decent bookshelf or small system for parents for Christmas?
Dec 10, 2007 at 11:41 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 3

appar111

Headphoneus Supremus
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32 yr old here, looking for a nice small bookshelf system for my parents that doesn't sound absolutely awful. All the ones I've looked at so far were pretty dreadful. My parent's just want one that has a cd player and a decent radio.

I'm thinking of just getting them a Tivoli Model One and seeing how they like that-- then they can plug a portable cd player into it, but I'd prefer something that's an "all in one" package.

Any recommendations? My budget is fairly low-- $150.
 
Dec 11, 2007 at 2:51 AM Post #2 of 3
I bought an inexpensive Sharp XLUH240 shelf system a few months ago at Circuit City but I see that it seems to have been phased out. I had the same budget and I listened to about 20 choices at CC, BB, Wal-Mart, Target, etc...up to $300 just to compare.

I found the Sharp unit that I bought ($118 on sale) to sound the best out of all choices up to $200 with the Sony models being my second choice, even though they were around $160~$180.

I wanted a subwoofer pre-out and the Sharp luckily had it(most don't)...it also has a USB port for easy play of mp3 files. What I didn't want was a single/dual cassette player included which is what the current Sharp model has...sadly many brands still see a reason to include this ancient play option.

I found a nice list of options while searching to see if my Sharp model was still available...seems that it's not.

link

Here are some pics of mine just for fun...it replaces my 20 year-old Denon pre/main amp which has serious problems...13 year-old Paradigm Atoms(still good)...and still in use in my pumpin' bathroom rig is my Def Tech 12" sub.
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I added the custom aluminum bracket that holds it all together for easy transport. I also plugged the rear speaker ports with door stoppers which decrease the bass output slightly but reduce bass boom.

...thanks for lookin'.
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Dec 13, 2007 at 1:38 AM Post #3 of 3
I highly recommend the Tivoli speakers. The tuner is good, and the speakers are very good, considering their price. Plus, they don't look revolting... GreatDane's unit, which is of a milder design for compact units, still makes me wince.
 

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