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Customer Reviews Collected from sony.com |
Sony - 420W Portable Party Speaker System with Apple iPod and iPhone Dock - Black
Average Customer Rating:
4.5
Rating breakdown 26 reviews
5 Stars
20
4 Stars
3
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
1
1 Star
2
79%of customers recommend this product.
(
11 out of
14)
Customer Reviews for Sony - 420W Portable Party Speaker System with Apple iPod and iPhone Dock - Black
Customer Rating
1
It was the best purchase but not anymore
on July 23, 2015
Posted by: Anonymous
It worked great till one day it wouldn't even turn on and all the bottoms or screen won't light up. We've tried restarting it and plugged it in different areas of the house but it still won't work.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Response from sony.comBy Dave, SonySupport, July 28, 2015
Hello Serena, it is sad to hear that the unit doesn’t go well. Please visit eservice.sony.com to check the available repair options for your unit. Your feedback is highly appreciated.
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
1
Bluetooth is not reliable
on June 27, 2015
Posted by: sonyhelpme
The sound and portability of this speaker are awesome. In theory, and when its working this is a great speaker.
However, the bluetooth connectivity is so bad that I would not recommend this speaker to anyone. It has gotten progressively worse, until the point where I can't get through 30 seconds without some sort of choppiness or silence. I can literally set my laptop inches away from the speaker and the bluetooth is still terrible.
I haven't had this speaker for more than a year and I treat it very well. I hope it was sold to me with the defect because if all of the speakers are this unreliable I would not say its worth the money.
However, the bluetooth connectivity is so bad that I would not recommend this speaker to anyone. It has gotten progressively worse, until the point where I can't get through 30 seconds without some sort of choppiness or silence. I can literally set my laptop inches away from the speaker and the bluetooth is still terrible.
I haven't had this speaker for more than a year and I treat it very well. I hope it was sold to me with the defect because if all of the speakers are this unreliable I would not say its worth the money.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Response from sony.comBy Dave, SonySupport, June 30, 2015
Hi sonyhelpme, well that's not good to hear and we can see that this really upset you. Please reset your device, kindly follow the steps below:
1. Unplug and plug the power cord
back in.
2 Press POWER BUTTON to turn on the system.
3 While holding down FUNCTION,
press POWER BUTTON for about 3 seconds.
“RESET” appears in the display panel. Once the reset is complete, kindly pair your unit again. Please check this manual on page 16 for further details and step by step guide: https://docs.sony.com/release/FST-GTK17iP_GTK37iP_RDH-GTK17iP_GTK37iP.pdf.
NOTE: The Bluetooth device you attempted to connect does not support the A2DP
profile, and cannot be connected with the system.
1. Unplug and plug the power cord
back in.
2 Press POWER BUTTON to turn on the system.
3 While holding down FUNCTION,
press POWER BUTTON for about 3 seconds.
“RESET” appears in the display panel. Once the reset is complete, kindly pair your unit again. Please check this manual on page 16 for further details and step by step guide: https://docs.sony.com/release/FST-GTK17iP_GTK37iP_RDH-GTK17iP_GTK37iP.pdf.
NOTE: The Bluetooth device you attempted to connect does not support the A2DP
profile, and cannot be connected with the system.
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
5
Impressive.....very impressive
on January 24, 2015
Posted by: BTKentucky
It seems to be universal that this device is loved by all that are fortunate enough to own one. Mine is fresh out of the box a few hours ago. No issues with functionality. Bluetooth loaded immediately and we be jammin' since!! The sound pressure (volume) level out of this thing has to be heard to be believed!!...and its loud and clear. If you have good source material there is very little to no distortion at high volume.
At 35 pounds....this is not your average boom box. Its as large as a stage monitor. You need mass for premium sound. My primary reason for buying this item is for my daughter's upcoming wedding in St Thomas, USVI this summer. We were in need of music for the reception....and I had to have something I can put in checked baggage.
My ONLY area of disappointment is that there is no built-in rechargeable battery. It has to be plugged in. Not to worry. I'll fix that with a car battery and a 600 watt sine-wave inverter for the occasions when no outlet is available. Its just what engineers do......figure out solutions. So.....Sony engineers.....put a battery in the thing and make it truly portable. Or maybe come up with an outboard power supply and sell it as an option. That would be better. Its heavy enough as is.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
5
Eye Candy With Excellent Sound
on December 31, 2014
Posted by: Gcaranza643
My wife got this for me as an early Christmas gift and i love it. The led colors really catch your eye and the nfc and bluetooth comes really handy. The sound is crisp and the bass is outstanding. I haven't really turned it all the way up but i'm sure it'll do fine. Don't expect it to do miracles like other products because the product is clearly a portable boom box, but that's what's great about it. Not a whole lot of cables to deal with but it'll surely beat other sound shelf systems. Its sitting in my living room as a tv sound system.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
5
Great sound
on September 14, 2014
Posted by: Cncman61
This box really rocks my living room. The led lighting is awesome and changes with the music so it's real cool. I even have a little XM receiver hooked to it. I would highly recommend this music box to anyone wanting full pounding sound in a portable device.
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
5
A Lesson in Not to Judge a Book by its Cover!
on January 8, 2014
Posted by: JCSreviews
Upon receiving this product, I was a bit confused. Its a lot larger in person than it looks in the pictures. "Monolith" somewhat accurately describes its style, a tower of glossy black plastic (a Sony favorite) with beautiful lights emanating outwards. Its both stirring and unnerving at the same time.
At first my problem was I did not know where to put it.... sitting horizontally, its very wide and I had no place on my floor to set it. Didn't want to put it on a shelf because that would hinder the sound.
I wound up standing it up vertically and putting it next to my bed. It was a great choice!
Pros:
1: Design.
This thing is seriously beautiful. It is more of a traditional Sony design, with the glossy black plastic, and all black monolith design. But there is something to be said about tradition!
It blends into the room, but stands out at the same time. People at my Christmas party were a bit astonished. "What is that giant glowing speaker?...... it looks so cool!" were common comments from friends.
2: Sound
Is this an Audiophile's dream? Probably not. But that doesn't stop it from filling a room with high quality sound! A true audiophile would have a 5.1 or even 7.1 system, with sound coming from all directions. It would probably cost them ~thousands. This is not meant to replace that though!
When listening to songs, I usually keep the volume towards the lower limits, and even then it still fills my ~600 Sq. F. Bed Room with sound! For its size the Bass is above average. When put against the wall, it can easily make said wall shake, and the neighbors already complained when I was conducting "Midnight testing"!
It truly is a "portable party system", designed to fill the room with sound, and get people dancing. And it does just that extremely well. Mission accomplished Sony!
3: LEDs:
One of the nicer things about this system is the way it lights up! Glowing led lights in both channels, and in the ipod dock glow more than 7 (by my count) different colors, and depending on the beat of the music you are listening to, change frequently to keep pace with your music.
Turn the lights off, the sound up, and get your party started! These LEDs shine bright and strong, and look truly beautiful! At night I love sitting in the room, listening to classical music and watching the LEDs change at a slower pace. Its extremely calming and somewhat soothing. A great way to unwind from a long day!
4: NFC/Blue Tooth:
Truth be told, we are not an iPod/iPhone household anymore. I have not had a chance to test how docking an iPod in this system is. But please note it has a Lightning Connector, so newer iPods/iPhones only. No way in heck would you be able to dock an iPad here either!
BUT - whats great is the way this thing pairs via NFC and Blue Tooth. Turning Bluetooth on via my Nexus 5. You just Tap said phone against the marked NFC sign on the right side of the machine and the two are paired nearly instantly.
No more "enter code" on both machines, and then pray they pair anymore! Just tap and you are set! The beauty of NFC, I am incredibly happy Sony choose to embrace it, and the implementations are solid! You can even pair more than one device, I have both my Sony Tablet Z and my Nexus 5 paired to the machine, and switching between each is incredibly simple!
With BlueTooth you can stream music from any source to this machine - I tested Spotify, Google Play Music, iTunes (on my desktop), and Rdio - and each worked flawlessly.
However, whats even better is that sound even streams from other apps as well. For me, I was able to watch movies on ShowTime Anytime, on my Tablet Z, and the sound streamed perfectly! Its a much better listening experience, and honestly is one of the reasons why I have come to love this machine.
CONS:
1: Some people might have issues fitting this speaker in their homes. I know it wasn't easy to find a spot for it in my home
2: Audiophiles might complain its not good enough. To which I say they are in the wrong product category.
3: Price - some might have issue paying this much for such a system that is not 5.1. But honestly, all said and told - its worth it! Sony has always been a premium brand with premium products, and you get what you pay for!
4: The remote:
My biggest complaint about this system would be the remote and its functionality. An LED "On/Off" feature would have been great here, but unfortunately is not present. You have to scroll through the >5 LED profiles before you can turn the LED lights OFF! Its slightly annoying. Worse, after a while the system hibernates and goes into a "Demo" mode - and the LEDs turn back on again! I am sure there is a way to relieve this issue, but at least for me, I have not been able to figure it out yet. So consider me a bit peeved!
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
This system has great sound and amazing capabilities. Most any family who bought this thing for their home would love to place it under their TV and have weekly jam fests with friends and family. Quieter people could put it in a room and use it for casual listening to music, as well as streaming sound from movies/Tv shows they watch on ANY Blue Tooth device.
While I was unsure at first about how this device would fit in, in my home, I am now in a position where I cannot do without it. I honestly have come to love it.
Don't judge a monolith by its cover! ;)
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
4
Not to be judged by appearance
on January 5, 2014
Posted by: Stuckington
This is a more serious sounding piece of equipment than the blinky lights and built-in handle may first suggest. Quality sounding equipment is supposed to be stolid, boring looking. Right? I'll admit I judged this book by it's cover initially but have since come around.
The sound is large and in charge, as one would expect from a 420 watt system. Sound and particularly bass don't distort, even at the highest volume, unless you choose to press the comically labeled "BASS BAZUCA" button, which delivers pumping bass as expected, but muddies all other sound sufficiently that I have difficulty guessing when using it would be beneficial. Similarly, you'll find a Flanger and Isolator button; the Flanger button allows you to layer a deep flanging sound #like the sound of a jet engine spinning up to top speed, then back down, in a loop# over the music, using the volume knob to control the speed of the looping effect. This is actually surprisingly well done. The isolator attempts to play only a frequency cross-section, isolating just the bass in a track, or the vocals, etc, using the volume knob to select a frequency spectrum. It's a good effort, though not as well implemented as I would like. Either may prove novel if you're considering picking this guy up to haul around to parties, where I'm sure it's high volume and various light settings would shine.
If, however, you're just a normal person looking for a good home-based music solution, this is still worth considering. Despite it's garish appearance, the the 37 still features relatively clean sound. There's a clear emphasis on the mids #particularly the vocal range# and the low-lows, which make it pretty well suited to blasting all the genres of the day - PaulVanDyke and Juno Reactor sounded great through this, as did Foo Fighters. Low mids aren't represented well, though I'll note the music that really suffers from this is orchestral. When I threw on the Skyrim soundtrack #nerd - guilty#, it sounded.. hollow, cored out. It's hard to describe. It is still listenable, but it's not as full as it should sound.
This can also do double-duty as a soundbar, via RCA inputs on the back. It's mids-forward sound signature actually makes it excellent for watching movies or playing games. Some will no doubt want to consider this versatility if thinking about buying.
Like it's predecessor, the GTK37IP makes an iPod/iPhone dock an integral part of it's physical design. It's also made the switch to the iPhone5 connector, so those still using 4's and 4S's be aware. It functions as you would expect, charging the device and allowing control through the onboard buttons or the included remote control.
Despite how overtly it seems to be an Apple-centric product, I almost feel like Apple users are left out in the cold. Sony has been at the forefront of recognizing the potential of NFC and integrating it into most of their product lines and the 37 is no exception. Android and Windows Phone users with NFC-equipped devices #and nowadays that's most of them# can tap their device on the system and have it automatically enable Bluetooth and handle pairing for you. This sounds like such a simple feature, but it feels like Star Trek every time I do it.
The system has rubber feet on the side opposite the iPod dock that allow it to be stood upright, and has a special "Vertical Sound" mode to optimize the way stereo sound is represented in this orientation, which is how I personally chose to make use of it. I have to admit even the tawdry lighting has grown on me and I let them stay on their smooth color cycling all the time, even in standby mode, as a sort of night light in my living room. There are a number of "light profiles", from warm, to cool, and a strobe pattern that flashes when bass hits. Or, if you want to pretend to be an adult like I was trying to for the first day I owned it, you can simply turn it all off.
There are a few missing features I would have liked to see, like Bluetooth auto-pairing, but ultimately I think this unit knows exactly what it's trying to do and delivers.
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
5
AWESOME
on January 3, 2014
Posted by: Marcus741
try-it / Buy-it.... took me 15 seconds to purchase this incredible sound speakers... Bluetooth work great and connects fast. Have not yet used the Ipone dock, using USB instead.... the IR control could have longer reach.
buy it, you won't regret it.. you neighbors might! lol
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com