Comments for Home Cinema Resources

Comment on iPad Accessory review pt 1: featuring the SwitchEasy “Nude” Protection Solution for the iPad by RSOP90

RSOP90 — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 17:09:04 +0000

$50 dam thats cheap, must pop down to my local JB and get one

Comment on iPad Accessory review pt 1: featuring the SwitchEasy “Nude” Protection Solution for the iPad by einstein72

einstein72 — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 16:17:19 +0000

The screenprotector from switcheasy for the iPad is not usable. Impossible to get it bubble free on there. Useless.

Comment on Pyle – Mini 2x75W Stereo Power Amplifier – PCA3 by JBFairport

JBFairport — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:02:54 +0000

Review by JBFairport for Pyle - Mini 2x75W Stereo Power Amplifier - PCA3 Rating: Using this Amp to drive outdoor Bose speakers. Getting the signal to the amp using WiFi in the house and an Apple Airport Express situated next to the amp. Works great. I can play my itunes library, Pandora and other internet radio to the back yard now.

Amp worked perfectly to provide the missing link to my outdoor speakers.

Comment on Pyle – Mini 2x75W Stereo Power Amplifier – PCA3 by Gregory Shrout

Gregory Shrout — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:36:57 +0000

Review by Gregory Shrout for Pyle - Mini 2x75W Stereo Power Amplifier - PCA3 Rating: I bought this amp as a sub-woofer amp and it does the job! My new Pioneer 919 blahbitty blah receiver has a PRE OUT SUBWOOFER (RCA style) output, and I happened to have a new-in-the-box 12" woofer from Radio Shack that I picked up years ago on clearance for 10 bucks. Add in a $40 sheet of plywood and my build time, and I've got a low cost, high quality sub-woofer.
The Pioneer receiver does just about everything except run out and start my car (and I'm wondering if it'll do that!), so it's too dad-gum complicated. In contrast, this amp could hardly be simpler. It has two RCA style inputs (Left and Right), two speaker-wire outputs (Left and Right), Treble gain, Bass gain, Volume, and an On/Off switch.
I saw on other reviews that people used the amp to power an old pair of speakers while playing their iPods. I felt that if the sub-woofer thing didn't work out, I could still do that as Plan 'B'. Fortunately, Plan 'A' is working. I have a nice Belkin 25 foot cable with RCA ends coming from the Pre Out Subwoofer out of the receiver and going into one of the channel inputs (Left) on this amp. Then I have a monster cable, bare-end wires coming out of the corresponding (Left) channel output going directly to the Radio Shack 12" woofer. No crossover or filtering! I'm not sure, but I'm guessing the receiver filters out the high freqs and passes only the lower freqs, 800 hz and below.
Anyway, it sounds good, does what I want it to do, and even has nice blue LED indicators that light up when the bass pounds out the beat of a song, or explosions from a game. It's about the size of a thick paperback book, and if I needed too, I could easily unplug everything and take the amp out to my garage for duty playing my iPod.

Comment on Pyle – Mini 2x75W Stereo Power Amplifier – PCA3 by James R. Hood

James R. Hood — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:24:06 +0000

Review by James R. Hood for Pyle - Mini 2x75W Stereo Power Amplifier - PCA3 Rating: A very compact little unit that is good for applications that call for clean but non-critical audio. I use it to power Polk speakers connected to a computer. Gets me very clean sound from iTunes, etc. -- vastly superior to the sound-in-a-box computer speakers.

Comment on Pyle – Mini 2x75W Stereo Power Amplifier – PCA3 by Joakim Arfvidsson

Joakim Arfvidsson — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:50:51 +0000

Review by Joakim Arfvidsson for Pyle - Mini 2x75W Stereo Power Amplifier - PCA3 Rating: I have a living room setup with two Sony SS-F7000 floor-standing speakers. This amp powers them very nicely for my purposes. To me it sounds perfect - strong bass (main concern before buying) and with bass/treble controls that I leave set in the middle. In this fairly small room, I use it up to about 1/2 volume (at which point it is way too loud).

I don't want the complexity of a Stereo receiver with source selector, and so I combined this amp with a simple mixer: American Recorder PMIX-100 3-Source Personal Audio Mixer

This way I can have all my sources always on, it's just a matter of starting/stopping them.

I am going to replicate this setup for all my rooms, potentially with a smaller speaker like SS-B3000 which I already have a pair of (also sound ok with this amp). The single sound source in the other rooms will be an Apple Airport Express, for sound distribution. So far I'm really pleased with the sound setup - simple, cheap, and music to my ears.

Comment on Pyle – Mini 2x75W Stereo Power Amplifier – PCA3 by James Beyer

James Beyer — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:39:49 +0000

Review by James Beyer for Pyle - Mini 2x75W Stereo Power Amplifier - PCA3 Rating: I bought the Pylepro PCA3 amy to run off my computer for music. Hooked to a pair of Polk Audio speakers. The system is better than the sound system with the computer. However, when you read the specifications is is only a 15 watt @ 1% distortion which is how typical amplifers are rated. The specification continue that at 10% distortion it can reach 75 watts / channel. ...sure... I do like the product and for the price it is a fair priced item.

Comment on Hercules XPS 2.0 60 2.0 Multimedia Speakers (Black) by David S. Campbell

David S. Campbell — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:52:23 +0000

Review by David S. Campbell for Hercules XPS 2.0 60 2.0 Multimedia Speakers (Black)
Rating:
The Amazon review would not let me choose 5 stars. Hmmm. Anyway, I wanted some good quality speakers to connect to my laptop to ROCK the room but also to hear the range of Pink Floyd or EmersonLake&Palmer but I didn’t want to spend too much. (I had blown the $15 logitec cheapees that I got at the local PC shop many years ago, you get what you pay for) I did some research at CNET and other PC speaker reviews online and these Hercules XPS 2.0 Model 60′s speakers had real good ratings and were under $100. I think I paid about $79 total for these. One challenge for little plastic case cheap speakers is going to be a lack of low end (bass) because they are little plastic case cheap speakers. (I had Klipsch La Scalas for many years on my main stereo, (~$4000.00 a pair)they had bass reflex where the bass speaker is mounted backwards and reflects sound around forward through the cabinet cavity. One of them is size of a clothes washer) Anyway, these Hercules speakers have bass reflex also, employed using a hole at the rear of the speaker, the wall behind them will serve as the reflex so keep them at least 2-4 inches from the wall. The body is WOOD (sound resonation!), at least 1/4 inch thick, so when you pick it up, you can feel some decent mass to the unit. You get nice deep “Clear” bass and balanced as much as the highs from the tweeter. I am really impressed. Since I had the Klipsch at one time, I know what “studio” sound quality is like and these speakers are very impressive for their size and cost. So if you are looking for real good PC speakers, but don’t want to spend 300-500 bones, I highly recommend these Hercules Model 60′s. They came with all the cabling, and the little green audio connector is the right one for your standard PC audio out connection. For $79 bones and the sound quality you get, very sweet!!

May 21,2010 – And then buy INXS Greatest Hits. The depth and clarity on these speakers is fking awesome…

Comment on Hercules XPS 2.0 60 2.0 Multimedia Speakers (Black) by Irv Haas

Irv Haas — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:26:46 +0000

Review by Irv Haas for Hercules XPS 2.0 60 2.0 Multimedia Speakers (Black) Rating: If you're looking for a set of computer speakers that won't take up much desktop space and provide great sound, check out the Hercules XPS 60 2.0 speakers.

These speakers are rated at 30 watts but pack plenty of sound. The XPS 60 set are a two-piece audio system without a separate subwoofer. The bass is created by a port at the rear of each speaker when placed close to a wall. The bass is good, but not great. If you need great bass, get a 3-piece system with a separate sub.

Besides the good sound, the Hercules XPS 60 offers separate bass and treble controls. How many 2.0 systems offer these controls?

Unlike many computer speakers, the Hercules X60 has no attached wires. Hercules includes separate audio cables with spring clips much like expensive audio speakers. The advantage is that if you move these speakers to another location, you won't have to deal with cumbersome cables than can get tangled.

You can buy an expensive computer speakers for several hundred dollars that sound good. Or you can get excellent audio from a smaller system like the Hercules XPS 60. Don't get hung up on price. $80 or under for these speakers is an incredible value.

Comment on Hercules XPS 2.0 60 2.0 Multimedia Speakers (Black) by David A. Fernald

David A. Fernald — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:06:02 +0000

Review by David A. Fernald for Hercules XPS 2.0 60 2.0 Multimedia Speakers (Black) Rating: I have been searching for a good set of speakers for my PC. I had a set of Altec Lansings which had terrible sound quality (maybe they were old). I researched this and was quite sure I wanted 2 speakers without the subwoofer. I just did not have space enough for the subwoofer. I went back and forth on what brand to purchase and landed on the Hercules 2.0 60. They were easy to hook up, easy to use and have been a very nice addition to the PC. They sit on the desk on either side of the PC. Their presentation is very good. You can use the headset jack and no sound comes out of the speakers, just through the ear plugs. This is important because I share a PC room. I really like the speakers, the sound is fine for me. I would suggest these speakers and would purchase Hercules again.