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HifiGuy
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- Review count3
- Helpfulness votes81
- First reviewAugust 13, 2015
- Last reviewMay 5, 2017
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating4.3
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- Answer count5
- Helpfulness votes28
- First answerApril 21, 2017
- Last answerMay 5, 2017
- Featured answers0
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HifiGuy's Reviews
Only at Best BuyUpgrade your sound setup with these Insignia 25W Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers (Pair). Volume, treble and bass dials provide greater control over your home party, and the energy-saving design makes a minimal impact on your bills. The remote control, RCA cable and speaker wire included with these Insignia Bluetooth bookshelf speakers ensure a quick-and-easy installation.
Customer Rating
3
Decent value on sale with one big asterisk
on May 5, 2017
Posted by: HifiGuy
Verified Purchase:Yes
Background- I owned a stereo store for over 25 years back in the day, so I have a pretty extensive background in audio technology. I would rate the sound quality of these good, but not great. And they do have a lot of features for the $$: wood cabinets, remote, two analog inputs plus bluetooth. If you intend to just use them by themselves, they seem like a very decent value.
My issue with them is a feature that appears on the back panel but is not in their specs or description: a subwoofer output jack presumably for connection to a powered sub, and that's why I purchased them, to use with a Mirage sub I have. In order for the sub to work properly with powered speakers, the level of the sub out jack on the Insignia's should track the level of its speaker volume control, and I assumed it would, just like 100’s of other products that feature a mono sub out rca jack. But this product doesn't- the sub out is at max volume all the time. I assumed I got a defective pair, in part because when I got them home the bags the speakers were packed in were ripped and had obviously been opened by someone and returned. Not sure why BB thought it was OK to resell them as new, not Open Box, but that's another issue. I ordered a second pair from the website to try to assure I got a new pair from a different production run than the ones in the store. Looked brand new, but the second set had the same problem. I still hoped it might be a production defect, as opposed to a design defect, and might not be present on all examples so I exchanged the second set with a third one. Unfortunately, it had the exact same issue (and btw, it also had been previously opened- what’s up with that?). I looked for any other information on the Insignia website, and found a full instruction manual there (one had not been included with the speakers- just a quick start guide). It did not show anything hooked to the Sub Out jack in any of the configurations they illustrated, or mention the jack anywhere, leading me to believe that they realize that it was not designed correctly, and they are just pretending it isn’t there.
The fixed output makes using them with a sub impractical -you have to adjust the sub level separately every time you adjust the speaker level via the remote. Again: if you don't plan to use a sub (or will control the sound level exclusively from your source and not use the Insignia’s own volume control) then these are a decent choice given the feature set, especially when on sale for under $150. In the end, I decided to keep them- I will use the left channel speaker output to feed a speaker level input on my Mirage. I'll only be getting one channel, but most bass in recordings is mixed to both channels to get the maximum lows a given pair of speakers can produce, so it will work, if not ideally.
One other thing- my experience with both Geek Squad and Insignia in trying to get answers to this issue was uniformly poor. Three GS agents I spoke to on the phone had no knowledge about the product category, much less this specific item, and the Home Theater department manager I spoke with briefly claimed that all subwoofer outputs on home electronics are fixed level. I was surprised at this basic lack of knowledge, so I asked him if it made sense that every time I change the volume on a sub/sat system I have to walk over to the subwoofer and adjust it separately? He still didn’t back down- all subwoofer outs are fixed according to him. So apparently he intends to keep disseminating his incorrect assertion to other BB customers. Not a good sign for the training level at BB.
FWIW, the Insignia 800 number (Insignia is a BB private label) hung up on me twice as soon as I identified the product and problem, again making me wonder if this is a known defect in a feature they are now trying to pretend doesn’t exist on this product, despite the presence of the labeled sub out jack. At least BB could Photoshop the product picture of the jack panel so the Sub Out jack isn’t there. That might cut down on the number of returns due to this issue. Which apparently are quite a few, given that two of the three pairs I received had been returned previously.
My Best Buy number: 0562826278
My Best Buy number: 0562826278
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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+65points
78of 91voted this as helpful.
Easy to use, just plug in, copy your files to the key, and carry them with you. To access your data, just plug the Attaché Original into any PC or Mac.
Customer Rating
5
Who doesn't need portable drives?
on March 3, 2017
Posted by: HifiGuy
Verified Purchase:Yes
Bought these on a one day sale via BB email blast. Great value, but no idea what I'll do with them yet so haven't even opened package.
My Best Buy number: 0562826278
My Best Buy number: 0562826278
I would recommend this to a friend!
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0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro Tablet: You can easily watch movies and shows on the go using the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro, which features an 8.4" touch screen that's large enough to ensure clear media viewing and small enough to facilitate transport. The 16GB storage offers room to house pictures, videos, music and other important files. Plus, you can connect to the Web to check your e-mail and access social media.
Posted by: HifiGuy
Verified Purchase:Yes
There are plenty of reviews on this item, so I'll just emphasize the strongest attribute of this tablet- it is the best overall size and resolution among tablets available today. It can be held like a paperback to read books, it is big enough to watch movies on (I held it up to my 60" TV and at arms length the image size was the same) and the screen resolution means even the smallest type is clear. Yet it's small enough to stow in a winter jacket pocket or a purse, and light enough to hold for hours. I've had 10" and 7" tablets and have a 5.5" phone. This is my favorite. The ONLY thing I could ding it for is it doesn't have the longest battery life for this size, but the 7-8 hours of video or reading it is capable of is really more than I need anyway.
My Best Buy number: 0562826278
My Best Buy number: 0562826278
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+3points
3of 3voted this as helpful.
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HifiGuy's Answers
Only at Best BuyUpgrade your sound setup with these Insignia 25W Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers (Pair). Volume, treble and bass dials provide greater control over your home party, and the energy-saving design makes a minimal impact on your bills. The remote control, RCA cable and speaker wire included with these Insignia Bluetooth bookshelf speakers ensure a quick-and-easy installation.
Since these are powered, can I just get a 3.5mm outlet connection from my laptop with rca connections and plug into the rca input of the powered speaker and use them for my laptop computer?
Definitely. You can use 3.5 to RCA or 3.5 to 3.5. It has inputs for both. One limitation- if you want to use a powered sub with them, the RCA Sub Out on the Insignia's is designed incorrectly and outputs max volume regardless of the setting of the speakers' own remote volume control. If you adjust the level only from the PC, that can work, but be aware you won't be able to use the remote that comes with the speakers if you use a sub.
6 years, 11 months ago
by
HifiGuy
Only at Best BuyUpgrade your sound setup with these Insignia 25W Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers (Pair). Volume, treble and bass dials provide greater control over your home party, and the energy-saving design makes a minimal impact on your bills. The remote control, RCA cable and speaker wire included with these Insignia Bluetooth bookshelf speakers ensure a quick-and-easy installation.
Only at Best BuyUpgrade your sound setup with these Insignia 25W Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers (Pair). Volume, treble and bass dials provide greater control over your home party, and the energy-saving design makes a minimal impact on your bills. The remote control, RCA cable and speaker wire included with these Insignia Bluetooth bookshelf speakers ensure a quick-and-easy installation.
I was told these two speakers can connect without wire and do so over bluetooth. Is this true? If so, how do I do that?
You can connect your source to them without wires- just like you would with BT wireless headphones- pair them with your device and enjoy. Note, there is a wire between the two speakers. The amplifier for both channels is in one speaker (so it also needs an AC power cord), and it sends the signal to the other via regular speaker wire.
7 years ago
by
HifiGuy
Only at Best BuyUpgrade your sound setup with these Insignia 25W Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers (Pair). Volume, treble and bass dials provide greater control over your home party, and the energy-saving design makes a minimal impact on your bills. The remote control, RCA cable and speaker wire included with these Insignia Bluetooth bookshelf speakers ensure a quick-and-easy installation.
I'm looking for speakers to hook up to my TV with NO wires running from the TV to the speakers. I have a power source nearby and if the speakers require a wire running between speakers, that's OK but must be wireless from TV to speakers. Any suggestions?
The only way to accomplish this that I would be happy with (and what I am doing for listening to my TV with wireless headphones) is with two Bluetooth AptX Low Latency adaptors, one to transmit the sound from the TV and the other to receive and feed it to any powered speakers. Most of these adaptors can be switched between transmit and receive modes, and by buying a matched pair you can be assured of compatibility. Although this speaker has Bluetooth built in, it is not low latency, and the delay will drive you crazy. Imagine seeing a baseball hit and hearing the crack a split second late, or dialogue not in sync with lip movements. Unfortunately, there are very few Bluetooth AptX LL devices available yet. Note, regular AptX, while lower in latency than standard BT, is still noticeable to most people. Standard BT delay is around 200 milliseconds, AptX around 100, and AptX LL around 20.
7 years ago
by
HifiGuy
Only at Best BuyUpgrade your sound setup with these Insignia 25W Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers (Pair). Volume, treble and bass dials provide greater control over your home party, and the energy-saving design makes a minimal impact on your bills. The remote control, RCA cable and speaker wire included with these Insignia Bluetooth bookshelf speakers ensure a quick-and-easy installation.
Can you use just one speaker connected to a tv via min jack? If only one speaker is used, what effect does it have on the stereo signal. Do you get both channels in one speaker if only one is used? Thanks
If you connect it with a stereo minijack cable, you will hear only one channel of the stereo TV. However, if you get a stereo to mono conversion jack to blend both channels from the TV, this would work perfectly. BB doesn't carry one, but you can find one online. Just search for: 3.5mm Stereo Plug to 3.5mm Mono Jack Adapter
7 years ago
by
HifiGuy