Yamaha GX-50 Mini System Mini Systems Reviews

Price Paid:  $295.00

Summary:
Considering the small price of the unit, it gives great sound. People with considerably more expensive mini systems or components can't beleive that it could be so loud and have such deep bass, from small speakers. Listening to it at high volume makes your ears hear buzzing after you turn it off (it's loud). I would recommend this mini system to anyone, it's better than anything else in it's price range. I haven't had any problems with it.

Strengths:
Loud clear sound, everything can be done from the remote,

Weaknesses:
The button lay-out is not the best. The laser needs to be cleaned once a year, and takes about 10mins. On some very, very badly recorded CD's, the last few tracks can take a while to load.

Similar Products Used:
I have listened to mini systems from Sony, Aiwa, Philips, JVC, Panasonic and others in the same price range.

Price Paid:  $450.00

Summary:
This thing worked fine for about two years, then out the blue it gave me a "mechanical error" message and the CD player won't work...won't even eject so I can get my CDs out. What a piece of crap. If I wanted something that would only last two years, I would have saved myself a couple hundred bucks and bought some cheap junk Aiwa or Sony minisystem. Also, as previously mentioned, this thing is not easy at all to work. The button layout and especially the remote are horrible.

Price Paid:  $450.00 from Agrene

Summary:
I've had this mini system for almost 5 years and I have not had any problems with it what so ever. I don't understand where some of you say you are having problems witht he cd player skipping and taking 20 min to read a cd. When ever i've listened to mine it has never skipped or took that long t read any of my cd's the only thing I can think of id the read head or the laser is dirty and needs to be cleaned

Strengths:
excellent load, crisp, and clear

Weaknesses:
none that i can think of

Price Paid:  $500.00 from Soundtrack

Summary:
This unit did great for the first couple of years!(I've had it for 3.5 years) However, the CD player has sucked for the past 1.5 years. It takes awhile to read the CD's, sometimes 20 minutes. (good thing I'm a patient person!) Recently, I've given up trying to play CD's at all, and am looking into cleaning or repairing the laser. I would also have to agree that the Volume controls don't have small enough steps at low listening levels. It can be either too loud or too quiet. I guess for the money, I thought it would last much longer. Good for casual listeners and students.

Strengths:
The sound is great! I've bothered many a neighbor (and roommate) with this thing! I've used it for my record player and cassettes...am I ancient?

Weaknesses:
CD's skip frequently, and volume levels are a little whack.

Summary:
I've had this system since April of 1997 and it's been trouble free. I took it in to get serviced once(i accidentally slipped and pressed the disc tray in manually) and this caused a wire to get pinched. It was fixed and now works perfectly again. The sound on this system is amazing. I play it very loud during the afternoons in my dorm room and peopel often walk buy suprised at how loud it is for such a small unit. My only real problem is that it doesn't handle scratched cds well. Rather than skipping momentarily, these discs will freeze and often a popping sound will occur and the player will skip halfway into another track. I've tried the discs in other players and they work fine. Overall though, this is a great system and I don't regret buying it.

Strengths:
Excellent sound quality for a mini system, huge bass for small speakers.

Weaknesses:
CD Player tends to skip erradically on only mildy scratched discs that play fine in some other players.