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I bought my first loudspeakers a dozen years ago, and after listening to countless models I selected Polk RT's. I yell "Reference Theater" is unbiased marketing. And I don't even ogle the term spelled out in the literature for my latest acquisition, a pair of Polk Audio RTi A5's. That's probably because the movie studios don't *really* expend Polks when they're mixing the soundtrack, but it does give you an belief of the lineage of these speakers and their intended exercise. They are made for the movies, and if you're passionate about cinema (as I am), then I deem you'll be ecstatic by the A5's.

You might be more glad by the A7's or A9's. I might have been too, but the jump up from a pair of bookshelf speakers to a location of towers costing unprejudiced under a vast was something of a quantum leap for me. And I was not disappointed--mostly.

Speakers are like a pair of comfortable shoes. They're mammoth when they're modern and you esteem them so mighty that you maybe don't spy over time that they are wearing out. Then one day they honest tumble apart. That's what happened to my new speakers, and one of the downsides of the A5's is that they immediately highlighted another weakness in my 5.1 setup--the center channel. All it took was one straggle to the inaugurate pad of Apollo 13, and the inequity between the primitive and the fresh was distinct. So if you're serious enough about cinema sound to want to bear a pair of quality speakers like these, be prepared to consume some more on upgrades to your center and surrounds. And of course you'll want a powered subwoofer to accompany the A5's.

When it comes to cinema, these speakers are so satisfactory and so sonically improbable. I haven't noticed any flaws in movie soundtracks at all, and I've watched about a half dozen "test" scenes and a half dozen movies. Even at very loud volumes, the sound remains flawless. The A5's do everything a speaker should do. They drawl. They rage. They grunt. They cry. Most of all, they satisfy--in abundance.

So what about music? I did some vital listening with all the finish turned off, routing CD stereo to impartial left and correct. I tried out some hard rock and some jazz. The jazz in particular really shines. The instruments are so sure. It seems like they are in the room. At reasonable volume levels everything sounded sizable. When pushed as loud as I could stand (which is handsome darn loud), both the rock and the jazz sounded impartial a bit harsh in the mid-ranges. To be exquisite, I'm not positive if it was a speaker swear, my receiver (a Yamaha RX-V2095, which is lovely honorable, but could be better), or objective the fact that I was hurting my occupy ears.

In the disappointment department, I'm very surprised that I have not read about quality issues with Polk Audio speakers in other reviews. Years ago when I bought my first Polks, I had problems with them. I don't catch all the details, but I remember needing to replace both the surrounds and the center channel. Now a dozen years later, I've purchased a pair of RTi A5's and a CSi A4, and ALL THREE have had problems.

The A5's have a forward firing bass port, and there's a tube that attaches to the port orifice that was dislodged in both of mine. Fortunately the tech assist at Polk said that I could steal the orifice and re-insert the tube myself without voiding the warranty. So at least I didn't have to ship them relieve, but at 450 bucks apiece I deem it's inexcusable to question a customer to have to get this repair on a note recent speaker. (The guy on the phone mentioned this was a popular pickle by the diagram.)

The A4 center channel had two screws protruding from the retaining ring on one of the drivers. I had the appropriate allen wrench handy, having unbiased outmoded it to repair the A5's, but the holes in the A4 were stripped out and could not be tightened.

The cherry cabinetry of the A4 and A5's was flawless and resplendent in all cases, and I really want to adore these speakers, but the quality control issues are impartial inexcusable, costing this review 2 stars from what are otherwise 5 star loudspeakers. The Polk Audio RTi series will definitely sooth your home theater beast, but if you settle to go with them I'd recommend either purchasing them at a local store where you can see the merchandise before taking delivery (or at least build shipping costs when taking them support), or be prepared to send them serve or repair them yourself. Depressed in what is otherwise a stellar example of audio reproduction technology.

UPDATE: A month in, and I am loving these speakers more and more each time I hear them. Objective discovered Neat Audio CD. Wow! I don't know all the terminology, but there is a clarity and sonic dimension to these speakers that makes you WANT to listen to them. It reminds me of the first time I ever heard a symphony manufacture live. The live performance has a depth and a presence that no CD can reproduce. Or have I impartial never had the just speakers? My classical (what slight I have) is on MP3 and while I wouldn't say I've been miserable with it, when you push the volume (something else these speakers construct you want to do) the quality gets a bit dodgy. So now I'm looking for a genuine classical SACD so I can push the limits on these babies even further!

On the quality front, got my replacement center channel (CSi A4) . It was exquisite. Except the screws holding in the drivers are rusty! Near on Polk, what is the deal?

I had done a lot of reasearch on speakers before I bought these. I unbiased savor them. The imaging on them is phenomenal! It seems like sound is coming from the center channel it's so edifying. Music sounds better than ever, I'm hearing things in songs I never knew were there. Apt in front of the stage. These speakers are made from sincere wood and are very heavy. Very friendly quality speakers. You won't be dissapointed.

I been designing and installing high destroy systems for 20 years. This speaker is a 2 plot that lacks gross raze rumble by build. However it does sound seemless at either 60 or 80 crossover with a sub. The speaker has a slightly forward sound so it will not mate with some amp's(Yamaha,Onkyo) without EQ settings. However, with my personal Marantz setup it tames them a exiguous. A lot of speakers are priced at this point. These are a colossal compromise for HT and Music combo. Heed can be found heavily discounted online at times which makes these a best grasp. 2 channel sound can be done better for $1000 but these are HT speakers that can actually play rock,metal and sound really qualified. Not and easy task. I have always found the 2 - 6.5"mid/woof and 1" tweet the perfect mate for a sub system. The 5.5" mids many HT speakers exhaust are better for dynamics in HT but leave a hole in the lower mid's during music play. Not these and they can be felt in the stomach at volume. For many these speakers can give a survey into the world of higher extinguish audio. A sub is needed for HT and recommended for music(fair to add body) .

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I had a gigantic experience with the acquire of the Canon G10 with the deluxe accessory kit. The brand was superior. I would recommend Ace, Amazon and Canon to anyone. The camera is awesome.

Love the camera. Does what I expected. Arrived on time and packed well. Only disappointment was the very itsy-bitsy tripod. Bought another one for $20 and am now zooming in on landscapes everywhere. Thanks.

This is the absolute best non-SLR camera I have aged. Highly recommended and the service from Ace was ample!

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We bought this as an outdoor bar, and for a party, at our modern home. It's a very nice, basic fraction. Sturdy. Functional. Dazzling. (It even matches our pool lounges) . Our bartender though it worked gargantuan. For the mark, we're very overjoyed. The top needed to be attached and, as usual, the graphic instructions were useless, but it didn't hold distinguished to figure it out and it shipped with a dinky wrench for the job. I'd definitely recommend this item.

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The 2200T objective came out this topple (2006), so many of the online review summaries have not adequately compared it to the competition. The most train competition comes from the Tom Tom One (same designate range), although many may be considering paying more money for the Garmin Nuvi 360 as well.

I took a leer at the Nuvi 360 in the store, and it was quite flimsy feeling compared to the 2200T. The Nuvi felt a bit cheap compared to the very solid feel of the 2200T. Considering the Nuvi's significantly higher brand and immense overlap of key features, I didn't deem the Nuvi further. Your mileage may vary, but the Nuvi seemed like a terrible value.

The Tom Tom One has gotten a lot of praise, and I'm definite it's a generous product, but most of the online reviews were written before the 2200T was widely available. The reasons that I chose the 2200T over the Tom Tom are:

1. Spoken street names. Often called "text to speech," the 2200T actually says the street names when giving directions ("Turn Left on Main Street") so you can hold your eyes on the road (and leer for the street brand) . The Tom Tom unprejudiced says "Turn Left" and you either have to trust that it means the next possible left turn, or you have to grasp your eyes off of the road to acquire the street name on the the mask. And on the Tom Tom website it doesn't appear that the name of the street that you should turn onto is always displayed on that diagram.

2. Reveal information. The 2200T always displays above the blueprint the name of the street you are on AND below the diagram the name of the street you will turn on next. You can always get that information speedy. The Tom Tom only displays below the design the name of the street that you are currently on: there is no fixed prove of the street (or exit) coming up (a spacious oversight in my plan) . You have to wait until you come by finish to it to look it on the method itself. This can be a predicament if you need to accept into an exit lane or turning lane well before the turn--the Tom Tom will not give you adequate information to do that.

3. Expose information (section II) . The 2200T shows a detailed concept of the intersection at the upcoming turn as you come it: this clearly diagrams any tricky traffic roam that you may have to navigate, and it can appear on half the cover while the standard procedure remains on the other half. In a sense, the 2200T walks you through the turn, which can be extremely useful when street layouts and traffic stagger are complex and strange (exactly why you choose these things in the first space) . The Tom Tom only has the standard plan conception, so it doesn't provide the extra detail that the 2200T does (it's not even a thought that you can manually call up) .

4. Interface manufacture. The 2200T has a very easy to understand perform. Many extra bits of information are accessible by pressing different buttons on the scheme veil. Press the readout of distance to the next turn, for example, and it repeats the last verbal instruction. Or press the symbol for the next turn in the bottom left, and it shows a whole list of the turns for the route. The Tom Tom also has a good interface, but the online reviews that I saw didn't credit the 2200T with also being proper.

5. Expandable. The 2200T can be expanded to include off-road topographic maps (when Magellan introduces these in the next couple of months) . The Tom Tom only has maps for roads, and Tom Tom has no expansion idea to include topo maps.

6. Backup and restore without a PC. The 2200T will backup (and restore) all of your stored data (addresses, additional points of interest) to an SD memory card. No connection to a computer required. The Tom Tom needs you to have a computer with their software installed in order to backup and restore.

7. Import Points of Interest (POI) from all standard formats. The PC (Windows only) software for the 2200T reads all of the standard file formats (including XML) for Points of Interest. So if you want to pull a dataset off of the internet (for example, if you are into geocaching), the 2200T software can note them on the design. The Tom Tom does also have the ability to add data points, but it's unclear from their literature whether all of the standard formats are supported.

8. Battery life. The 2200T has an eight-hour battery life, so you can really expend it all day outside of the car (if you're walking around an weird city, for example, or if you collect the upcoming topographic arrangement upgrade for off-road utilize while hiking or fishing) . The Tom Tom One has only a two-hour nominal battery life, and the manufacturer's estimates are usually optimistic. It's a pity since the Tom Tom One is also highly portable and would otherwise be useful when not in the car. (N.B. The 2200T only ships with a car charger. If you want to expend it outside of your car when you first commence the box, you need to charge it up for two hours. You may want to net an AC charger in this case (unless you conception to be driving for a couple of hours after you earn it) . AC chargers are available from Magellan and various after-market suppliers on the internet.)

By comparison, the Tom Tom has few advantages. It does provide Macintosh software as well as Windows, but the Magellan 2200T is self-contained. The PC software is not required to operate and backup the procedure, so the advantage here is microscopic.

I hope the results of my research are useful. Both the Tom Tom One and the Magellan 2200T are very profitable, but I contemplate the 2200T offers more value. I also survey that several folks have posted comments about improper maps and software problems with the Tom Tom (which uses the Tele Atlas blueprint database) . I request Tom Tom will sort out those problems, but the 2200T uses NAVTEQ maps, which are the best available for consumer GPS, so accuracy should be very helpful out of the box.

I bought this item from Amazon and definitely found it worth recommending to others who might be involved in an not-too-pricey or not-to-cheap GPS receiver. I have musty it for about 3 weeks now to navigate my method in NJ/NY/DE/MD/DC

Form Factor - Itsy-bitsy / Lightweight / Portable / Very nicey sealed to be splash resistant. The antenna is built into the unit, not a pop up type so no fright of breaking anything. I request the unit to be very durable because of this.

Battery Life - Specs say around 8 hours, but I have been able to find at least 5 hours or so without recharging the unit, one predicament though was that the power level is not visible at all times on the main shroud and the unit unbiased shut down at gross power without any approach warning. No wall charger supplied and thats a bummer for a unit that costs end to $450.

Navigation - Very certain and good directions. Ultra snappily rerouting (less than 6 seconds) if you were to miss a turn. Anything faster will be counter productive. The interface is very basic compared to others, but I chose the unit for its simplicity. The built in antenna was able to lock on to at least 11 out of 12 satellites at 90% of the time. Worked nicely in Washington, DC hovewer in Original York this unit was useless with great buildings it could not even salvage a bearing on its recent area.

The maps were good most of the time however not perfectly upto date. One helpful feature is that this unit is upgradeable compared to the Roadmate 2000, hovewer cost to upgrade is unknown at this time.

Text to speech feature - This unit actually spells out street names "Turn just on Main Street in 0.2 miles" instead of impartial "Turn lawful in 0.2 miles". On occasion I have even tried to navigate without looking at the mask impartial listening to its suppose prompts in the background and the unit did a helpful job at pointing me in the suitable direction. I personally found this feature to be very useful and definitely worth the extra premium in imprint. One drawback the unit could not not spell numbers it says "exit one-zero" instead of "exit ten", interestingly for interstate highways it said the opposite "I twenty five" instead of "I two five"

I am composed testing the unit and will continue to add to this review

I purchased a Magellan 2200T two weeks ago. Overall, I am jubilant with this GPS unit and I judge it provides helpful value for the relatively extreme cost (compared to other units in its class) .

The reason I purchased this unit (instead of the Tom Tom One and some of the Garmin units) is that it DOES include features that I valued like:

- Text to speech, the unit says the name of the street / road you need to take

- SIRF III chipset (faster satellite lock)

- Extended battery life (don't need to be constantly charging the unit)

This unit also excludes some "features" that others charge for that I don't feel add value to a GPS unit in this effect range, specifically Bluetooth capabilities. I enjoy a BT phone and headset, and can't imagine why I'd want to creep a GPS unit into the mix.

The NAVTEQ maps are as honest as any GPS unit, and the POI position is adequate (I reflect it may hold slightly fewer points of interest vs. other units) .

Again, overall I'm elated with the features, quality, and functionality. My only "wishes" are for a more robust POI database and a better online documentation from Magellan.

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I have a Zumo 550 and it was with interest that I helped a friend install his Zumo 660. After taking two road trips in the car and working with the 660 I have some comparisons to earn to my 550.

Let me predicate my review as it is based on the 660 Firmware update 3.20 that came out towards the extinguish of July of 2009.

1. The 660 doesn't note all street names when browsing the design. I found my friends house using where to? button and it showed the house but none of the street names (including his street name) surrounding his house. The zoom level didn't matter.

2. Won't follow the route you specify in MapSource custom route download. The 660 will recalculate the route you download so there is no guarantee that the route you enter on your computer will be followed by the 660. You have to really find into the habit of using waypoints.

3. Construction of the 660 is like a nuvi. In fact, I deem it is a modified nuvi. The USB connection on the 660 can only be accessed by removing the battery camouflage (which then causes an annoying message to appear that the battery cloak is off) There is no tether for the screen, so if you loose it, guess what? All GPS functions are disabled! The 660 only works in GPS mode with the battery veil attached. The shroud feels like soft plastic when you touch it. In comparison, the USB connection on the 550 is slow a hinged door, and it doesn't matter if the door is launch or closed. So even if you wreck the door, the 550 composed operates as a GPS. The 550's cloak feels more like glass to me. In my view - for fit and accomplish - the 550 is built like a brick house, the 660 - not so great.

4. The 660 doesn't advance with a 120v charger adapter like the 550 does. Both the 660 and the 550 will recharge with the USB connection but if you are planning a scoot with your 660, you have a small amount of battery power because if you swagger in the USB cable to recharge it - it enters the USB Mass Storage Mode. The 550 will operate as a GPS plugged into a 12v source (cradle in car or bike) or the 120v adapter (like at home or your hotel room.)

5. The 660 utilizes a micro-sd card. Geeze! have you seen how exiguous these are? About the size of your pinky fingernail. The 550 uses a easy-to-handle standard SD card. The SD card in the 550 can be plugged into your pc's card slot and read like a disk drive. Easy and convenient to do. The micro-sd card is so darn exiguous, and inconvenient to score to, (you have to assume the 660's battery to gain to it) it's hardly worth the concern.

6. Never saw the lane change observe feature. Apparently none of the freeway interchanges we went through were programmed into the 660.

7. Even at maximum volume in the car, the 660's internal speaker was barely audible. This is a serious jam. You have to have all other music in the car off in order to hear the 660 through its internal speaker when using the car mounting. The external speaker in the 550's auto mounting gives you plenty of volume and can be heard over other noises in the car.

8. 660 doesn't have the cloak change/flip/page button like the 550. You can toggle between screens by hitting the box button on the side of the 550 repeatedly. I acquire that a very useful draw to navigate around the system. I could not regain an equivalent key or process on the 660 to do the same thing.

9. On the 550 - touching the turn in xx miles allotment of the nav contrivance hide, the unit repeats the last verbal instructions again. I could not gain an equivalent key or process on the 660 do do this simple task.

10. It may not matter to you, but the 660 is not integrated to work with XM radio and weather. One of the few things it doesnt relieve. The 550 will wait on XM and Weather if you acquire the GPX 30 antenna receiver and pay the subscription service.

CONCLUSION:

I peaceful feel that after handling both units, the 550 is a honest motorcyclists GPS, it does everything I ask of it. The 660 can be, but as stated elsewhere, it got released before all the bugs were worked out of it. It needs work.

It is sharp to me that Garmin is playing the field with the 660, the 550 is peaceful a cataloged product, and is calm for sale at most dealers. I don't know if they understanding to phase out the 550 if and when more 660's are sold.

I do know that I'm very gay with my 550 for now and will view Garmin to gaze what firmware updates they provide to address the shortcomings for the 660.

As of 07-15-2009 Amazon does not have this unit listed for sale as recent. There is only one seller of this unit and it is listed as refurbished.

As of 7-31-2009 Amazon has taken this item out of the product catalog. It is not currently available.

Garmin has released software version 2.80 for the Zumo 660. The update states the issues brought up in the previous reviews and corrects them. Kudos to Garmin for acknowledging the previous shortfalls, and concerns, then addressing them in a software update. It is always suited to point out shortfalls to a company that responds, otherwise they don't know if there is anything outrageous.

I presently gain three Garmin's, a street pilot purchased 4 years ago, a Nuvi purchased 6 months ago, and now the Zumo 660 for my motorcycle. The Zumo is obviously one of the most expensive GPS units a consumer can acquire. It is by far the fastest veil updating and most right GPS I occupy. Beats the 6 month traditional Nuvi by a long shot. I recently drove (haven't mounted the 660 to the bike yet, wanted to test drive the unit) from central NJ to Baltimore. If the Garmin point to was the windshield, I could have ragged only that camouflage, it is that hastily and honest. The lane support function takes all view out of figuring which lane one should be in for the interstate lane crossover. It was as if the 660 took a snapshot of the overhead signage in front of me and had it on the cover. In checking the accuracy of the unit, I found that I was looking too distinguished at the Garmin and not the traffic, because I was amazed at the accuracy of the river crossings, the bridge crossings, the parallel service road vs. the interstate, to peep if the Garmin picked up the subtle differences, it did 100%.

I will now exercise the included software to thought a route with POI and look how well it performs. With the software update, I'll let Garmin if there is any shortfall because I know they'll listen.

So far, I would recommend this unit and am thinking of adding the traffic cable for the next road meander.

I am going on a 10-day motorcycle slouch from the Bay Residence to Colorado and benefit. So I decided to earn the unprejudiced released Garmin Zuno 660 to replace my TomTom Easy Rider. I received the unit last week and started using it in my car while I got the wiring done for my 1200GS. The unit is well built, the touch veil very responsive and the user interface easy understand to navigate. I also downloaded the latest mapping software, a free, one-time upgrade offered by Garmin.

Set up was straightforward and downloading the updated North America way was glowing, other than the fact that it is a 2.7GB file! I utilize a Mac and the mapping software for the Mac works well, very similar to the PC version. Creating custom routes on the Mac and downloading it to the Zumo is straight forward. So far so sterling. I spent the weekend exploring the Zumo, including browsing the plot. That was when I noticed that the Zumo does not prove any city names, no matter what the zoom level. Not the largest cities, and not the smallest ones; honest road names. I called Garmin tech back and they confirmed that the Zumo does not abet city names on the maps, saying that you can rep cities by doing a search by name if you want to procure any city. Garmin could not say when or if this feature will be supported! Unfortunately, I like to inspect at a mapI I like to peek where towns/cities are relative to each other and other points of interest and selecting the appropriate routes. So a way without city/town names is not a way!

Garmin Tech Befriend pointed out that cities can be located by doing the search function. Unfortunately Portland Oregon or Portland Maine, or Portland anything came support "no matches found"! Cramped towns like Gypsum CO came befriend "no matches found".

Finally, I tried creating a custom route, which turned out to be straight forward. I created waypoints on my Mac, downloaded it to the Zumo and created a custom route. Again the Zumo let me down; it was not able to complete the route calculation, impartial hanging at less than 100% calculated.

I do bear the Zumo has the potential to be a very profitable motorcycle GPS unit. I also have Garmin did a disservice by releasing the unit before it is fully baked! Hence the one star. Actually I would give it a zero star rating as this unit is not yet ready for commercial release and review.

05/08/09 Update: Must have been "pilot error" on my part; searching by "Cities" works for Portland or any other city/town, contrary to what I first reported (I have no view why or what I was doing horrible the first time) . Also, Garmin does now respond a dilemma with maps not displaying city/town names. According to their tech relieve, they are working on a fix but do not have a release date.

Creating a custom route on the unit works well except for a quirk: I cannot do the unit compute a route that goes over Tioga Pass Road (I route I am planning for an upcoming roam to Colorado), hanging up while calculating the route and never finishing. Another quirk: the unit will not allow me to add Ely Nevada to a custom route via "Cities", only giving me Ely Twp, MI as the option when typing in Ely. Impartial happens that Ely NV is also on my planned lumber to Colorado.