Solutions CDAB1-BLACK DAB/FM Tuner in Black

• DAB & FM (with RDS)
• Auto-Scan Tuning
• 6 Presets
• 2 Stereo line out
• 65mm x 420mm x 300mm

Functional!, 2010-01-24
I wanted a new tuner to replace a failing old FM one. Went for this one as it is FM and FM at what was a reasonable price.

The sound quality is good but the build quality is poor. The tuning knob feels flimsy and as if it is about to come off in your hand. The display a horrid, dim green colour.

If you only listen to one or two stations this unit is excellent value for money. If you want a better build quality, you need to pay more.

I still don't understand why DAB radios/tuners are so expensive; as I understand it the DAB part is just a few common microprocessors. Maybe the manufacturers are still cashing in on the 'desirability' of the idea!