Memorex Boombox Review

I know a lot of folks stream media from their phones and other devices when they are working.  But, I rely on a rather old school technology for music while I work.  It's a Memorex AM/FM Stereo Radio CD Cassette Recorder.  It's a boombox.

It's bulky enough to sit openly on my desk at work without walking away.  It plays my CD's and even tapes.  In my metal and glass office building, it gets a news radio station and a decent rock/pop station.  What more can I ask?  The structure of the building blocks radio signals pretty effectively.  However, I play a few tapes in it, listen to a few CD's, and catch traffic reports before I leave in the evenings.

On a recent Saturday, I found myself working alone in the office.  I popped in a CD with Bolero and the 1812 Overture.  It sounded great through the speakers. The conductor was Riccardo Muti and I may well have been playing the CD shown below. It was also a great way to speed up my extra work day.

Goodwill Stereo Finds Go Fast: A Quick Dance with a Marantz

On Tuesday last week, I visited a brand new Goodwill on my lunch hour.  They had hust celebrated their grand opening.  The stereo section was chock full of interesting finds.

The coolest was a Marantz SR7000 AV Surround Receiver for $89.  I took a quick look at it.  If someone was willing to take a gamble, they might have found themselves a great deal.  The Marantz SR7000 is a 5.1-channel system putting out 100 watts per channel.  If you are the person who took a chance and bought the Marantz, here is the user manual for a Marantz SR7000.    For my low budget, I think $40 is about the most I will pay for a receiver.  In fact, I'd rather pay $30 or less.  I've just had too much bad luck with partially functioning gear.

Marantz SR7000 AV Surround Receiver

The Goodwill also had a cute pair of Advent bookshelf speakers for $25. However, I didn't have any extra cash.  (There is a reason that this is the "Dirt Cheap Audio Blog.")  I think if I was going to go for some bookshelf speakers I might try these instead:

When I popped back in on Thursday, the little Advent speakers were gone and someone was really looking closely at the Marantz receiver.  When it comes to Goodwill finds, if you snooze you lose.

Wireless Speaker Review: HMDX Rave Bluetooth Speaker

Before the holiidays, I picked up an interesting bit of audio gear from Walmart. It's an HMDX Rave wireless bluetooth speaker.

The HMDX Rave Wireless Speaker

For about $20, the Rave is a pretty cool little unit. It has two speakers inside a colorful box with curved ends. It charges up via a USB cable to you laptop. Then you can connect it to your phone, tablet, or computer via Bluetooth. It will play for up to four hours wirelessly. Some Amazon reviewers say that it will play much longer when played from a male-to-male wired connection. The bluetooth wireless connection has a range of about 30 feet.

The sound is actually pretty good. But, volumes do not get super loud and the bass won't rattle your windows. It's similar to the sound you might get from a pair of external PC speakers. We should note that even the much better sounding $200 JBL bluetooth speakers are less than 10 watts.

For me, the HMDX Rave really showed the convenience of Bluetooth speakers when paired with a smartphone and internet radio. It made it easier to share internet radio stations and listen to broadcasts on a PC. If you understand the limitations of this inexpensive speaker, the HMDX Rave Speaker is a good value for for the money.

Dirt Cheap Headphones Review: Dollar Tree Earbuds

One rule of dirt cheap audio is to start with the least expensive option first.  The cheapest earbuds that I could find were at my local Dollar Tree.  They were only $1.00 and there was no pretense or mumbo jumbo about their capabilities.

Function.  Since all earbuds are made in China, I really wondered if they  might all be the same.

At this low price point, I was surprised that they worked.  I shouldn't have been.  The basics of earbuds have been around since long before Apple made them trendy.  The packaging claimed a frequency response of 20hz to 20khz and the music seemed to be reproduced accurately, but the music was not particularly loud.

Fit and Comfort.  These earbuds were made to fit into the ear canal.  They fit fine and were fairly comfortable.

Style.  The earbuds at Dollar Tree come in a variety of styles.  However, that is almost a drawback.  As a man, I'd be happier with either plain white or basic black.  What looked like blue in the store is more of a lavender color at home.

Comparison.  When I compared the Dollar Tree earbuds to more expensive Skullcandy JIB earbuds (normally $10-$15), I was pleasantly surprised to find that the more expensive earbuds had more presence at the same sound volume.  The music was louder.  The more expensive earbuds also had more comfortable padding, extra pad sets, and higher quality construction where the wires enter the earbud body.  Even though all earbuds may be made in China, they aren't all constructed equally.

Overall, I was satisfied with the performance of my Dollar Tree earbuds.  They are worth a dollar.  I should note that at this low price point, Dollar Tree doesn't sell any earbuds with microphones.

If you are constantly forgetting, losing, or damaging earbuds, getting cheap ones from Dollar Tree isn't a bad strategy.   You can have a pair for work, for the gym, for your home office, etc. Earbuds from Dollar Tree make for lots of inexpensive backup pairs. However, if you opt to pay a little more, you may get better sound quality.  The fun lies in finding the sweet spot that balances sound quality and expense.

AccuRadio on New Years Morning

Happy New Year!  Last night, I listened to AccuRadio internet radio piped from my SmartPhone via RCA Y-cable through my Sony stereo.  It was the first night of 2015 and from midnight on, people thought it appropriate to celebrate the event with fireworks and/or celebratory gunfire.  It wasn't consistent, but the intermittent pops were enough to totally freak out our poor dog.

First, I tried the Spy Channel.  It's my favorite AccuRadio channel.  It plays nothing but Spy Movie and TV themes and music:  Peter Gunn, James Bond, Man from Uncle, I Spy, Mission Impossible, Austin Powers, etc.  It's a really good channel.  I tried grabbing our dog and holding him close while the music drowned out some of the pops.  That didn't work.  Perhaps the music was too dramatic?

Then, I tried the Relaxing Classical channel.  That played symphony music that was a bit mellow.  The poor dog left and slept in the bathroom.  But, I totally relaxed and fell asleep. I guess that is a partial success.

I really like AccuRadio because you don't have to fuss with a login and the interface is smooth.  You don't get hassled to constantly rate songs and it doesn't stop if you've listened for too long.  You should resolve to try it out this year!