Samsung Wireless Audio Dock (DA-E750)

Few speaker systems have illicited as many "oohs" and "aahs" as the Samsung Wireless Audio Dock (DA-E750) has. To be fair, there's a lot to like: dual dock connectors for Samsung and Apple devices; wireless audio streaming via Bluetooth, AirPlay, or AllShare; and two nifty-looking vacuum tubes that emit a soft orange glow beneath a glass cover on the top panel. But now come the "ughs": It'll cost you $699.99 (list), can be pesky to set up, and suffers from occasional distortion at top volumes. At moderate volumes, however, the DA-E750 offers solid audio performance?and did we mention that it's beautiful?

Drop-Dead Gorgeous Design
Measuring 5.8 by 17.7 by 9.5-inches and weighing in at a healthy 18.9 pounds, the DA-E750 is not a subtle piece of gear. This has less to do with its dimensions and more to do with its polished wood exterior, and, of course, two vacuum tubes glowing beneath a raised glass cover on the top of the system.

On the right side of the top panel, there's a circular, metallic control pad for volume, play/pause, and there's a multi-purpose Function button. The seemingly non-transparent metallic circle also displays basic information through an LED display in the center of the circle, signaling when connecting to Wi-Fi networks or switching audio sources.

The docking area is located at the top of the rear panel, and features an adjustable arm for your devices to gently lean back against?they appear to almost float just beyond the edge of the top panel. It features a 30-pin connector for Apple iOS devices (not including the iPhone 5, which uses Apple's new Lightning Connector), as well as a microUSB plug for Android devices.?Most Android devices can use the connector as a dock for power over microUSB, but audio doesn't stream through the USB connection. Samsung offers an app that automatically triggers Bluetooth streaming when you dock a Samsung Galaxy device on the company's list, like the Galaxy S II and S II LTE?. The Galaxy S III? worked fine, and if a device doesn't run the app, you can simply manually pair it like any Bluetooth device.

On the front panel, we have four drivers: two 0.8-inch tweeters and two 4-inch mid-range drivers that bring a combined 40 watts of power. There is no speaker grille covering these menacing-looking creatures, and it's a handsome look, indeed. Throw in the aforementioned glowing tubes, and this could be James Bond's stereo. A down-firing 60-watt subwoofer rounds out the 2.1 audio array.

The back panel houses a connection for the included power cable, a LAN connection (an Ethernet cable is included), a 3.5mm Aux input (an audio cable is also included), a USB port (you can play music directly from USB drives), and a WPS/Reset pinhole button that is used during Wi-Fi set-up.

The included remote is also sexy?and why not? Who wants to pay $700 for a speaker system with a cheap-feeling remote control? (The similarly priced, otherwise-excellent Paradigm Millenia CT comes with a flimsy remote, so it's worth noting.) The slick metallic remote has buttons for Power, Track Forward/Backward Play/Pause, Volume, Mute, and Bass (it's a boost button that switches either on or off, it's not adjustable). There's also a Function button that allows for more in-depth controls, including switching audio sources or playback of a TV through your system.

Now, about those tubes. It's my job to be skeptical. Vacuum tubes are typically used in high-end audio gear to provide the warm, analog sound audiophiles crave. But let's not forget that they look really cool, and looking cool can add a lot more to a price tag. When you see that there are two orange LEDs glowing beneath each tube to enhance their color, skepticism only grows. To know just what kind of effect these tubes actually have on the audio, we'd have to take the system apart and look at where they are placed in the audio chain. Their effect on the output is, as things stand, rather hard to gauge.

So, instead, we'll just judge the DA-E750 the way we judge everything else?on its overall audio performance, regardless of what role the tubes may or may not play. The good news is: It sounds quite good.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/XofqEzbubmM/0,2817,2411112,00.asp

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