Questions about receiver compatability

**MaybeIWill** · 2010-04-08, 08:00

This really sounds like a great solution for me. Like everyone, most of my music is on the cpu. The cpu is in the basement and the receiver is upstairs. I have nice Bose speakers and the receiver does a great job, but I know that it is older. It is a Technics SA-EX110. It has red and whit outs on the back of the unit for Phono, CD, VCR and Tape. I tried to post a link, but I don't have enough posts yet. If I am unclear in the description of the unit though, it is on amazon.

I would like to know

1.) whether this receiver is compatible with the Sqeezebox products and
2.) if so, shich product would benefit me most?

Thanks for your help,
Mdk

**maggior** · 2010-04-08, 08:09

Welcome to the forums!

Any squeezebox product will work with your setup. The squeezeboxes provide a line-level output that you can connect to one of the line-level inputs of your receiver, the CD one for example.

Which one you choose is up to you. The Classic is nicely priced and has a nice flourescent display. The Duet gives you the flexability of having a handheld controller that can be used with other players if you expand the system. If you get a receiver by itself (no controller), you have to use a special script not supplied/supported by logitech to configure it.

The newest addition to the lineup is the Touch which was just released to the masses yesterday. It is like the Classic, but with a color touch screen. It also has the ability to act like the server and you can connect a hard drive/flash drive to it directly. This means you don't have to have your PC running all of the time to perform server duties.

I've probably confused more, but I thought I'd anticipate some of your further questions.

Enjoy!

**MaybeIWill** · 2010-04-08, 08:16

Thanks for the quick response Maggior. I am glad it is compatible. I tried getting an iPod with a dock and connecting it that way, but was unsuccessful. No matter which one I chose there was no sound coming from the speakers. I was looking at the duet because expandability is a great thing to have.

Mdk

**snarlydwarf** · 2010-04-08, 08:35

Originally Posted by MaybeIWill

Thanks for the quick response Maggior. I am glad it is compatible. I tried getting an iPod with a dock and connecting it that way, but was unsuccessful. No matter which one I chose there was no sound coming from the speakers. I was looking at the duet because expandability is a great thing to have.

As Maggior pointed out, the sb receiver (and SB Classic and SB Touch) will work fine: just don't plug them into the 'phono' input. For ancient historical reasons, the phono input isn't the same as the others.

As for expandability: feel free to mix and match. The beauty of the SB design is that once you have one device running, it's trivial to add more.

get a radio for the kitchen or bedroom, a Touch for the office, a Boom for outside (though the radio may win on that since it can be battery powered...).

And you can either listen to different music on each, or sync some or all of them...

So choose the player that fits your needs and know you can always add more. (And if you're like most people, you will.)

**MaybeIWill** · 2010-04-12, 08:32

At first I was gung ho and ready to order this product through amazon, but there were too many disappointed reviews, so I decided to think about it some more. I'm not the most tech savvy person, and it seems a lot of the problems were due to network connectivity. Also, I'm concerned about the lag some people have stated about the remote.

People have also stated that the software is buggy and unreliable. That is the last thing I need.

What I am looking for are testimonials from people who own the system and what solutions they have come up with when face with problems. I don't want to spend several hundred dollars on a headache inducing system when all I want to do is control my music.

Thanks all,

Mdk

**snarlydwarf** · 2010-04-12, 08:59

Originally Posted by MaybeIWill

At first I was gung ho and ready to order this product through amazon, but there were too many disappointed reviews, so I decided to think about it some more. I'm not the most tech savvy person, and it seems a lot of the problems were due to network connectivity. Also, I'm concerned about the lag some people have stated about the remote.

Both of those are usually due to network connectivity as you figured out.

If your network is noisy (even if it seems okay to load web pages), you may have problems. Loading a web page isn't the same as a constant strean of 700kbps or so for hours. You may notice "damn, this site is slow, oh, wait, here it comes" with a web browser, but music would be "hey, why did my music stop?" which is much more noticable.

Wire the server to your router. Make sure your router is reasonably close to your listening area. Make sure you're not in a noisy channel on your wireless (away from where neighbors may be, cordless phones, baby monitors, and all the othe junk in the 2.4g spectrum). Wire your player if you can.

You may find better luck with having the remote connect to the SBReceiver itself instead of your wireless network: especially true if your listening area is far from the wireless router or just has too many physical problems (those aluminum studs used in modern construction are a nice idea, but they are almost certainly problematic for wireless).

None if this is really specific to the SB line: it's just a lot more noticable with music.

People have also stated that the software is buggy and unreliable. That is the last thing I need.

It works for me and I abuse it. Some systems have problems (AntiVirus software on Windows gets grumpy sometimes, for example), but most people have no real problems.

You can download and install the server now. You can try out 'softsqueeze' or 'squeezeplay' which emulate the older models (with the green display) or the newer models (with the color LCD display) respectively. Neither is really supported but if you squint right they work well enough to get a feel for things. (Squeezeplay is technically not an emulator: it's mostly the same software used by the Controller, Radio and Touch.. but since it's not running no the exact same OS as those devices it will always have quirks those devices don't have.)

What I am looking for are testimonials from people who own the system and what solutions they have come up with when face with problems. I don't want to spend several hundred dollars on a headache inducing system when all I want to do is control my music.

Most people here a) do not work for Logitech, b) have no genuine financial interest in Logitech (they may have a 4011k that has invested in Logitech, but since that's usually blind, it's not really fair to say they have an interest), c) receive nothing at all from the sales of Logitech devices.

They hang out here because they think the SB line is amazingly cool and has made an impact in their music listening experiece and want to share that with others.

The volume of these forums, in other words, is a pretty good indication that there are many many happy customers.

(And, yeah, i get nada for posting here: I hang out for the reasons cited above.)

**B1tbull** · 2010-04-12, 09:29

Dear MaybeIWill

I fully support the whole squeezebox software and hardware concept and did not get into any show stopper over the past 3 years on a squeezebox classic or duet both initially on Win XP SP3 and recently on Win 7 pro 64 bit.
If you get into trouble this forum has dozen of expert advisors to help you out within a few hours the issue is posted !
No - I am not on the Logitech salary list - just a retired IT guy who had lots of CD's laying around and now enjoys the luxury to access any track from locations inside and outside the house.
From my IT and audio experience the open source software concept coupled with an increasing range of all compatible streaming devices is a real winner.
Please do realize 99 % of all satisfied squeeze product users do never post in any forum, so all the noise you hear is probably a very small %.

**MaybeIWill** · 2010-04-12, 09:34

Thanks so much for the quick reply! It seems the community here is full of people who just like the product and want to help others enjoy it as well.