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$500 mini system suggestions, Bose need not apply

Hello all. A friend of mine is a Speech Pathologist. She works with children and adults with mental and physical disabilities. Recently, she attended a conference on Music Therapy. The main speaker adamantly suggested using the Bose Wave radio/CD and "nothing" else. Upon hearing this, I immediately talked her out of it; reasons why need not be expanded upon here at the 'gon. Anyhow, I'm not too familiar with the currently available mini systems, but recall that Denon, JVC, etc, have produced good ones in the past. The key here is clean sound. A lot of her patients are autistic. She warned me that distorted sound can sometimes upset these special patients. Her main request is for clean, full sonics. I was thinking a decent frequency response would be nice as well (40hz or 50hz - 20khz), perhaps a sat/sub type system, source only needing to be CD playback. Her office therapy room is about 15' x 7'. Since she was originally willing to spend $500 on the Wave, please try to keep suggestions in/under that price range. Also, she needs receipts and a warranty for business purposes, so please suggest equipment she can purchase new. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your support.
creeper

Showing 2 responses by hgeifman

hgeifman
2,306 posts
 
Check out the Cambridge SoundWorks "SoundWorks" Radio CD 740 priced at $399. A CD version should be available shortly. The web site is:
http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/store/category.cgi?category=aud_radio&item=c174rcxxx

The Denon Mini System (M30 ?) is nice and may also work. cheers..
hgeifman
2,306 posts
 
What about the Cambridge SoundWorks "SoundWorks" 730 Radio priced at $249.99? The 730 CD version is expected sometime in September. The comments below were copied from their web site. I have the Cambridge Model 88 radio in my office and it works great.

"It's far and away the best table radio we've ever heard, and we've tried all the serious contenders..." -CNET

This is the radio you’ve been waiting for. Not since our revolutionary Model 88 by Henry Kloss has there been such a small, simple, great-sounding audio product. The SoundWorks 730 Radio is so right that we think it will change how the world listens to music. Just a little bigger than a cigar box, it sounds better than many component stereos we have heard.

It’s all about the speakers. The SoundWorks 730 uses high-performance speakers, contoured amplifiers and a built-in powered subwoofer to reproduce music with remarkable accuracy. The sound is rich, realistic and warm. The speakers are designed to disperse the music throughout the room for truly "out of the box sound." If you were to listen to the SoundWorks Radio blindfolded, you’d probably think it was a stereo system with speakers six feet apart. It simply sounds much bigger than it looks.

The only radio with a built-in subwoofer. You just won’t believe the bass that comes out of the SoundWorks 730! Over half of the radio’s cabinet is taken up by a long-throw subwoofer. In our initial demonstrations, people kept looking under the table for a hidden subwoofer.

The truth is in the listening. The SoundWorks 730 radio sounds amazing. Rich, natural, room-filling sound – including great bass. We’ve never heard a table radio we think sounds better.

But don’t believe us. Listen in your own home for 45 days, on your favorite FM stations. Compare it to other radios – or to component stereo systems. If you don’t love it, return it for a full refund. There’s virtually no risk.

Built-in powered subwoofer
32-character display shows radio station information (RDS)
Auxiliary input for CD or MP3 player
Dual alarms that wake to tone or music
Wide-dispersion speaker system for "out of the box"sound
Separate bass and treble controls
Ultra-compact remote control
Available in black or ivory
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY...

"It's far and away the best table radio we've ever heard, and we've tried all the serious contenders...We performed a brief comparison test with the 730 and a well-known table-radio competitor, and the 730's more full-bodied sound was superior." -CNET

"Who cares if the Cambridge SoundWorks 730 Radio ($250) doesn't have a built-in audio CD or cassette player and can't pick up Internet stations? When it comes to warm, rich sounds, this deceptively high-tech rig can't be beat, thanks to its marvelous speakers and a built-in powered subwoofer that takes up nearly half of the cigar-box-size cabinet. And if you buy it at www.hifi.com, there's a 45-day money-back guarantee, too." -Entertainment Weekly

"a bargain-priced ($250) table radio -- bargain, that is, relative to the Wave's audacious, inflexible sticker price -- with dazzling features whose performance stands up to contemporary table radios...It's like a one-piece minisystem...the SoundWorks Radio 730 can be a little music powerhouse next to your bed or in your office or kitchen...it's a worthy rival to the Bose Wave for $100 less." -The Hartford Courant

"It's a radio with stereo-system capabilities..." -Gannett News Service.

DIMENSIONS 4 15/16" H X 14" W X 9 7/8" D
WEIGHT 11 LBS.
INTERNAL AUDIO SOURCES FM STEREO TUNER, AM TUNER
INPUTS (REAR PANEL) AUX IN 3.5MM STEREO MINIJACK
MIXING INPUT 3.5MM STERO MINIJACK
AM ANT 3.5MM STEREO MINIJACK
FM ANT "F"-TYPE JACK, 75 OHMD
OUTPUTS (REAR PANEL) REC OUT STEREO MINIJACK
OUTPUTS (FRONT PANEL) HEADPHONE 3.5 MM STEREO MINIJACK
REAR PANEL CONTROLS FM ANT INTRNL/EXTRNL SWITCH
WARRANTY 1 YEAR PARTS AND LABOR
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