Sound Advice
By Don Lindich
Week 45, 2018
Black Friday comes now: I have found three “Early Black Friday” offers on products I have highly recommended the past few months. If you were looking for a better deal when you first read about them, now is your chance!
The first is Cambridge Audio Yoyo(S) Bluetooth speaker. Cambridge Audio Bluetooth speakers are some of my very favorites, due to the fantastic sound generated by their unique, exotic Balanced Mode Radiator (BMR) drivers. BMR drivers are flat discs that move back and forth as the surface of the disk ripples, creating wide-range sound that is also very accurate. Everything about the Yoyo(S) has high-end panache, from the packaging and beautiful worsted wool finish to the sound quality itself. It also has gesture control that allows you to control the speaker by swiping your hand above it, hands-free phone capability and long battery life.
The Cambridge Audio Yoyo(S) usually sells for $179, and is an excellent value at that price given the product itself and the cachet of the Cambridge Audio brand. Through Cyber Monday (November 26) the Yoyo(S) can be purchased for only $139 by using the coupon code 22YOYOSMALL on Amazon or cambridgeaudio.com. It’s an excellent opportunity to get a high-end product from a premium brand for not much more than $100. If you want something even more special at an even bigger savings, the Yoyo(M) can be purchased for $249, reduced from $349, by using the coupon code 28YOYOMEDIUM. Previous Cambridge Audio speaker deals have sold out quickly so if you want one, I suggest you act fast.
Next is the new ZVOX AV201 Television Speaker, which makes television dialogue much easier to hear and understand. It is available for $179 on Amazon and zvox.com.
A super stocking stuffer is the Sbode Sport Bluetooth Earphones, which I praised for their comfort, sound quality, and value. They were a near-universal hit with readers as well, with a 4.5-star rating on Amazon and many of you writing to ask about buying additional pairs after Sbode sold out more than once. The earphones are a bargain at the regular price of $23.99, but until December 20th you can get one for $18.49 or two for $35.49. The online coupon is applied by checking a box at checkout and no code is necessary. Sbode earphones are available exclusively at amazon.com.
Q. I still buy CDs and do not download music, and I’d like to think that I’m not the only one out there with this question. The old Bose systems had changers that could hold 5 CDs and allowed you to shuffle and play songs at random. Is there any system like that available nowadays? It would be nice if it could be connected to a turntable to play my large collection of vinyl records.
– D.A. Pittsburg, CA
A. There are still a few shelf systems with CD changers on the market, though there is certainly a lot less variety than there used to be. I would check out the $199 Sharp CD-BH950 system, which has a 5-disc CD changer with random playback capability, an AM/FM tuner with 40 presets, Bluetooth, a USB port, and an auxiliary input.
You can connect a turntable containing a built-in phono preamp to the auxiliary input. A good choice would be the $99 Audio-Technica AT-LP60. If possible, place the turntable on a different shelf than the music system so vibration from the speakers does not cause feedback in the turntable.