Customer Reviews

iLive iH328B Dual-CD Home Music System with iPod Dock (Black)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

When my brother found out Santa was bringing my teen-aged daughter an IPOD nano 4th genApple iPod nano 8 GB Purple (4th Generation), we talked about it and decided a stereo for her bedroom would be just the thing. We wanted a stereo that had the following:
1) full control of IPOD functions through remote
2) one with enough sound to fill a bedroom, but not enough to shake the house down
3) CD and FM radio with presets
4) good looks

The iLive seemed to fit the bill and since my brother is a dedicated Amazon Prime member- who has recently converted me to Prime as well- he settled on the iLive.

The iLive is one of those products that the instruction manual can be lost on day one and never missed. If you are part of the electronics generation(s), you certainly won't need it for the 5 minutes set up or for operations. If you can operate your IPOD thumbwheel, you can easily operate the remote. The iLive comes with about 8-10 dock adapters, but it didn't have the one for the iPod nano 4th gen chromatic, so we had to use the one packed with the iPod, which is white and if the door is open you may notice the white adapter. If it bothers you, close the door, I guess.

When I received a rather large Amazon gift card for Christmas (the amount was large, the card was the standard size), I liked my daughter's setup so well, I decided to duplicate it. Having the IPOD stereo system beats having my computer hooked up to a stereo, as now I can just punch the remote if I want to skip a song instead of going over to the computer to advance songs - or just being lazy and deciding I don't want the song skipped badly enough to get up and walking over to the computer.

Be aware that the iLive iH328B doesn't have the punchiest bass around and its wattage is low. If you are looking for a main home stereo for a medium-large home, this isn't it. It has an equalizer you can change if you need to. The factory setting seems okay on most songs.

If you want good sound for the money for a bedroom or small home, this is it. This is a very good looking system and the overlapped CD's with blue LEDs behind them give it a very up-to-the-minute appearance.

One con: The remote is very small. I only lose mine twice a day.

One last thing. The compatibility list doesn't include some of the newer iPods. My guess is because the product description hasn't caught up and because iLive doesn't have docking adapters for all of the latest iPod models. Just use the one that came with your iPod. If you've lost that one or use it someplace else, no sweat; the iPod would work even without the adapter, it just wouldn't be as stable.

I bought two of these for Christmas gifts. The setup is easy, and they look nice wherever they are set up. I noticed then, however, how cheaply they seem built. And now, 4 months after Christmas, the CD player no longer works in one, and sporadically works in the other.

The controls are not intuitive, and with the shabby construction I could not recommend this to anyone.

I recently purchased this stereo for my 9 yr old son. It's the perfect all in one stereo system for a child. Plays his ipod, the radio & cd's, and also protects them inside the vertical sliding panel. For those of us that watch Nip/Tuck, it is similar to the one in the operating suite on the show. As far as sound quality...eh, its really not so great. But it fits the bill for an inexpensive, cool looking stereo...

I've been looking for a product like this for quite some time. Since I rarely buy a CD anymore I needed an iPod dock stereo, but I also own a lot of CD's so I also wanted one that could play CD's when desired. This item is awesome, I can keep two CD's and my iPod in the unit for easy listening. My iPod stays charged while not in use or while listening to one of the CD's. The unit has pretty good sound for the size and type of stereo.

I don't want to really call these cons, but I guess the areas for improvement they could make to future models. The remote is quite small for a stereo, and it uses those small flat batteries, that do last longer, but are generally more expensive than say triple or double A batteries that most remotes would normally use. I haven't lost it yet, but it is one of those little remotes that would be easily lost if it falls on the floor! And the other area of improvement, would be more customization for sound. It has four or five presets for bass/treble equalization which is fine, but sometimes it just nice to be able to adjust those yourself. Oh and the blue LED lights around the CD's cannot be dimmed or turned off, which is fine for the most part, but if you're someone that listens to music while you sleep, the lights are kinda bright depending on where you have the device setup.

Great item, would definitely recommend to anyone that is looking for an iPod Dock/CD stereo!

After 30 days the product died. Won't turn on. Sending it back for replacement (my cost). Waiting two weeks for theiLive iH328B Dual-CD Home Music System with iPod Dock (Black) replacement. Not cool for a birthday gift. Not happy

I listen to and review a lot of CD's for one of my blogs and I was getting tired of having to run iTunes or WMP in the background everyday taking up processor.
This little stereo fit my needs nicely.
I knew I was never going to be happy with the sound no matter what I purchased since I spend most of my day at my desk, and I have 600 watt 5.1 speakers coming out of my computer, so, I use this as a receiver of sorts...I plugged my computer's "audio Out" into the devices "Aux" jack, and plugged my speakers into the devices "audio out" jack....so its sort of the main audio system.
when on "Aux" I can get full sound from my computer, and use the remote to change to the radio, CD, or iPod mode.

Mind you, it's not 5.1 quality (it's made for iPods and iPods are stereo), but it's still sounds great and serves my needs perfectly. Sorry I can't vouch for the speakers that it comes with, unfortunately they never had a chance, but it's been a few months now, and everything is functioning just fine.
I am very happy with it, especially for the price.
..and Oh yeah, the glowing blue lights around the CD's looks very cool and matches all the other lights on my monitors, and UPS

The only thing that could make this unit perfect would be a USB connection so your iPod connects to your computer when docked and 5.1 audio out, I would definitely pay more for that.

After browsing Amazon and all my choices, I selected this unit becuase it had the CD and iPod functions. I received it promptly and opened it for the first time yesterday. Following the instructions, I set it up and NEITHER the speakers nor the sliding door worked. The door was jammed and whirred and only opened 1 cm. I had to push it up. I tried every speaker configuration and eventually called the customer service line. They were unhelpful. So, if you want a system that actually works, don't buy this one.

I just received my new stereo in the mail yesterday, so this is a pretty green review. Incidentally, this is the first time I felt compelled to review an Amazon purchase. This stereo is pretty neat. It defintely exceeded my expectations in the style department. The sound quality isn't as rich as a Bose or other similar product, but for the money - you can't beat it. I love that it plays CD's and the iPod. And the speakers are not attached to the unit (they're connected w/speaker wire), so you can spread it out on your shelves or what have you. I was surprised that there's no alarm clock (I could've sworn it said so, but I was wrong) - so that would've been my only real complaint. Oh - the blue light is a little bright, but I like it and think of it as sort of a night light. If you need complete darkness to sleep, make sure you consider that. I hope that helps if you're torn between purchases - this is a GREAT buy!

Dealer sent the item without delay. Problem, the first disc would go forward, then backwards. In a way it was funny, but, it did not work. Amazon credited my account immediately after I returned it.

I Purchased This System A Year Ago As A Christmas Present For My Son, And it's perfect for his room, it has great quality, it's easy-ish to move around the house, AND it even connects to your tv or computer! what a system!!!!! I RATE 5 STARS!