Customer Reviews

Philips FWM575 360 Watts MP3/WMA Mini Shelf System

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought this stereo primarily because it was one of the few that still have auxiliary inputs on the back, so I could hook it up to my TV audio out connections for home theatre. Despite the low price for so much power, I was amazed by the excellent sound it produces. With deep bass, sharp highs, and incredible separation, the stereo reproduces a wide range of music with excellent fidelity that you can feel as well as hear. When used as a home theatre sound source, it provides a surround sound that draws you into the action like nothing I have ever seen. Although it has a number of settings for equalization and ambience, the MAX setting overrides all of them. That isn't a bad thing, however, because the MAX setting seems to always produce a better overall sound than any combination of the other controls. There are some drawbacks, depending on your needs: no balance control or separate bass and treble controls; the tape decks do not have auto-reverse; and the only front input is a USB port. The radio section has an automatic setup that programs all the stations in your area, but for me, this was less than helpful. It tuned in a bunch of weak AM stations, and only one FM station, and once they are programmed, they are there permanently, as far as I can determine. I was able to manually tune in a couple FM stations and add them to the program, but I cannot delete the ones I don't want. Since I rarely listen to the radio, this is not a serious drawback for me. For CDs, cassettes, and movies it consistently blows me away with its lifelike sound, wide separation, and ease of operation.

Recieved the unit in just 2 days (standard shipping) in excellent condition. Everything worked right out of the box.

My concern was finding a unit with line-in (aux) input jacks to connect a turn table (from a phono pre-amp). There are not many mini steros available with an aux input. It is rather eclectic to listen to old vinyl recordings and MP3 files on flash memory via the front panel USB port.

The USB port will automatically find all MP3 files saved on either a USB flash drive or a flash memory card even if mixed with other data files. A flash memory card requires a separate reader connected to the USB port.

The virtual ambience control (VAC) and incredible surround (IS) is excellent even with the speakers positioned next to the main unit. IS (surround sound) works best about 10 feet in front of the speakers. The sound quality is very good with the 3-way bass ported speakers even at high volume (which is very loud). Excellent bass and high end definition after correctly setting the dynamic bass boost.

Both tape players do not have auto-reverse but can select between auto-stop and auto-replay with full logic controls. Unit plays CD-R disks just fine. Did not yet try CD-RW disks although they should work.

Two front panel multi-function controls (fast forward and reverse, title, album, station presets, ect) are bit awkward to use. The 3-way buttons are next to each other and it is easy to occasionally select the wrong function. However, all of the other front panel control buttons are well placed. The remote control is easy to use and more intuitive than the two multi-function controls.

The included AM loop antenna cable should be longer (it's about 2.5 ft) to better position antenna for reception of weak signals. The FM antenna is long enough to position it away from the stereo.

Overall it is a great system and well worth the price of admission.

I'm finding my new stereo system to be ample for my current needs and a good replacement for the old Sony machine I used to have.

The speakers were larger than I expected, because of the extra features that they put into the system, but produce excellent sound. The radio tuner receives more stations in my area than any other system I've had over the past decade, which isn't easy in an area with a lot of old fashioned aluminum siding and other sources of interference.

The CD/CD-R player works well, though I had one or two self-made discs that it fails to be able to read (probably due to the discs themselves). The shuffle feature will only shuffle on a single disc, not across all 3, a feature which is mildly annoying. With my old system I'd load up cd-r mp3 sets in all the slots and set it on shuffle and let run an entire day, this one the shuffle will only handle one disc at a time (and seems to have problems on CD-Rs that have 200+ songs stored on it.

I've not used the USB port much since I don't own an IPOD or similar device.

The remote takes some time to learn to use effectively, and that's important as not everything on the system has controls on the system front panel.

Overall I think it was a good result for my money at this time... but as I've learned the test of most stereos is if they are still working 2 years down the road. I want machines that will last since I'm on a limited budget, for years to come.

I wasn't thrilled with the industrial appearance of this system, but it worked great for about 4 months; then the CD player quit. When we tried to play a CD, it showed "Reading Disc" and wouldn't do more than that. Since we'd had it longer than 90 days, we couldn't return it to the local Target store where we had purchased it. It was still under warranty, so I called the company and was told to ship it to them (at my expense, of course) and they'd replace it. I no longer had the original packing material. When I found out that the cost of having it packed and shipped was a lot more than it's original cost, I decided to shop for a new system.

I am very impressed with the systems looks and the sound quality was very good, but... I only played the system for about 30 minutes when I went back one week later to turn it on the system was on constant sleep mode. I did call the Phillips help line they were helpful to get me a return authorization but I had to pay the shipping $21. I am looking forward to getting the system back with no bugs in it this time.

From reading other reviews, it looks like this unit either works when it arrives, or it doesn't work at all. And, it looks like the chances are 50/50 either way. I took my chances and lost. The system actually picked up FM stations on incorrect frequencies, then quit picking up anything, then got stuck "reading" the CD, then completely went defunt -- all in the space of 15 minutes after setting it up. So, I spent another half hour packing it up to send back. I miss the days when all these brands weren't made in China junk. At least, Amazon stood buy their return policy.
I found a nice little LP unit locally that does all the same things for a little less money.

There aren't a lot of shelf systems with tape decks anymore, but this one has great sound, looks good, and functions well. Easy to assemble. Extremely satisfied with my purchase.

I was really looking forward to having a new stereo system. Unfortunately, the unit arrived today and was defective... it produced a lot of static noise while playing CD's, the radio, and cassettes. In addition, the sound shut down after 15 minutes!

I called Philips customer service and they offered to replace the unit, but with a RECONDITIONED one. I said "no way" and have shipped it back to Amazon for a full refund.

It's too bad. This stereo has a great sound. But looking at other reviews it appears that it is often defective.

Well I bought it on ebay, it was new, sort of. Well anyway I had problems with cd play. Sound only was on the right speaker, not the left. I cleaned the cd lens 7 times and finally I had sound on the left; great I thought. But as I continue to listen the quality of the sound dropped out everytime. Even adding the effects did'nt help. The cassette and the tuner worked just fine. But, most of my listening comes from the cd.

The remote is less than intuitive; no numbers pad to instantly switch to another track, very anoying and time consuming to go from track 9 to track 18. And no reverse or forward rewinding playing cd's. Man! my last stereo from Philips could do this plus the remote had a numbers pad. Sorry I sold that stereo.

But if the cd played right it would'nt be that bad. Philips I'm disappointed that this stereo have the problems that it has. I really can't say whether to recommend this stereo or not. Other reviews were good. If you buy it and it is'nt bad this stereo will give out good sound but, if it is bad send it back.

The CD player quit after about a week. Using an external CD player through the auxiliary input now. Phillips would probably rather forget they ever put their name on this thing. But what a price...