Overall a good package in terms of sound, quality, design and features. The design is somewhat functional that ends up looking great. Unintentional beauty? How did they ever come to that design?!

Here and there one may find different complaints on different parts. These are with me the loud and less-so user friendly tape deck. The slow CD player and the feels-like-a-brick remote control.

I was out for a minisystem and was thinking about getting one of those Sonys and likes. But after a quick search in the Internet for more intelligent options, I stumbled over the Yamaha and the reviews on its GX 500. So out I went and looked for one, in Jakarta that is. Eventually I got a GX 700 instead. The 500 series either didn't make to Indonesia or was simply sold out. I purchased mine I think around December 2001. So if it's still out there, it's worth buying. The design is simple and thus importantly long lasting to the eye. Sound is great, but as you know by now, the bass isn't. I find myself using the "bass boost" function all the time, except when listening to classic music. With the bass boost on, rap and rock music is enjoyable unless of course you throw a house party. Overall, this unit plays all kinds of musics with what seems to be an earnest effort to please a wide range of listeners. It does the job, especially if you do like all kinds of musics. In fact, the sound can be so clear that you sometimes start listening to some song on a radio just because it sounds so damn good. As if someone is playing you that song to demonstrate the unit's high quality. At low volume too there is no letting down. You can set the volume up to 40 notches but I mostly use between 5 to 7. For a very small room that my unit is in, this range is already loud enough. Now the drawbacks: the tapedeck is clumpsy and quite loud if you operate it. Maybe other minisystems are louder. Not elegant as well one will find is the remote control: it's just too big. Then if you often listen to tapes it's always necessary to know the direction where the tape is spooling, this can get confusing and sometimes leads to frustration. (good to know then that the sound is rewarding). Also the cd mechanism is slow and loud. Actually mine has a defect, so if i have the time i'll try to fix it before the guarantee runs out. Last word then: If you find it buy it!

Good value; Sound quality; bass and treble controls (Thank you Yamaha); 3 decent music settings (rock, pop, jazz); bass boost; good cassette deck for a mini system; subwoofer out jack; sleep, timer, alarm; optical digital out; vcr in/out; monitor out; video in; aux in/out; Dolby Pro Logic; Dolby 3; Dolby B noise reduction on cassette; good FM tuning for a mini system; excellent tweeter for good highs; decent bass; 80 watts x 3 across front 3 channels; 25 watts surround; a fairly good center channel with dual 3 inch full range speakers for entry level surround; most all expected features including random, repeat and play exchange for the cd player; music search for the cassette; up to 40 stations preset for FM/AM. Good warranty.

The tuner is a little difficult to use and get used to; the midrange sound on the main speakers is weak; main unit is rather non-intuitive and somewhat difficult to learn some of the functions; surround speakers are weak.

This is a good value system for the money. I got this system for $399 through Supreme Video and Electronics. Yamaha puts good tweeters on the main speakers for sparkling clarity on instrumentation and they do a fine job for movie watching with DVD and VHS. Now I just wanted to keep this in perspective - this is a mini system. This isn't a high end esoteric system so you can't expect the world from this thing. Nor should you for the price. Yamaha gives a pretty good package overall, especially considering the price. It cranks relatively loud with fairly clean sound at the upper volume levels. I do wish Yamaha would have put in a loudness control. Most all of these mini systems would greatly benefit from that alone. I also wish the midrange was better - it's the weakness on the main speakers. The bass is decent (warm and tight; not sloppy or loose), but subwoofer is highly recommended. I have a 50 watt 6.5 inch subwoofer that works great with this system. Incidentally, my room that this system is in is about 23 x 14 and this system is adequate for the size. The front 3 channel speakers are all 6 ohm impedance and the rear surrounds are 12 ohm. The surrounds will give the ambience sound needed for a more room filling effect (just don't expect a miracle with these things!). There is no hard wiring of the speaker wires into the speakers or the main unit. Eventually when I find a good deal at an auction or a closeout, I'll probably replace the center channel and maybe the main speakers with a step up in sound quality. This system represents an overall good value for those on a budget and/or short on space. I'm sure it's one of the best values for all that you get for say $550 or less. Probably the most pleasantly surprising aspect of this system is the cassette deck sound quality and the FM tuner both being pretty good. Probably the biggest disappointment might be the midrange sound on the mains, but it's not the end of the world either. The center would probably be better with even say dual 3.5 or 4 inch speakers also, but it is still very useable for an entry level system. You can adjust the center and rear speakers volume levels as well as the rear speaker delays. The rears seem to work the best (since they are weak) by positioning them behind you from your listening position. All in all for a little mini system it has a good sound, good looks, and good value. The music on regular stereo mode sounds fairly good through the main speakers after you tweak it with the rock, pop, jazz, or flat settings along with the bass and treble adjustments and bass boost. One type of music will sound better than another with the various settings, so I find myself adjusting settings more than I would like.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha separate components with Polk Audio Studio Monitor 10B loudspeakers; Aiwa mini system.

mellow bass, crystal clear sound, classy model, bass and treble controls

only one cassette deck, blue light from volume knob, centre + rears speaker are weak.

an excellent budget product with the crystal clear sound for oldiest. we can hear the real voice of Jim Reeves, Pat Boone and Andy Williams seperate away from the the musical stuff. and this unit is suitable also from power metal music. we can't listen the high clean vocals voice of Mr. Kotipelto separate from the Raw of Guitar harmony and thundering double bass drums. compare to the other mini system unit GX 700 is the best, no others can't beat it!!!

with the preset of pop, rock and jazz equaliser you can easily pick your personal preferance. but there always a weakness. the centre and rears don't blown away. compare to PHILIPS centre and rears it's nothing but if you have a small room (4m x 5m) it enough tough !!

I've been compare it to the separate unit with Denon CD palyers, MARANTZ integrated Amplifier and PARADIGM atom speakers, this unit still have a comparation about 85%
so get your unit ASAP

that's ended my review....

Similar Products Used:

philips FW 780V

Elegant model, Silver well polish, Very Clear Sound, bass, treble controls

Bass Sound is not Powerfull enough, Surround System dosn't do the job well

This is a good system for those wanting a budget and nice sounding surround system. I really like this, because it had a very clear sound for tone and a mellow bass. I am a fanatic for Pomer Metal Music, so i must find the proper system to support my favourite music. in that case YAMAHA GX 700 is my solution. It can keep the sound of snare drum, Cymbals and Hit hat of the drums separate from Guitar, bass and Keyboard sound away fron the vocal, even in the loudest condition. I still can easily catch the elegant voice of Tarja Turunen Of Nightwish in the middle of Row POWER METAL sound. The Best condition of this system is to hear the music of NEW AGE. If you like GOVI, you can hear all the sound of the instrument using in SEVENTH HEAVEN or CUCHUMA in perfect combination. but don't forget this system is very unique it can accomodate most of all kind of music (Oldiest with great sound of vocals, even in mono record, Rock / Heavy Metal, New Age and Jazz)
The most weakness point for me is the bass sound is not to powerfull enough for my music. so i must add the Sub woofer to help it. in addition of the weakness, the Rock preset equaliser is not suitable for the ROCK/HEAVY METAL music. if you turn on the rock preset Equaliser, then your music is sound to deep in bass so it very bad to do that. i recommed you to use the pop preset equaliser to listening the rock / heavy metal stuff coz it the most suitable thing to this genre. Remember what i said before, with this combination (pop preset and bass boost) i can listen the sound voice of Tarja Perfectly. Overall this system is the best system you can get with the tight budget. So don't think twice, buy now or you'll lose your chance.

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Philips Mini System FW 780v, Aiwa Mini System NSX 360

Well built stylish, one of the best midi systems ive come across.I know others say that the surround spkers are weak
in my opinion this is not the case sound levels can be set from the remote to balance all speakers with a gratifying result.To be honest for the price range you cant go wrong
the bass is solid and not sloppy the tweeters do a great job
the unit is pleasing in lookks,features & build qualty.

no complaints

go buy one today!

Good value, very clean sound, nice mellow bass

No 5.1 input and the rears are weak.

This is a good system for those wanting a cheap and nice sounding surround system. I really like it and because I am very limited on space I could not get a full size stereo system. I know that these don't sound as good as the more expensive stereos like what my father owns but it does a fine job. The rears would have to be the biggest let down and the mids are not very good but if you get a sub and where to adjust the bass control down it would improve this. That brings up a very good thing about this system is that Yamaha still hve a Bass and Treble control thank you Yamaha as so many of this style of system have all preset Rock, Jazz etc settings and bass bost. It does have these but with the other options it can allow you to adjust the system to your taste. The quality of this unit is great even a built in fan is used to help keep th unit cool. My friend also bought one after he heard mine and loves it as well.

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Denon micro system