Simply amazing. I own the Bragi Dash Pros and these take the cake…and they’re cheaper too. Sound is above-average with decent bass and acceptable mids/highs. One of my biggest surprises was how loud these things can go. At three quarters from full volume, these things are plenty loud.

Similar to Bragi’s Audio Transparency (allowing you to hear surroundings when not playing music), Jabra does well with the HearThrough functionality. Not overly sensitive, the earbuds pick up just enough to hear outside sounds without blasting your eardrums.

Dealing with earbuds is a finicky thing. So much revolves around how they fit your ears, size of ear canal, etc. I have oddly shaped ears, in a way that usually i end up with different size silicone for each one to get a solid fit. This set of buds is no different, and initially I was hesitant to purchase after reading reviews. But I went ahead anyways. Overall i give it 4 stars. good set, surprised me in some ways (fit was better then i expected), and disappointing in some ways (reception). Sorry for the long review, lots of little things about this set (plus a few tips on fit and use). So I provided a summary. you can read the rest below.

PRO:
Good fit, even with my finicky ears.
Nice sound
App has nice features
No cord.

CONS:
Fit is all or nothing. very dependent on the earbud shape fitting into your earlobes.
App is cumbersome and non intuitive.
No Cord (seriously, it’s too easy to drop one of these and have it bounce under the table. never happens with my corded buds. Having a cord comes in handy at times like these).
Reception is bad, left side is finicky with connecting at times (connection is solid once it does connect). songs hiccup too often.
:
1) Fit
I was actually surprised at how well they fit my ears. I still had to go with 2 different sized silicone…medium for my left, large for my right. But the nature of these buds (they use the lower inner earlobe to stay in place), seems to afford them a nice fit with good external exclusion. the pass though feature allows some sound in, and is adjustable. I keep it around 20% and it seems to give me enough to hear if anythings happening around me, but still enjoy the full sound of the music at the same time.
I would recommend for a solid fit is to initially put them in with the mic extension a bit high, and then twist it down as you pull a bit on your lower earlobe. picture pulling the lobe down and around the lower side of the earbud, and you’ll probably get a nice fit. after doing it a few times it gets easier and I don’t feel these are any more difficult then a traditional earbud at this point. Took a few times to get it down…i kept pushing on them directly into the ear and it was painful and didn’t work. the pull/twist method was much more successful.
The downside to this is the fit is all in the shape of the earbud. If it doesn’t fit your ear, your not going to get good exclusion, and this affects sound quality. That being said, even with finicky ears, I still got a comfortable fit with no discomfort (usually wear time is 1-3 hours max).
Overall, these are slower to set up then my wired ones. pulling them both out of the case, setting them in each ear, often having to reconnect the left side, adds some time to it. But once they’re set up, they’re great. I don’t have any issues with them slipping out of my ears at all, and I tend to be a heavy sweater in my workouts. My Jaybirds will usually require regular adjustments halfway through the workout. With these, I almost forgot they were there. Not having a cord bop you in the mouth every time you lay back for a bench press is a solid win as well.

2) Sound
Sound isn’t bad. Decent lows and highs, and having the equalizer in the app helps, even if it is a bit basic, it’s something. Fit impacts the sound quite a bit. the sound on my left side was bad until i swapped for the medium silicone, and now it works quite well. The downside to this is there are limited silicone sizes…if they don’t’ work for you, these earbuds suck. you can’t just push them a little deeper or twist them a bit this way or that…they only have one fit, and they depend on the silicone outside of that for exclusion and sound quality. But again, even with finicky ears, the combination of the earbud and silicone worked fine.

3) Reception
This is where these earbuds missed the mark for me. multiple drops during a song on average. they are usually no more then a fraction of a second…the song hiccups, then back on track. But it is definitely an immersion breaker, and too often it distracts me…I keep waiting for a call or a text ping thinking it was interrupted due to that, but then the song kicks back in and i either have to assume it was bad reception, or run over to the phone to make sure I’m not missing an important text. Very irritating. My Jaybird v2’s have a drop about once every 2-3 songs. These drop 2-3x per song sometimes. Again, small, and as I get used to it I just sigh and get back into my workout. But it’s bad enough to affect the rating IMO.
Plus the left earbud seems to be very intermittent with it’s connection. About 50-60% of the time when I pull them directly from the case and plug them in, the left earbud is silent. I have to power down the set (hold down button on right bud) with them in my ears, and power back up again for the left side to connect. The whole master/slave setup for the two earbuds is logical, but the left earbud needs to have better response to the right one on activation.

4) App
Having an app is nice. equalizer, adjustable settings…but the app could use some love. the main page isn’t intuitive…I feel like there should be a simply set of toggles for the most used features (much like the Bluetooth and airplane modes on my phone). But instead you have to go to a sub menu and select features there, which open a third window…allot to worry about when you just want to reduce the sound that gets through. A simple control panel for the most used features (exclusion settings, equalizer, etc). would make the app actually enjoyable to use. As it is, you fiddle with initial settings and then pretty much leave it alone. It’s too much of a pain to tinker with while your in the middle of a workout.

5) Other Features
the buttons on the side are very easy to use and get used to, and they’re functions are probably the most intuitive I’ve had in an earbud setup. I had to refer to the manual a few times to get used to the full options, but I don’t even think about it any more. Very nice. I have yet to really use the mikes, but on the few calls I’ve used them they seem to work well, no negative feedback from the people on the other side.

Quick note on the case: as others have stated, it IS slippery, and it’s round shapes make it easy to drop. I found the best way to hold it is to grab it on the sides where it’s flat. Same with opening the lid: I don’t try to squeeze a fingernail under the silly little divet they offer on front: I grab each side of the lid with my fingers, apply a bit of pressure, and pull. It pops open easy this way, with very little chance of slipping out of your hands.

WOW! Absolutely fantastic sound with my iPhone 7 and MacBook Pro. Setup was very intuitive and quick, with the only confusion arising from the need to install the Jabra 65t app on my phone in order to complete the installation. I have very large ear canals, so I was concerned that the standard medium silicone inserts would not fit well, but they actually worked out quite well. In the end, I swapped the mediums our for the large cups, and I get an excellent seal and isolation, and they are comfortable enough that I can go for 2-3 hours with these buds inserted in my ears without being aware of the buds in my ears (can’t say that about any other similar buds, which usually get painful after about an hour).

The sound quality is simply superb and rivals my older Etymotics buds (that I’m now retiring). Volume controls are intuitive (on the left bud), and power/call control is on the right bud. Yet again, a Jabra product that doesn’t require the use of a user’s manual. I’m also a daily (happy) user of the flagship Jabra Engage 75 binaural headset — my daily work headset — and the build and sound quality of the Elite 65t is right up there with the Engage.

After (literally) decades of being a dedicated Sennheiser fan, I’ve now completely switched over to Jabra and feel that I am getting the greatest possible value for my money — and a lot of money it is, as an early adopter ($600 for both the Engage and the Elite). Couldn’t be happier and more thrilled with this purchase.

I did plenty of research, and these looked the most promising, and they totally delivered. The fit is perfect, don’t fall out while exercising, sound quality is great, and call quality was impressive, even while outside on a very windy day.
I’ve tried the Jaybird Run, and it doesn’t compare. The Jabra has better sound, better fit – even without fins, able to adjust the volume on the actual earbud – something most true wireless earbuds can’t do, 4 microphone technology, on phone calls the audio is in both ears, automatically pairs when you take it out of the case, can pair with multiple devices, buttons are easy to press – the buttons on the Jaybird were really hard to press, really pushed into my ear, and they are also much nicer looking, which is especially nice when walking out in public. And from what ive seen looking around, many of the flaws of the Jaybird are present in just about all other true wireless earbuds, even ones more expensive.

This is my second soundbar that I’ve owned and my first Sonos product. I must say I am very impressed. For such a small soundbar this thing outputs great sound. The Beam’s sound when playing movies and music is perfect. I have a mid-size living room area and the Beam fills the space with sound quite handedly. I do plan on getting the Sonos SUB at some point but after using the Beam all day I’m confident that I can hold out on the SUB until Black Friday.

The addition of Alexa is arguably this soundbar’s biggest selling point and I’m happy to say it works really well. It works just as well as my Echo and Echo Dot and allows me to control my Smart Home devices. I can ask Alexa to play music on Spotify and then ask it to run my Robovac without having to lift a finger. My personal favorite feature is HDMI-ARC which allows you to do things like control the volume of the soundbar with the TV remote or turn on/off the TV with Alexa. If you’re looking for a soundbar with great sound and great smart features, I highly recommend getting the Sonos Beam!

I had a Sony receiver with the Polk RM6750 compact speakers and subwoofer which sounded great but I’ve been looking for a soundbar for a few years now for simplicity and visual appeal. I purchased a Sony HT-ST5000 shortly after its release and ended up returning it a couple days later. The dialogue was particularly awful and the lack of surround channels really made it flat sounding.

I was originally disappointed that Sonos released a small soundbar instead of a “playbar 2” but decided to try out the Beam with Sub and two One’s after many 3rd party review sites ranked the Beam especially high.

It sounds excellent. Together, it sounds just as good and even better than my previous wired system. Movies and music both shine on this. The Beam itself sounds full and produces a wide sound stage although it’s important to note that it produces little bass so I would not use the Beam by itself unless its on a secondary TV in a very small room. Add the One’s and you get much better bass. Add the sub and you get rumbling thunder. If you can only get one, I’d say get the two One’s so you also get the surround. Note: I’m using the system primarily in a 10×12 ft living room but it will easily fill my 700 sqft apartment with music. Dialogue in movies is always very clear and sounds full. I do not use the dialogue enhancer either – no need for it. Night mode works well but I’ll probably never use that.

Alexa works well. The microphones can hear me speak in a low tone from 20 ft away in my kitchen around around a corner which was surprising.

Big fan of the app. You can adjust all of the speaker levels or turn on enhancements there. You can play iPad music through it. I just wish you could ask Alexa to play XYZ from the iPad like you can with the other music services. You first have to start playing from the iPad in the app and then you can tell Alexa to pause/play or skip the song.

I think I’ve been experiencing some audio delay with XBox One X Blu Rays only… I think because its very slight and only noticed in a C movie and then a movie primarily with CGI so I can’t trust either one. But there is no delay when streaming from apps on the XBox, apps from my TV or my FIOS cable box. The Xbox and cable box are both routed separately through my x900e then HDMI to the Beam. Need some more Netflix DVDs to come in to further test that.

Its nice being able to adjust the volume of the system using Alexa or your TV remote.

All in all – loving the system. Was thinking I’d replace the Beam when Sonos does release a playbar 2 in the following years but there’s really no need. I’m very happy with it. I’d suggest it if you can get it along with two Ones, the sub or most definitely both – alone though, it lacks bass needed for movies and music.

Update: 7-31 – I watched another Blu ray on the xbox and there wasn’t a perceivable audio delay on that one…

I am a fan of Sonos because of the ease of use, the variety of streaming music sources (more than any other by far), integration with other Sonos speakers and Alexa and, of course, the sound. I have 13 speakers, comprised of 2 play 5, 4 play 3 and the remainder are play 1s, obviously I’m a fan. I wanted a playbar but couldn’t justify the price. When the Beam came out I was thrilled! I received it and immediately set it up in my 450 sq ft bedroom, with peaked ceilings. I added two play 1s and, wow, it is awesome. TV sounds great, movies through Netflix, Google, Amazon sound phenomenal! If you are worried it won’t be loud enough, it IS! You can control the sound through the Sonos app on your phone OR your cable remote, which is great because my old sound bar needed it’s own remote. You can also control the sound from the rear speakers separately if it’s too loud or not loud enough. You can auto tune the set up, or manually tune it to your liking. You can still play all your music or audible books, and wow, YouTube through Roku sounds AMAZING!. We were playing Ride of the Valkyries from youtube, and Ectasy of Gold and the kids complained it was too loud. Starwars movies sound like you are in the theater. The Lows and highs from the Beam are good for a room this size. I love the fact that I don’t need a separate remote and that I can use Alexa commands too! The Sonos app walks you through the set up and it is so simple, my play ones were reconfigured and everything was working together within minutes. I am so happy Sonos came out with a less expensive sound bar. I realize it’s not cheap, but if you have a Sonos setup or thinking of getting Sonos speakers, this IS the sound bar to get. I will be purchasing at least one more for the living room, with the Play 5 as my sub and two play 3 for right and left, the Beam will be more than sufficient. The reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because, by itself without the benefit of other Sonos speakers, it’s good, but not great. This is the type of sound bar that really needs it’s complimentary speakers to be truly great. With the additional speakers, 5 stars all the way. By itself, 4 stars with an additional half star for the wide array of music services you can use with the Sonos platform. Unless you have unrealistic expectations of a sound bar, I don’t think you will be disappointed.

If you do not have a 4K TV, then you do not need PS4 pro.
Slim is just fine.

Five stars for the ps4, Zero stars for the packaging the Ps4 came in. This is my second PlayStation, my first one was the original Ps1 still have it. But this ps4 is so awesome, there is a lot of free demos to download so you do not have to buy games unless there is that game you got to have. Alot of stuff to do with this console it is just not a game console.

I really love my new PS4 Slim, it’s great, easy to setup and has a tons more options.

Pros:
Current Gen Console as of 2/28/2018
Alot faster than the PS3 in general
Tons of free games
Playstation Now is a pretty decent deal and has a wide selection
Tons of media apps like netflix, hulu, amazon video, funimation, etc…
Controller allows you to change brightness of glow
Tons of customization options to suit your console to you (including high contrast)
Playstation plus seems to offer better deals for digital.

Cons:
No more composite output, which means I can’t get audio through my pc the easy way
When you are downloading many items there can be menu lag
Some apps tend to glitch and close application isn’t an option. However, you can easily just restart.

I got this because I had no reason to get the PS4 Pro, I don’t have a 4K TV nor do I really care about 4K Gaming (and the 6-8 games that are supported for 4K on the Pro.) Honestly I just found this to be a better deal, as the Pro just seems to be a lazy cashgrab. It definitely is slim and fits into pretty much any keyboard space (for those of you with multiple desks like me.)

Pretty much the ideal console in my opinion.

I’ve had the original PS4 system since it came and and have long run out of space on the 500GB hard drive so I decided to buy a newer updated version of the PS4.. the ps4 slim is awesome. There is a very noticeable performance between my slim and the original. The network connection on my slim is twice as good, games load much faster, download times are much quicker and most importantly I have twice as much HD space for games. I don’t even play a lot of games but still somehow ran out. If you’re noticing a decline in performance on your original ps4 you should definitely invest in a new with plus you can add on a 4 year warranty.

Nice size and plenty of hard drive space, great deal for the price. I haden’t purchased a new console since the Wii having been mostly PC at this point, but a few of the playstation exclusives sold me on getting on and I’m very happy with it.

AMAZON provided an excellent Product, Excellent protection to ship, and Excellent Product PS 4 – I have had all the previous Playstation Game machines, and do warn PS 4 buyers that SONY has never implemented ability to play U R PS 2 or PS 3 games on its PS4 system.
PS 4 literature in box says they have BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY – but that is a “LIE”.

XBOX ONE does have BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY on previous games. NOT SONY w/ its PS4.
The PS4 is an excellent product w/ 1 T’bite Storage and also uses less electricity than the 500GB storage models.
AMAZON packaging was great when received. no complaints there. No complaints of the PS 4 either at this stage.
So far I love it!
But hate the NO PS 4 backward Compatibility, even with PLAYSTATION PLUS which is required to play & view ONLINE INTERNET.
So Buyers who want to get in on PS 4 ground floor BUY only games that have ability to PLAY standalone, to get started.

I haven’t stopped using this since I bought it! I have so much fun playing my games on here, streaming movies/videos and my personal favorite: listening to Spotify! It’s amazing and has a nice, modern, sleek interface. If you’re already familiar with Playstation, then it isn’t as hard to use (so many button have so many uses), but if you aren’t a faithful Playstation user, you may have a little difficulty remembering which button does what. Since I am a faithful PS user, I’m gonna go ahead and give it 5 stars because the buttons weren’t an issue for me. 10/10 would recommend.

It was pretty easy to set up. I bought it to share with my boyfriend and it’s very easy to keep our different save files for our games separate. Both parties have access to the different games that have been downloaded even if only one bought the digital game. The only thing I would complain about is that we can’t have two separate netflix log ins saved onto it. It has the one account preloaded all the time. The control are what you would expect and a little more. Sometimes, depending on the game, the controller will light up differently to show your health or in response to what a character is saying. The last console we had before this was a ps2 so, we’re still pretty amazed by it, haha.

I received the cube and I was excited. It was easy to set up and connect. As I navigated through the home screen, I instantly knew there was a problem. It seems that the processor was not fast enough to scroll and load the information, or there was a glitch with the firmware software. I have 2 older Fire tv boxes that blow this cube processor out of the water. I loaded all of my apps and set them up. I am a directv now customer and I instantly recognized that this cube does not play well with this app. When loading, the screen will freeze and will take a bit of time to log in. Sometimes, I would have to force exit and reset the cube. Once the cube would allow me to log into directv, the video thumbnails would take for ever to load and flicker. I try to navigate into the guide and that flickers as well. After everything settles down, I can select a channel but then the video lags and jerks. One would assume that it was a directv problem or an internet speed problem. Well, my internet speed is 300 mbps download and is perfect. The directv runs perfectly fine with my 4 other firetv devices. I noticed the video also lags on my prime account video, Netflix and YouTube accounts. Futhermore, Alexa was not responding to some of my commands like “what is today’s weather.”etc. Also, Alexa would randomly switch inputs when I didn’t even command it to do so. I started to read other reviews and noticed that other customers were having the same problems. I decided to wait it out hoping that amazon would have their techs fix some of the glitches. Today, I couldn’t take it anymore because the lagging was driving my family crazy. I placed a request call to amazon support and Nathalie called me back. I explained my problems and the solutions that I tried to rectify them. It was obvious that Nathalie did not have a solution and was trained to read dummy cards. She told me she had to download my logs. What? ( I guess this means that amazon knows exactly what there customer watch’s!) I was placed on hold a few times but I was getting agitated because it was taking to long for an answer and I had to get to work. Finally, Nathalie came back and said that she put a ticket in for me and someone could not help me until Sunday because of a high volume of ticket problems. (6 days, really?). I told her that I was going to return it. She did not even offer to send me a replacement, and told me that she was sorry and I would have to wait for a service tech to call on Sunday. This was a deal breaker for me and I told her that I was going to return the cube because there were too many glitches. She particularly didn’t seemed concerned or tried to talk me out of it. In fact, she did the label and extended warranty for me which leads me to believe that Amazon released an unstable product that was not perfected for public use. I am very disappointed and expected better from amazon because I Always believed that there customer service was excellent. I am hoping to see the cube perfected and will wait for the second version. I hope my post helps others.

I can’t begin to say how disappointed I am with Amazon, Amazon Customer Service, and this piece of junk they call the Fire Cube. To give a little background, I own and use daily, 5 fire sticks and a 2nd Gen Fire TV box. I have been a Prime member for MANY years and have been using there products for as many years. I am not new to the Five TV scene or products. I also have my house wire up with Ethernet as to avoid any buffering issues. With all that being said, this is the absolute worst Fire Item that Amazon has ever come out with. I thought the last model was bad, but this one is literally garbage! Within the four days of using it, the cube randomly pauses several time within Amazon Prime and HULU shows. Also, there has been a few time when I try to wake the unit up and nothing happens. I have to actually unplug the power supply to the cube and plug it back in in order for it to wake up. All this within only 4 days!! What the heck!! Still having hope for this new model, I decided to simply send it back in and just get a replacement. Well that turned into a major headache. I come to find out that Amazon doesn’t make it that simple. I get routed to some tech rep on the other side of the world whose mission it is to shame me into keeping this item. I explained to him that I only had the cube installed for 4 days and clearly explained all the problems that I have been experiencing with it. His first solution is to go into setting/applications, and clear the cache for both the Prime Video app and Hulu app, then a restart. What??? Again, I have had this for only 4 days and there is no reason for these to be full, but I did as asked. He then asked me to turn on a show and see if it is still happening. I said, “You realize that this issue happens randomly throughout a show, not at the beginning”. He said, give me a few minutes to check something. Five minutes late he returns and asks if there is anything else he can help me with? I said, since nothing has been fixed just send me a replacement unit, which is all I really want. He said that he could not do that because he does not see anything wrong with it. I said that nothing has been fixed. His answer to was, “If you ever have any other issues, you should just do a factory reset of the unit. Is there anything else I can help you with today?” I said, “You haven’t even helped me with any of my issues yet”. He said that there was nothing he could do and that he wasn’t going to authorize a replacement. By this point, and after wasting 30 minutes talking with this incompetent service tech rep, I simply told him that if I cannot get a replacement, then I am just going to return the unit. So that is what I am doing. Come on Amazon, really? Think about it. If I decide to take another chance with this unit, I would simply wait a few days for Prime days, and get another one. But instead, you guys decide to dump on a loyal customer that has been with you for many years and owns several of your products. By the way, your Prime rate hike is a joke. If this is the service I am going to get, and now have to pay more for it, I’m not sure it’s really worth it anymore.

Video playback pauses randomly quite often. It’s only for one or two seconds, but it happens a lot. One time it would not respond at all to voice command. I unplugged it then powered back on and it worked again.
I think it will be a great device once the bugs are worked out.
I recommend waiting at least several months before purchase to see if the reviews get better when more updates come out.

Great sound, but broke a little after a year of light use. There’s a design flaw in which the hinge of the right ear causes the wire to disconnect, apparently from the act of bending and unbending the phones to fit in the case. I’ve attempted to put this review up in the past, and it’s been rejected for some reason. But customers should know that, unless you treat these headphones very delicately or not at all, some issue with the right ear may come up.

There’s a reason for all the one-star reviews – it’s because there is a very sizable chance that they’ll stop working after twelve to eighteen months. Mine died in the last few weeks, sixteen months after I got them and after being used perhaps 30 to 40 times. After about ten minutes of use they start cutting out, and the only way to continue using them is to switch off the noise-canceling function. And no, it’s not a battery issue.

Given that 10% of reviewers report exactly the same issue, you have to ask yourself how a once-great brand like Bose could allow this to happen, Well, here’s how. In order to please the accountants, the people in Procurement start nickel-and-diming on the components. Huge savings are made in this way. Margins increase. Everyone is happy. And we are left with a beautifully designed set of headphones that are assembled from crappy parts and thus headphones from a once-premium brand become expensive throwaway tat. It’s incredibly disappointing.

While they work they work beautifully. The sound is amazing. But don’t be fooled – they will stop working. Bank on it.

Ironically, my headphones died a week after I bought an identical pair to give to my wife for her birthday. It’s her birthday today. After she unwraps her present I’ll explain the situation, we’ll return them unopened, and she has $299 to spend on any headphones she likes. Meanwhile, my sturdy workhorse Sennheiser HD-25 headphones are coming out of retirement and the Bose are going in the bin.

UPDATE, SIX MONTHS LATER: After much discussion, my wife decided she loved my gift of these headphones so much that she was prepared to take the risk and keep them. Today she told me that the left ear has died. Fortunately on this occasion they died well within warranty – and I kept all the original packaging knowing that this would happen…

Goodbye forever, Bose.

I now have purchased, two of these Bose QuietComfort 25, and they are the best ever headphones for noise canceling…….while they worked! (I rarely write reviews for anything).

I travel 2-4 times a week on a plane, and I never hear the engine or baby noise. Both pairs died at 12 months, at about the time of the warranty expiration date. The planned obsolescence for failure, in my opinion, to stop at exactly 12 months, is unfortunate. The warranty is not applicable here, unless bought directly through Bose and not Amazon (found that out the hard way of emails).
I love Bose, but the gauge of wire used for the internal connection (too thin or loosely soldered), or the planned obsolescence from Bose, is insufficient to last for anyone, that actually uses the headphones on a regular basis.

BTW: I own JBL, Sennheiser, Phiaton headphones, as well. Bose, when working are the best noise canceling of the 4 headphones I own….but will not last!!!

Please Bose, fix this engineering or accounting problem, for these potentially great headphones.
Thank you.
NK

The QC25 is Bose’ best noise cancelling headphone to date. As someone who has been using Bose QC headphones daily for 3+ years now, I think I can give this a reasonably educated review. I have owned QC15 (predecessor to these headphones) for about 3 years now, and have owned QC20 (in-ear headphones) since they came out. My musical tastes are varied: everything from Yiruma to Taylor Swift to Childish Gambino to Zedd. I listen at my desk at home, in the office, and on public transportation.

Four things really mattered to me when I upgraded to the QC25: sound quality, noise cancelling, comfort, and the portability. So I’ll skip aesthetics and the other features that you can easily read about. And I’ll tackle each of those four critical points in this review, naming a winner in each category.

Sound Quality Winner: QC25
You do need to “burn-in” your Bose headphones. Play music through them for about 100 hours and you’ll hear a difference—they’ll sound much better than they did straight out of the box. After burn-in, indeed, the QC25 has a slightly superior sound to its predecessor. Also, the over-ear headphones have the easy sound-quality advantage on the QC20 earbuds because you get a wider sound stage and harder-hitting bass.

Noise Cancelling Winner: QC15/QC20/QC25 (3-way tie)
There’s marketing hype about how the QC25 noise cancelling is superior. Honestly, I can’t really tell. I could tell the difference between the QC20 and QC15 because the “StayHear tips” blocked the sound in a different way. But in every-day use, the QC25 noise cancelling is really about the same as that in the QC15—which is to say that it is excellent and industry-leading. Even at low volumes, you can block out most ambient noise and idle chatter: “quiet” indeed.

Comfort: QC15/QC20/QC25 (3-way tie)
The QC25s are just as comfortable as the QC15s: VERY comfortable. This is due to the light weight and light pressure on the ear cups. This is extra beneficial to people with wider skulls. They make Beats Studio/Pro headphones feel like strapping two conch shells to your skull. As a side note, the earbuds in the QC20 are also the most comfortable in-ear pieces that I have used—much more comfortable than they look. All three options live up to the “comfort” portion of their name.

Case/Portability Winner: QC20
The in-ear design of the QC20s makes it the easy winner. You can stuff them into their card-case sized pouch very easily and you can wear them in the office without looking too anti-social—not so, with the over-ear designs. The more-compact case for the QC25 is an upgrade, and folding the headphones is easy. In terms of storage, they did away with the card slot from the QC15 (seriously, that was a waste of space), and dropped the interior zippered pouch as well. In its place, there is a slot to store a single spare battery. I only ever stored one spare AAA battery in there anyway, so the QC25 case storage is sufficient for me. The back also features an elastic compartment like the QC15 case—never used it.

Other considerations:

Hi/Low switch: I honestly have not found the absence of this switch to be a problem. I checked my QC15, and saw that I had set it to “Hi.” I hadn’t changed it since I bought it and have never had any problems with getting a range of volumes. Similarly, the QC25 work fine for me too.

Ability to listen without battery: They introduced this feature in the QC20. Unless you’re desperate, you do NOT want to use the headphones without the active preamp because without active equalization, these sound worse than $2 headphones. Nice-to-have feature, but just be sure to pack a spare battery.

Long-term foam pad wear: About 2 years into my QC15s, I needed to replace the ear cushions because the leatherette was starting to disintegrate. I suspect the same thing may happen to these QC25s. Expect to spend $15 to $30 on this maintenance depending on whether you go OEM or aftermarket.

No aware mode: The QC20 headphones had “aware mode” which was supposed to let you listen to your surroundings. This feature worked, but after a while, I stopped using it and just popped an earbud out as necessary. It isn’t particularly missed on the QC25.

Batteries: The fact that they use a single AAA battery is perfect. Eneloops are your best friend. I am grateful that this doesn’t have a proprietary battery like the QC20.

Overall Winner: QC25
The QC25 represents the best Bose noise cancelling headphones to date. If you are considering upgrading from the QC15, the improvements are incremental and I would think twice about parting with $300. If you’re looking to supplement a set of QC20 earbuds, this is a great buy. If you have no Bose noise cancelling headphones, this is THE clear choice.

Onkyo RZ610 vs Yahama RX-V681

Why am I comparing these 2?
1. I have both
2. Same price range(at the time I got them)
3. I have 2 theater rooms both running the same speakers(Klipsch Pro 6800)
4. Both rooms are about the same size(500-600 sqft), just on different floors
5. I paid the same price for both of them, $400.

Limitations
1. I have one room running a Klipsch R115SW and another running an SVS PB-1000. The SVS is not as powerful but I tuned both to have roughly the same output.
2. The Yamaha is in a room with hardwood flooring. However, there are plenty of furniture, a big high pile rug and plenty of decor.
3. The Onkyo is in a carpeted room but the room is still quite bare except for some basic furniture(ping pong table, sofa, coffee table, desk, etc..)
4. Some people would think my setup is too weak. I’m not an audiophile or loud music/movie enthusiast. I wanted a nice sound system for TV, movies, and gaming that’s hidden from view and doesn’t take up much space. I need it to be simple and easy to use even for kids.

Sound
1. The Onkyo sounds a bit better, clearer and fuller. Could be subjective but that’s what my ears tells me. I’m not an audiophile but I can definitely tell. The Onkyo handles the louder volume better and has better progression.
2. The Onkyo is more powerful. At 8 ohms, the Onkyo 100w while the Yahama is 90w. The difference is noticeable though I doubt anymore will explore that sound level 99% of the time.
3. Yahama has more and better control of sound settings. I guess technically you can tune the Yamaha to give you a better scene and more choices in reverb, delays, etc…Although I love the options, I have too many things to do like most people and prefer the machine figure it out by itself. The Onkyo does a better job by itself but he Yamaha offer better controls overall.
4. Both can automatically calibrate your speakers with the included microphone and they do work.

User interface
1. Onkyo wins hands down. GUI is simple, laid out fairly logical, and comes with explanations for settings.
2. Yahama interface varies so much between the app and the direct interface via your TV. It’s a mess and barely has any explanations. Really need to play around to find everything.
3. Yahama seems to have more controls but that could be a good or bad thing.
4. Yahama respond slower to every command and much slower startups.
5. Yahama has really neat app that is surprisingly easy to use controls for inputs and customizing those inputs like lag time and room size. That’s about the only thing I like from the Yamaha interface and it is part of the app you download onto your phone or tablet.

There are other features I have not tested like zone control, party mode, wireless speakers, etc… The Onkyo had a problem with the wifi. It worked for a few hours and then I could not find it for Airplay. Had to reset the whole receiver and it fixed it. It hasn’t happened again. Since then, wifi worked fine but just like any device that will have a cheap wifi chip in there, just use a hard wire. I had wifi connection problems with my Sony TVs and Yamaha receivers as well. I’m guessing it’s just cheap parts so use an ethernet cable if possible.

For me, I would pick the Onkyo over the Yamaha simply because it’s easier to use, much quicker response, and does a pretty good job by itself.

 Unacceptable product and poor support from Onkyo. This receiver has broken 3 times in the 7 months I’ve owned it, I’ve had to pay out of pocket to ship to a repair facility twice now and I can’t even talk to a supervisor without sending an email with my speaker specifications.

I purchased this receiver on March 19, 2017 and its been in the shop twice, now only partially functioning and I’m wrestling with Onkyo Product Support over what to do next. I want a replacement unit. They want me to ship it to them for a 3rd time.

When it first broke back in October 2017 the problem was that it constantly lost network connectivity. No matter whether I tried hardwired or wi-fi, just couldn’t get it to stay on the network. I called Onkyo and after 30 minutues of troubleshooting they said I needed to take it to a repair facility. Since the nearest one is 400 miles away, I had to ship it at my own cost to Adam’s Electronics in LA.

Adam’s fixed it and shipped it back to me but it stopped working after less than a week. This time the buttons and LED readout on the front panel stopped working and the receiver would only respond to the Onkyo app. Called Onkyo and was told to send it to Adam’s for repair again. Shipped again at my cost.

Adam’s “fixed” it but after I got it back this second time it only worked 2 days. For a day the readout was frozen saying “GAME” followed by “Mi” and either a garbage or special character. While talking online with their support I was asked to reset the unit at which point the readout stopped working entirely. I was told I needed to send it in for repair a 3rd time. That’s not acceptable to me so I asked to speak with the supervisor that my tech support person had been talking to but…

This is the worst part in my opinion… the supervisor wouldn’t talk to me unless I emailed them my purchase receipt, my serial number and the specs on my speaker layout. They’re standing right there talking to the tech support person and she won’t take the phone unless I email that info? Ridiculous.

Lastly – if you really want to buy Onkyo because you live really close to an authorized repair facility, first take a look at the main support page on their US site. Right there they feature “ONKYO RZ SERIES PRIORITY SUPPORT”. Apparently the RZ series is a bag of lemons. Write the number down because you may be needing it soon after your RZ arrives.

I replaced the one I purchased more than 10 years ago, and wanted to go with Yamaha, got one and sent it right back and got this wonderful device – works for me and with me – My hat is off to the people at Onkyo for a product that gives me the sound I want the way I want it – did I mention my old one still works – the remote gave up (doesn’t work the volume anymore) though I think my kids had something to do with that. It’s not about statistics, nor about stiff people with large budgets – It’s about the sound, the features and the ease of operation. I paired this with a set of Polk Audio 7.1 speaker system (not the cheap small ones – a few steps higher) and my heart is singing, and my soul is content 🙂

It looked good out of the box. Appeared to be solid. I used it for 7 months and then one day, the LEDs were not working and the volume was very low. I checked all the wires and reattached everything. Nothing would fix the problem. So, there is one user-replaceable fuse accessed on the back. I thought I would check the fuse–just in case. It has a slot for a Philips Head screw driver–I inserted the screw driver and turned. It was so tightly closed that when I turned it, it actually ripped the fuse and connections from the inside board. Now, it’s dead.

Conclusion:
1. It only lasted 7 months.
2. I am not sure why the LEDs stopped working.
3. The volume was too low after it started to fail after the 7 months.
4. The one access point to replace something that could go wrong (the fuse) did not work. Trying to open it ripped it apart.
5. I now have to buy a replacement. I could have added the $70 or so from the purchase of this one to a better unit the first time.

Separately, there was a lot of hiss when no sound was playing. This means the hiss is always there–it is just masked at higher volumes.

Bought the first unit and two months later it would start cutting out. Turning the unit on and off several times worked for a while until it went dead altogether. Bought a second unit because the manufacturer warranty with pyle (not amazon warranty) requires you to pay for shipping there and $20 for a replacement unit and shipping back, which is BS bc I live about 5 miles away from where they ship!! This winds up being just about half or more than half the cost of the unit itself..so might as well buy a new one with amazon warranty. Less than a month later, same issue with it cutting out. My device was kept unobstructed and in a ventilated place, it’s never moved, so it most certainly is not something i am doing. Do not buy. Or if you must, buy the insurance!

This is the 3rd Pyle amp that I’ve purchased for powering external speakers for my televisions. This is a basic, reasonably priced amp that will do a very nice job of filling your TV room with high quality sound. If you are an audiophile looking for concert hall realism, then this amp isn’t going to do it for you. And remember, at this price range you are not going to get clear, auditorium filling sound. But if you want an inexpensive, basic amplifier to power a set of speakers then this will work just fine.

This amp seems to be designed for use as a PA system – a standard microphone input on the rear. I don’t use this function, but paired with a decent set of speakers would probably make a good announcing system for an event. A plus is that you can mix your music input with the microphone.

My only (minor) complaint is the extremely bright Output Level Display lamps. They are LEDs and flash away like strobe lights.This definitely doesn’t work in a darkened TV room, so you’ll need some way to cover them up.

Several other reviewers have complained about “poor quality”. I don’t know where this complaint comes from. My amp is a solid, fairly hefty piece of equipment. Everything that I can see shows the use of good, commercial quality components.

This amplifier delivers great power and has all the features that you’re expecting from the description. However, in the first unit that I bought, there was a noticeable, gain-independent hiss coming out of the speakers. This occurred even when the input was disconnected, and the speakers have been attached to other sources and not caused a hiss. Others have noted this hiss as well. Pyle was happy to exchange the amp, but the second one had the same hissing problem. The power and price are on point, but just hope you don’t get one with this hissing problem.

The Good: No desire for a massive receiver on my desk, this fit the needs I was looking for to connect a good pair of bookshelf speakers to my desktop.
The Bad: I get cross talk between AUX1/AUX2/CD. If I have more than one device connected I have to stop the audio on one before switching to the other, which sort of defeats the point. I don’t expect to necessitate the extra inputs, but it is worth noting for future home audio projects.
The Ugly: The LED’s are way too bright for sitting on my desk. 3 layers of scotch tape and it isn’t as blinding as it was, but I might still move it off to the side where it isn’t in direct line of sight.
Other thoughts: I’m running a pair of 60W speakers and the distortion seems to hit in the bass at roughly the same volume as the original receiver. This isn’t going to make your speakers sound better unless your current receiver isn’t outputting as high as your speakers can go.

It’s a nice amplifier for use with a home stereo system. I had a $60 Sony combination CD/cassette player that puts out 15 watts per channel. I bought a beautiful pair of second hand Yamaha 3 way speakers that normally retail new for $150 for $19. The new speakers were rated at 70 nominal watts per channel. Although when the new speakers were hooked up to the Sony player with a subwoofer they sounded alright there was some distortion and the speakers simply weren’t living up to what they were capable of. When I attached this amplifier between the Sony player and the Yamaha speakers the speakers sounded like high quality $150 speakers and the subwoofer suddenly came to life.

I only gave this four stars because of the construction of the bare wire speaker interface. It is about the flimsiest construction with tiny holes for the bare speaker wire, cheap springs and poor mounting. I’m using a high quality 14 gauge speaker wire and I had to force the bare speaker wire into the interface holes. If you plan on inserting your speaker wires just once and then leaving them alone it is fine. But if you plan on moving your amplifier and need to frequently connect and disconnect your speaker wire this speaker interface is going to break on you. It won’t hold up with repeated use.