Introduction 

New digital devices have created good, good times for music fans. With an MP3 player, you can store every song you own onto one small device and play your music while jogging, in the car, or at home. You no longer have to buy entire albums, and you no longer have to visit a store to buy music; just download a song onto your MP3 player and it’s yours. In your home, affordable, high-quality home theater systems let you play your music on equipment that was once reserved for aficionados with big bucks. 

But for some, these good times come with consequences: you’ll have to select, learn how to use, and purchase new equipment. We’ll try to decipher the jargon for you, give you a brief rundown of the options available, point you toward stores where you can get good advice, and tell you how to make sure you’re getting a low price. 

Ways to Play It 

There are now many ways to listen to music. The following is a brief description of the various options and a quick discussion of the pros and cons of each. 

AM, FM, and HD Radio 

Radio’s ability to reach wide audiences, its low cost, and its portability continue to make it a major music source. 

AM radio was the dominant method of broadcasting for almost 50 years, and remains widely used today. But AM’s susceptibility to atmospheric interference and its comparatively lower fidelity sound made much of its programming—particularly music—a victim of FM radio with its superior sound quality. Over the years, news and talk programs came to dominate AM while music took up residence on FM broadcasts. 

Superiority to AM radio does not, however, mean that FM can deliver music anywhere near the levels of fidelity of other technologies. While the industry has been slow to respond to the abundance of listening choices now available to consumers, it is now attempting to win back its share of music listeners with the introduction of HD radio, a new digital radio broadcast format. 

HD radio uses digital transmission to improve the quality of music broadcast by FM to near-CD levels, and improves the sound quality of AM broadcasts to about FM levels. HD radio also gives broadcasters the ability to offer more channels of content within a single frequency range, meaning that you’ll be able to select from multiple programs offered by a single radio station. Although its roll-out is relatively new, several radio stations have already embraced this new technology, including 18 in the Washington area at the time of this writing. At www.hd-radio.com, you can get a current list of stations. 

• What you have to buy: 
• AM/FM—Basic AM/FM radios can be purchased for less than $10 to over $300 for a high-end model; AM/FM radios are standard equipment for cars. 
• HD radio—At the time of this writing, there were only a few HD-radio models available for use outside automobiles, costing from $300 to around $2,000 (as more models make their way to market, prices are expected to decline). HD radios are not yet available as standard equipment on most new cars, but can be purchased and installed for about $500; alternatively, for about $200, you can buy an HD adaptor that will allow your car radio to receive and play HD radio signals. 
• Pros: 
• Music and programming are free. 
• Offers a fairly wide variety of music and programming. 
• Portability—you can listen to music wherever your radio can attain a signal. 
• Can be used to get local news. 
• Cons: 
• Sound quality for AM/FM radio is poor; although HD radio does give improved sound quality, reception issues are problematic for all of the options. 
• Commercials. 
• Lack of choice—playlists are determined by station programmers. 
• HD radio requires a special, currently expensive receiver. 

Satellite Radio 

Competitors Sirius and XM introduced their subscription-based satellite radio systems in 2001. Like cable and satellite television, Sirius and XM hope to garner subscribers by offering exclusive programming and a much wider array of channels compared to AM and FM radio. Satellite radio allows subscribers to capture digital signals that provide near-CD sound quality anywhere in the U.S. and Canada, and users can listen to the same channels no matter where they travel. Most channels—including all music channels—are commercial-free. On the other hand, neither Sirius nor XM offers much in the way of local programming, so you won’t be able to get local news or other programming from them (although both services do offer a channel that gives local weather and traffic reports for the Washington area). 

To get a satellite radio signal in your car, you can either have an entire system installed or you can buy an antenna and a device that will let you listen using your car’s current FM radio. In-car systems cost between $80 and $2,000; adaptors cost between $60 and $100; satellite radio systems are available as optional equipment on most new cars. 

Although most satellite radio subscribers use their service only in their cars, it is easy to get programming at home or at the office, particularly if you opt to buy a portable device. These radios, which cost between $200 and $400, are compatible with earphones, can be plugged into stereo receivers, and can be used to play the satellite signal through any FM radio (including your car radio). One nice feature of using a portable device is that you may not have to buy a separate antenna for it for use outside your car, since in the Washington area both Sirius and XM can send their signals directly to portable devices using local, ground-based antenna networks. 

Another option for at-home listening is to buy a tabletop radio, which will cost about $200. Like their portable counterparts, tabletop radios easily can be connected to your home stereo system and speakers. 

Sirius and XM subscribers also can listen in via the Internet, but both services restrict their Internet channel offerings to music channels and won’t let you listen to programming that they have exclusive arrangements to broadcast (described below). 

In an attempt to try to compete with Apple’s iPod and other MP3 players, both Sirius and XM now sell devices to which you can upload MP3 files from your computer. These devices also let subscribers record aired programming to play back later by programming the device to record a specific program or by manually recording content as it is aired. Unfortunately, after recording your favorite over-the-air songs or programs this way, you can’t easily move them onto your computer to store as a playlist or to burn onto a CD; doing so requires special software and when we have tried to accomplish this ourselves, we have found that the resulting sound quality was poor. 

At the time of this writing, the subscription fees for Sirius and XM were about the same; subscriptions to either cost $12.95 per month or $142 for one year. Also, Sirius was offering a $500 “lifetime” rate for a subscription that would last for the operating life of the purchased radio; XM radio was offering a discounted rate of $9.99 per month to customers who signed three-, four-, or five-year contracts. 

If you buy more than one device or want to share a subscription with others, you won’t have to sign up for multiple subscriptions. Both Sirius and XM radio charge a discounted $6.99/month subscription rate for each additional device you buy. Sirius limits the number of devices you can use under a single subscription to four; XM limits the number to five. 

Since the subscription rates for Sirius and XM are about the same, your decision as to which service to buy likely will be based on the programming offered. At the time of this writing, Sirius reported it offered over 125 channels; XM reported it offered 160. The number of channels each offers should continue to rise. Although both systems offer a wide variety of programming, each has signed exclusive deals to broadcast certain programming. For example, for sports broadcasts, Sirius has exclusive rights to broadcast the NFL, the NBA, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, and English Premier League soccer games; XM has exclusive rights to broadcast Major League baseball games, NASCAR, and the PGA Tour. (Both services broadcast NHL games.) 

If you are interested in getting specific programming, visit the websites of each service to find out what is offered. 

• What you have to buy: 
• A compatible radio or adaptor ($60 to $2,000) and a subscription ($9.99 to $12.95/month); to access service in your car, you’ll need to buy and install an antenna and adaptor or buy and install a new radio system. 
• Pros: 
• Offers a wide variety of music and programming; each service has programming that is not offered anywhere else. 
• Portability—you can listen to music just about anywhere. 
• Excellent sound quality. 
• No commercials for music channels. 
• New radios let you upload MP3 files and use the radio as both a satellite radio and an MP3 player (but, at the time of this writing, hard-disk space for these devices was still pretty limited). 
• Cons: 
• Cost of radios plus subscription fees make this a pretty expensive source of entertainment. 
• No local news. 
• Although much more diverse than AM/FM or HD radio, playlists are still determined by station programmers. 
• Tedious to create personal playlists from over-the-air programming; playlists generated from over-the-air programming cannot easily be uploaded to a computer to be shared with other devices. 
• Radios and antennas are unique to each service, so if you switch from one to another, you’ll have to buy new equipment. 

Cable/Satellite TV Music Channels 

Cable and satellite television providers haven’t ignored music listeners. Most digital cable providers offer 40 or so commercial-free music channels for no extra charge. The two satellite television providers also offer commercial-free music channels. DIRECTV has partnered with XM to deliver 72 of its music channels for no extra cost and DISH Network has partnered with Sirius to give its customers 60 music channels; neither service offers the exclusive programming—such as sports and news broadcasts—available to satellite radio subscribers. 

If your digital cable or satellite television feed runs straight into your television, the sound quality of these music channels will only be as good as what your television allows, which in most cases is limited. But if your feed runs through a receiver connected to a home theater system, you should get very good sound quality. 

• What you have to buy: 
• If you already have digital cable or satellite television service, nothing. 
• Pros: 
• Free if you already have digital cable or satellite television service. 
• Commercial-free music. 
• Offers a fairly wide variety of music, particularly for satellite television customers. 
• Cons: 
• Lack of choice—while various channels are available, playlists are still determined by programmers. 
• Difficult and tedious to create personal playlists (requires special equipment). 
• Limited sound quality unless coupled with a home theater system. 

Internet Radio 

The Internet offers yet another source of free music, with almost unlimited choice. There are thousands of commercial-free, Internet-based music channels that don’t require subscription fees, and most local radio stations let Internet users listen in for free through the stations’ websites. If you’re looking for a source of free music, and you primarily listen to music while at home or at work, these stations may be a good choice for you. But keep in mind that the sound quality you get will be only as good as the (often limited) capabilities of your computer’s speakers and the feed broadcast by the Internet radio stations. 

• What you have to buy: 
• If you already have a computer with an Internet connection, nothing. 
• Pros: 
• Offers thousands of stations, with an incredible selection of music genres. 
• Many stations offer commercial-free music. 
• Free if you already have a computer with Internet service. 
• Cons: 
• Playlists are determined by programmers. Since there are so many stations, a lot of variety is available—just not the music list you want when you want it. 
• Tedious to create playlists. 
• Sound quality is limited to what your computer can deliver, which in most cases is low-quality. 
• Since you can only listen when you have an Internet connection, portability for most is quite limited. 
• Feed likely will be broken from time to time for buffering (which can be highly annoying). 

Record and Tape Players 

In a very short period of time, the digital age replaced records and tapes with CDs that offered unsurpassed sound, programmability, and portability. 

Curiously, the vinyl record has persisted in very small niches of popularity, particularly among some DJs and trendy alternative musicians who continue to issue their music on vinyl records. But for most of us, these once-treasured purchases have been relegated to storage boxes, dusty shelves, and thrift shops. If, however, you do still have a large collection of albums and tapes that you never replaced with CDs or electronic music files, be aware that many manufacturers continue to produce turntables. 

If you’re looking to digitize your vinyl record collection and don’t want to have to buy new albums, you can still do so. For example, you can buy a turntable made by Numark that costs about $300 and plugs directly into your computer using a USB port and that will let you save your records as digital files as they play. For most consumers, it will be easier just to buy a new CD or to purchase MP3 files, but if you’re staring at that Wagner Ring Cycle box set that you never replaced with a CD set because of the cost, or if you have tired of waiting for that little-known recording to be reissued, one of these turntables might breathe new life into some old friends. 

• What you have to buy: 
• A turntable (or tape deck), if you don’t already have one. But if you don’t have one, you might just decide to surrender to the digital age and invest in a CD or MP3 player. 
• Pros: 
• Many consumers already have equipment. 
• It is quite inexpensive to replace or to repair old equipment. 
• Cons: 
• Records and tapes are easily damaged. 
• Limited sound quality. 
• Most recording artists don’t release new work on records or tapes; to purchase music, you’ll likely have to buy used records or tapes. 
• Must buy entire albums rather than individual songs. 
• Requires special equipment to create digital playlists. 
• Music requires storage space. 

CD Players 

Twenty-five years ago, the compact disc hit the retail market with a big, big bang. Touted as the perfect technology to render perfect music on a medium that would last forever, CDs took off and records and tapes quickly disappeared from store shelves. 

But, as with most new technologies, the CD may become just a digital stepping stone to other music-playing platforms, as many consumers have begun to switch to MP3 players, such as Apple’s popular iPod. In 2005, CD sales did decline slightly, but over 600 million CDs were still sold, so although CDs may ultimately be in the crosshairs of new technologies, they still remain the most common choice for listening to music. 

One reason CDs remain so popular is that most consumers already own devices to play them; another reason is that CDs can be played on portable devices, in the car, at home, on a computer, or on a DVD player. 

While most experts do believe that CDs eventually will be phased out in favor of new technologies, it is too soon to tell how quickly that will occur. In any event, deciding to hold off purchasing an expensive MP3 player for now in favor of buying a cheap CD player or continuing to use your current equipment is still a safe bet, since CDs themselves can easily be converted into MP3 files by simply copying a CD onto a computer. 

• What you have to buy: 
• Basic CD players for use with earphones can be purchased for less than $25; CD players that can be plugged into a stereo or home theater system cost less than $100 for entry-level models and over $250 for high-end models that can hold hundreds of discs at a time; DVD players can play CDs, as can computers with CD drives. 
• Pros: 
• Excellent sound quality. 
• Many consumers already have necessary equipment. 
• It is inexpensive to replace old equipment. 
• With a computer, you can easily create personalized playlists and CDs; you can also create personalized playlists with programmable CD changers. 
• Still a prevalent technology, so finding the music you want to buy is easy. 
• Portability—you can listen to music just about anywhere. 
• Cons: 
• CDs are more easily damaged than originally believed and can degrade over time. 
• Must buy entire albums rather than individual songs. 
• Music requires storage space. 

MP3 Players 

It wasn’t long after CDs became established as the dominant medium for recorded music that personal computers made quantum leaps forward in speed and storage capability. Music lovers quickly realized that music on CDs could be copied to computers to create custom CDs and playlists, or could be played directly from a computer. But it wasn’t until new file compression formats were developed that digital music file players really took off. These new file formats allowed users to store thousands of songs onto computers or small digital players without losing sound quality and without taking up too much disk space. 

The MP3 format has become the most common digital music file format—so much so that all digital music players are usually referred to as “MP3 players”—but MP3 is just one of several file formats that digital music players use. Other file formats include WMA, AAC, and ATRAC (a format used by Sony). Although players typically use only one type of format, most can read at least one other format type (usually WMA, making it the most versatile format). Most players come with software that allows users to convert different file formats into one the player can read. 

The dominant product in the MP3 player market has been Apple’s unique, well-designed, and trendy iPod series. Part of the iPod’s success has been due to Apple’s early introduction of an online music store with millions of music titles, managed by an easy-to-use interface. Despite the iPod’s dominance, other competitors have begun to carve out their own market shares, including Dell, iRiver, Philips, RCA, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, and several other manufacturers. 

Music lovers have embraced MP3 players because of their incredible versatility. You can buy only the songs you want from albums that you don’t already own and easily copy all of the music you do own on CDs onto your MP3 player. Even hard-disk models, the largest of the player models, are no bigger than a deck of cards, and since all your music can be stored onto one, you won’t need a large amount of storage space for your CDs. 

Another big draw of MP3 players is that many models are able to send, receive, and display digital photographs and video. You can use one as a portable photo album to astound your coworkers with stunning snapshots of your incredible and talented children; download television shows to watch while commuting on Metro or while on a plane; download and listen to radio programs from around the world; or even download free “podcasts,” which are professional and amateur video and audio programs ranging from cartoons and short films to instructional videos and classes. 

If you are unfamiliar with MP3 players, it is important to understand that you’ll need to have access to a computer to transfer music to them, since at the time of this writing, none of the MP3 players available could connect on its own to the Web to download music. Also, if you don’t have access to a broadband Internet connection, downloading music will take a fair amount of time and downloading video will take an eternity. 

There are several types of digital players: 

• Hard-disk models—such as Apple’s iPod, Sony’s Walkman Hi-MD, and iRiver’s H10—can hold very large quantities of music. The 10 gigabytes of storage space (about 2,500 songs) that is included with even the entry-level hard-disk models will be sufficient for most consumers’ entire music libraries. High-end models can store up to 60 gigabytes of data (about 15,000 songs). Newer models can also store digital photos, video, and other data, but keep in mind that video files take up more disk space than music files do. Most hard-disk players are about the size of a deck of cards, but are still larger and heavier than micro hard-disk models or flash-memory models. Hard-disk models cost between $200 and $500; costs primarily depend on how much disk space you want. 
• Micro hard-disk models—such as Creative’s Zen Micro—can store less music than standard hard-disk models but are smaller and lighter, fitting into the palm of your hand and weighing only about three ounces. Most models hold between three and eight gigabytes of data (750 to 2,000 songs). Newer models can also store digital photos, video, and other data, but again, keep in mind that video files take up more disk space than music files do. Micro hard-disk models cost between $150 and $250. 
• Flash-memory models—such as the iPod shuffle, the iPod nano, and Sony’s Bean line—are the smallest of the players, typically the size of a pack of gum. Most models hold between 128 megabytes and four gigabytes of data (30 to 1,000 songs). Some flash-memory players are equipped with expansion slots into which you can plug memory cards to add capacity or to switch songs in and out of the player. Since flash-memory models have no moving parts and are so small, they are ideal for use while exercising. Flash-memory models cost between $50 and $250; memory cards cost between $50 and $100 for a one-gigabyte card, but at the time of this writing prices for memory cards had been steadily dropping, and were expected to continue to do so. 
• Combination MP3/CD players let you download and copy MP3 files to a CD that is used to play back the music. Since these models rely on CDs to store data, they are larger than other types of players and can only hold as much data as the CD it uses can—650 to 800 megabytes of data (150 to 200 songs). MP3/CD players are usually the least expensive option for playing digital music, costing as little as $30. 
• Satellite radios, as discussed previously, can also be used to store and play MP3 files. At the time of this writing, storage space on these models was pretty limited, but as Sirius and XM try to compete with iPod and other players, newer models should come with greater capacity. 
• Personal computers. Obviously, you don’t have to purchase a dedicated MP3 playing device if you just want to listen to music while at home or at the office. With the proper cables, any computer can be plugged into a receiver and used just as you would an MP3 player. 
• New Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) models usually come with software and disk space that allow them to be used as MP3 players, making them remarkable little multi-taskers. The problem: most PDAs come with very little memory, so you’ll likely need to use a memory card to store your music; a memory card that comes with 512 megabytes of storage space will let you save only about 100 songs at a time. 
• Many new cell phones can double as MP3 players. As with PDAs, however, most models come with very little memory—most can hold only 50 to 100 songs (although, as with PDAs, some models do have slots for memory cards). 

All of the dedicated MP3 player types can be used to play music just about anywhere—in the car, while jogging, through a computer, or through an at-home stereo system. To use an MP3 player in your car, either you can have a stereo system installed that will allow you to plug in your MP3 player or you can buy an adaptor that will let you listen to music played on your MP3 player using your car’s current FM radio. 

So that MP3 players can be played at home, manufacturers sell adaptor kits that can be used easily to connect them to stereo and home theater systems. But if you primarily listen to music at home, you might want to consider skipping an MP3 player purchase; instead, you can simply use your computer as you would an MP3 device by connecting it to your home stereo or home theater system. 

When choosing an MP3 player, think first about how much disk space you’ll want—in general, pricier models have more disk space. To calculate disk space for music, figure that one gigabyte of space will hold about 250 songs, and remember that video takes up much more space than music. Keep in mind that models that are loaded with features and that can display video are usually the most expensive options; if you don’t think you’ll use these features, look to buy a less expensive model. 

If you’re interested in listening to or watching specific programming on an MP3 player, you’ll want to do some research before deciding on a model to buy, since not all content is compatible with all players. We’ve found, for example, that some models of MP3 players can’t play audio books and some manufacturers—particularly Apple—have signed exclusive arrangements to offer some television and radio programs that you won’t be able to get elsewhere. 

• What you have to buy: 
• MP3 players are priced from about $30 (for a combination MP3/CD player) to over $500 (for a feature-laden, hard-disk model that can hold over 10,000 songs). To utilize fully the features of most MP3 players, you’ll also need a computer with a broadband connection so you can quickly download songs and other content. 
• Pros: 
• Excellent sound quality. 
• It’s easy to save your entire music library—including all of the music in your current collection of CDs—onto one small device. 
• Has become a prevalent technology, so finding new music you want to buy is easy; incredible range of other programming is also available, often for no cost. 
• You can purchase songs individually, rather than having to buy entire albums. 
• Online music stores let you sample most songs before having to pay to download them. 
• You can easily create personalized playlists and, with a computer, can create personalized CDs. 
• Portability—with proper equipment, you can listen to music just about anywhere. 
• You don’t have to worry about damaging CDs or records (but keep in mind that if all of your music is stored on a single device, and if you lose the player or if it breaks, all your music will be lost). 
• Virtually no physical storage space is required for your music; thousands of songs can be stored in a device that is smaller than a deck of cards. 
• Cons: 
• Players, particularly high-end models that come with lots of disk space, are still relatively expensive. 
• Requires a modicum of computer knowledge to utilize features fully; as with any new technology, you’ll have to defeat a learning curve to get up and running. 
• Although file formats for storing music keep file sizes small, storing all of your music on your computer may require a significant share of hard-drive space. 

Selecting and Installing Home Audio Components 

The digital revolution not only has let us take our entire music collection with us wherever we go, but also has brought us home-theater systems. For most consumers, the allure of home-theater systems is their ability to show movies with movie-theater-quality picture and sound, but these systems also have created a resurgence in home-audio-system sales, since home-theater systems can serve double-duty and be used to play music with incredibly high-quality sound fidelity. All of the playback options discussed in the previous section can be used with a home-theater or home-audio system. 

Home-theater and home-audio system purchase choices can range from separately purchased receivers and speakers to popular, prepackaged systems, referred to as “Home Theaters in a Box.” 

Following are some tips for buying and installing equipment. 

Set a Budget 

Set a figure that is comfortable for you and stay with it. Even high-quality home-theater-system components are now more affordable than ever. Salespersons will have plenty of reasons to convince you to spend more, but a realistic budget will still reward you with a very good system. 

Think About the Big Picture 

Before shopping, try to picture first how you would like your system to function. Will you want to be able to listen to music in more than one room? Will all of your music be stored on your computer, an MP3 player, or a CD changer; if so, would you like this device to network with your sound system? Will you be plugging your MP3 player into your home-music system? Will you need components that can be wired to a network? Will you need or prefer wireless communications? All of these considerations can help direct you toward the right components. 

Consider Your Space 

In general, a big space requires more power to fill it with music than a small space, but this isn’t always true. Is the space heavily draped or carpeted? Does it have a rough-textured, acoustic ceiling? Does it contain large, heavily upholstered pieces of furniture? Sound-absorbing features such as these may require a more powerful receiver and speakers than a sparsely furnished room with plenty of hard surfaces. 

Keep in mind that most new receivers can deliver sufficient power for most rooms, so don’t get sucked in to the “more power” game that many salespersons use to sell more expensive equipment. For a two-speaker system, 50 to 60 watts per channel at eight ohms is desirable for most rooms; 80 to 100 watts per channel at eight ohms is better, particularly if you’ll be using the system to provide sound while watching movies or television. 

If you are buying a multi-channel, surround-sound system, your power needs will be greater. With current versions of Dolby Digital surround sound, equal power in left front, center, right front, and rear channels is recommended; 100 watts per channel should suffice for most rooms, but your power needs may be greater if your home theater is in a very large room or if your speakers are particularly inefficient. 

When in doubt, buy a receiver that can deliver more power than you might need. There is a persistent misperception that receivers can have too much power relative to their speakers’ power ratings, but this is not the case. The enemy of speakers is distortion, which is most frequently caused by connecting a receiver to speakers that need more power than the receiver can deliver. 

Components are not fond of moisture, so try to keep your components away from areas where spills might easily occur or where plants will be watered. 

Think About Speaker Placement 

If you are buying a surround-sound system, make sure that you have space for speakers to be placed behind your seating area, and think about how they will be installed: will they go on the floor, be mounted onto walls, or be in the ceiling? These choices frequently dictate which particular speakers will work best for your room setting. 

Keep in mind that surround-sound systems require that speakers be placed all around the room and that they be connected to a receiver. If you are finishing a basement or renovating a room to build a home theater, running speaker wire behind drywall or perhaps above a ceiling may not be too much trouble to accomplish. But if you are installing a surround-sound system in an already finished room, you’ll probably have to run speaker wire underneath rugs or carpeting or along baseboards. You might be able to hide speaker wiring behind walls in an already finished room, but expect to pay a premium in installation costs (or in spare time, if you’re doing the work yourself). 

If your space limits placement choices for speakers, you’ll want to make sure that you buy speakers that not only will fit in the available space but also will employ designs suitable for their locations. For instance, if speakers must be placed low and in corners, you will want to select a speaker design that can offset the fact that this type of placement tends to exaggerate bass frequencies. 

Make Sure Everything Is Properly Wired 

Speaker wire should be of adequate size. Eighteen-gauge wire is suitable for most distances, but for extensions into other rooms with runs of wire of 50 feet or more, 14- or 16-gauge wire is needed. 

Make sure wires are not put in places where they could easily fray, pull loose from their connectors, or become crimped or sliced. Don’t use extension cords unless absolutely necessary. If you must use one, choose as heavy-duty a cord as you can. 

Don’t succumb to the hype of high-priced specialty speaker wire and connector cables. The basic, low-priced varieties are usually more than adequate. 

Avoid plugging your components into circuits that contain fluorescent lights or lights controlled by dimmers. 

Keep electrical cords away from audio cables. If they must cross, try to make them intersect at right angles. 

Where to Get Good Service 

Before embarking on an electronics shopping spree, take some time to look over a few publications and websites. Consumer Reports (www.consumerreports.org) is the place to start. You’ll get excellent, unbiased, general advice; results of product tests; and discussions of product features. Other useful sources of information include specialty magazines and websites, such as Sound and Vision magazine and Stereophile.com. Websites such as CNET.com focus on computer and electronics products and include useful product overviews by editors—including guides to buying home-theater and home-stereo systems—along with recommended models and customer feedback. 

You can, of course, also visit local stores to try out equipment you’re considering and to seek out advice from salespersons. The ratings of stores on our Audio Equipment Stores Ratings Tables should help you find stores with sales staff that can help. Several area stores got the top rating on our customer survey—“superior”—for the quality of advice they provide from more than 80 percent of their surveyed customers. (For more information on our customer survey and other research methods, click here.) 

But the ratings and comments we’ve received on our surveys of area consumers reveal that the advice supplied at some stores may not be worth the trip. At the time of our last full, published article, Best Buy, for example, got the top rating from surveyed customers on “advice on choice and use of products” less than 35 percent of the time. 

Low ratings from customers are echoed in the comments we’ve received from audio equipment customers, who often complained of sales staff who lack expertise, are too arrogant to bother sharing it with customers, or just aren’t available. Some customers complain of simply feeling “invisible”—no one seeming to notice that they were waiting for help. Equally troubling are complaints from customers who have had to contend with bait-and-switch tactics and aggressive efforts to sell service contracts. 

If you plan to buy speakers, a store’s listening facilities are a consideration. Some stores have extensive, specially designed facilities set up for you to make speaker comparisons. Other stores expect you to make your speaker comparisons in the midst of the noise of the regular sales area. You’ll be able to judge for yourself each store’s listening setup. 

But don’t put too much weight on the availability of these facilities. The only way to evaluate speakers adequately is to test them in your own home. Speakers can sound dramatically different in a store’s testing area compared to your home’s listening area. So a key question for you when deciding where to buy is whether you can take equipment you are considering home to test it out. Fortunately, many area stores will let their customers return speakers for a full refund if done within a reasonable time. You will want at least a week to test; 30 days or more is better. But some stores allow no testing period, so make sure to check the exact policies before buying. 

When planning a home test, keep in mind that you will want to set up the equipment just as you plan to if you actually keep it. If possible, arrange for a technician from the store to come to your home and set it up for you, so you can be sure it is working properly. In many instances, the placement of speakers in a room can have a dramatic impact on their performance.  

In your home, you will want to listen particularly for subtle details of sound—the warmth of a human voice, the crispness of percussion sounds, the stroke of a violin bow. Listen during quiet passages to be sure there is no extraneous noise. 

When thinking about where to buy equipment, an important consideration will be each store’s reliability—whether it stands behind products, has them ready when promised, etc. On our Audio Equipment Stores Ratings Tables, we report the percent of surveyed customers who rated each firm “superior” for “reliability.” 

No matter where you shop, it’s a good idea to pay for equipment using a credit card, since the Fair Credit Billing Act allows you to refuse payment if a product is unsatisfactory or is not delivered. The Fair Credit Billing Act does not apply to purchases made with debit cards. 

Getting a Good Price 

When first visiting stores, it’s best to confine yourself to information gathering. But once you’ve decided what you want, you’ll want to make sure you’re being offered a good price. 

Comparing stores’ prices for audio equipment is difficult because it is often hard to find a model that is being sold at any two stores, since there are thousands of models available. 

But we found that we were able to shop prices for several different models of CD changers, receivers, and surround-sound systems. Our researchers called area stores that were evaluated in our last full, published article, and, without revealing their affiliation with CHECKBOOK, obtained stores’ prices for a sample of 12 different models of audio equipment. We also collected prices—including firms’ charges to ship the items to the Washington area—from a sample of large online, mail-order stores. 

Table 1 shows how each store or chain compared to the average prices quoted by other surveyed stores that quoted prices for the same models. A price index score of $102, for example, means that prices at this store were on average two percent above the average for the same models for all surveyed stores. As you can see from Table 1, unlike most of the subjects we cover, we found little store-to-store price variation for audio equipment. Among local stores and chains, price index scores ranged from $99 for Audio Buys to $106 for SoundWorks Audio Video. Table 2 shows the range of prices we found for some of the items on our shopping lists. 

You would see even less store-to-store price variation if we had shopped for other types of products. This is particularly true for most MP3 players and for low-cost, “entry-level” equipment, but is also the case with more expensive models made by some manufacturers. 

Although there is little price variation among area stores and the big online stores, we did find that shopping via the Internet using price-comparison websites can yield significant savings. We searched for prices using four price-comparison tools: CNET.com, Epinions.com/Shopping.com, PriceGrabber.com, and Yahoo.com. 

These price-comparison sites search a number of online retailers that have agreed to honor their price that appears in the price-comparison. You can easily ask each site to calculate shipping costs and sort search results by total price. When we searched these four websites for prices for the 12 models of equipment for which we collected prices from area stores, the best prices we found (including shipping costs) were, on average, 14 percent lower than those quoted by area stores and the selected online, mail-order firms whose websites we went to directly. On Table 1, you can see how the price-comparison websites stacked up compared to each other and compared to the local stores and compared to the big online retailers whose sites we went to directly. 

Once you’ve performed a search for models you want to buy using one of the price-comparison websites, you may be able to use the information you’ve collected to negotiate with a local store. We approached several area stores and asked if they would lower their prices to match the best prices we were quoted by the price-comparison websites for several models. None of the local stores we contacted would agree to match these prices, but some stores were willing to discount their prices, usually by five percent, but sometimes by as much as seven or 10 percent. 

Buying products online from unknown vendors makes many consumers nervous; fortunately, the four price-comparison websites we shopped all ask users to rate their experiences with firms they’ve used and the sites show firms’ current ratings on search results pages. Although we do have some concerns as to how diligent the price-comparison websites are in preventing ballot-box stuffing, these scores can provide a measure of comfort if vendors you are considering have received positive ratings from several hundred users. (When shopping the price-comparison websites, we took the lowest price offered—including shipping—only considering prices from retailers that had received at least 100 ratings and had been given a grade of at least four out of five by the price-comparison website.) 

Another concern might be ensuring that you get goods with a valid factory warranty. You can link from the price-comparison website to the actual vendor websites and at those websites check their claims as to whether they are factory-authorized online retailers that will deliver a valid warranty. 

You will note that for some brick-and-mortar chains like Best Buy, we have prices from the store floor and also from their websites. All of these stores’ websites will ship to you. Most charge for shipping but there are often free shipping offers—for example, free shipping (using the lowest cost, slowest shipping option) for all orders over $25. Because of shipping charges, buying online from these stores tends to be at least as expensive as, and often is more expensive than, buying in the store. 

Best Buy offers the option of choosing a product and paying online, then picking the item up at the store at the online price—thus avoiding shipping charges for any item that otherwise would carry such charges. 

Getting Repairs 

If you’re looking to repair equipment you own rather than buying new equipment, our ratings of audio equipment repair shops on our Audio Equipment Repair Ratings Tables should help you. We’ve listed all locations for which we had 10 or more ratings on our customer survey. Keep in mind that many of the store locations for chain operations are just drop-off points; most repair work is sent to a single repair facility. 

Service Quality 

our Audio Equipment Repair Ratings Tables show what percentage of each shop’s customers rated it either “adequate” or “superior” (the other option was “inferior”) for “doing work properly,” “starting and completing work promptly,” “letting you know the cost early,” “advice on service options and costs,” and “overall performance.” We have also reported the percentage who gave each shop the highest rating, “superior,” for “overall performance.” 

As you can see, some of the ratings are rather low. The lower ratings are not surprising because, for several reasons, satisfying audio equipment repair customers is difficult— 

• Many problems are intermittent. They come and go when you are listening at home, don’t show up in the shop, then appear again when you get the equipment back home. 
• Often damage to one part of a system results from, or causes, damage to other elements. A shop may reasonably decide to replace several parts to be sure your entire system is in good order. That can be costly. 
• Often parts aren’t available from local suppliers. Sometimes they have to be shipped from overseas. If an ordered part doesn’t solve your equipment’s problem, additional orders, with additional delays, may follow. Sometimes, entire components must be shipped overseas for repair. You may be without your equipment for a long time. 
• Audio equipment is sophisticated and complex. It takes a skilled technician to solve many problems. 

Despite these difficulties, some firms got “adequate” or “superior” ratings from more than 90 percent of their surveyed customers. 

Before taking equipment to any shop, call first to make sure that it repairs your make of equipment, since some work only on certain brands. Also, if you’ll be getting repairs under a manufacturer’s warranty, you’ll want to be sure that the shop will accept payment from the manufacturer. Generally, your choice of shops will be more limited if you need warranty work. During the warranty period, even some of the manufacturer-authorized shops repair only equipment that they have sold. Some manufacturers provide such miserly reimbursement for in-warranty repairs that shops don’t want to do such work. 

Repair Prices 

Identifying high-quality shops is easier than identifying inexpensive ones. 

It is inconvenient to take your equipment to more than one shop to get repair cost estimates, and most shops charge a fee for an estimate if you decide not to have the work done. 

If you get a written diagnosis and estimate from one shop, you may be able to get price quotes from other shops by phone; that’s worth trying. But we have found that many shops are unwilling to quote based on another shop’s diagnosis. Some are concerned that more work will be required than the diagnosis indicates, and some simply are unwilling to go to the trouble of checking parts prices. 

We have not included price index scores for shops on our Audio Equipment Repair Ratings Tables because of the difficulty of getting reliable quotes on individual jobs and because we have found that there is very little correlation in prices from job to job (a shop that is low-priced on one job is as likely as not to be high-priced on another). For firms that were evaluated in our last full, published article, our Audio Equipment Repair Ratings Tables show how much each shop charges for a written estimate if you decide, based on that estimate, to take your equipment elsewhere (or simply not have it fixed). 

Dealing with a Repair Shop 

Whatever shop you choose for repairs, you’ll need to deal with it carefully. Here are a few tips— 

• Before calling in the professionals, do a little common-sense analysis of your equipment’s problem. For instance, if one channel is out when you play a CD, check to see if it is also out when you play your radio. Don’t simply assume that a speaker is bad when the problem may be in your receiver. By switching components, you should be able to get a good idea of where your problem lies. Also, feel free to call a repair shop for advice. Most shops are glad to help you diagnose so that you will know which components to bring in. 
• Precisely describe symptoms. Technicians are justifiably impatient with customers who complain that equipment “doesn’t sound right”—then, after the technician has tried to repair it, say the equipment still has “the same problem.” Also, focus on the symptoms, not your own diagnosis. Technicians complain to us of the line heard again and again: “it sounds like a short.” “What does a short sound like?” they ask. 
• If your equipment is to be repaired in the shop, ask to talk with the technician who will actually work on your equipment. If you are dealing with a firm that has a chain of stores but only a few repair shops, try to go to the branch where the repair shop is located. Otherwise, information you give may get lost in transit. If you can’t talk to the technician who will be working on your equipment, at least make sure the person you do talk to is knowledgeable enough to take accurate notes of the symptoms. In addition, give the shop your own written notes on the symptoms. 
• Request an estimated date when the equipment will be ready. Although there will be no way to give a firm date until the equipment has been checked out to see if parts are needed, at least a tentative commitment gives you an arguing point if a long delay ensues. 
• Ask to have your old parts returned to you. But there are exceptions. When repairs are made under warranty, the manufacturer may require return of the defective parts before reimbursing the firm. Also, when a module is replaced, you may save money if the module is returned to the factory to be rebuilt. 
• Ask for an estimate before repairs begin. Unless the shop is adamant about your authorizing repairs in advance up to a certain dollar amount, say you want an estimate first. 
• If the estimate seems too high, press for all the details of the work that needs to be done and then call a few other shops. Describe the needed work and ask for price quotes on the same work. It will be difficult to get quotes, but it’s worth a try. 
• Make sure the shop sticks to its estimate. After the shop gives you an estimate, tell it that you want to know if it finds that additional work will be required. If the work is being done in the shop, you might write on the estimate form: “Call customer for approval if final bill will be more than 10 percent above estimated charge.” 
• After a repair is complete, test your equipment before paying. This might save you time and avoid later arguments. It will be easy to test equipment if the technician comes to your home; for equipment picked up at a shop, ask if you can test it out there before taking it home. Very few customers ask to make such tests, but a quality shop should be willing to try to set you up to make one if you wish; if it’s not practical to test the equipment at the shop, make sure you test it at home as soon as possible. If there’s a problem, let the shop know right away even if you can’t get the equipment back in for a while. A good shop will extend its guarantee if notified promptly of a problem. 
• Get a detailed invoice before you pay. 
• If your equipment is under warranty, make sure you have the documentation for it. Firms are wary of doing free work for customers who “can’t find” their warranty slips. If the repair will be done under either a manufacturer’s warranty or an extended warranty, let the shop know in advance. 

The Extended Warranty Option 

Since shopping for repair prices is so difficult, you might consider purchasing an extended warranty for audio equipment. If you’ve bought an extended warranty for a product and it breaks during the warranty period, you either pay nothing for repairs or are given a new, replacement item. 

We take a dim view of extended warranties for just about any type of merchandise, including audio equipment. Extended warranties are essentially insurance policies, and like other types of insurance, make sense only to cover financial losses that would be catastrophic for you. For any consumer, a defective piece of audio equipment may be inconvenient, but is not likely financially catastrophic. 

The problem with extended warranties is that their prices include a lot of markups that have nothing to do with actual outlays for claims: the price you pay for the extended warranty has to cover the warranty company’s sales costs selling its warranties to retailers, the retailer’s sales costs selling the warranty to you, the warranty company’s costs of reviewing and paying claims, and the costs of paying fraudulent claims. Also, when you buy an extended warranty, you put yourself in an insurance pool with other consumers who might be less careful with their equipment than you are. 

Another problem with extended warranties is that there isn’t much of a competitive market for them, since the backers of most warranties require that you buy theirs from the store where you buy the merchandise. 

If despite these considerations you decide you want an extended warranty, check first if you can get some coverage free by purchasing the equipment with a credit card. Free extension of warranty coverage is a benefit of some cards. If you can’t get enough coverage that way, take a hard look at the warranty your store offers you. Consider these questions— 

• How much will the extended warranty cost? 
• How long does it run? 
• Does the warranty offer to pay for repairs or will it simply provide a replacement product? 
• Can it be renewed, and at what cost? 
• Does the contract period overlap the manufacturer’s warranty period or start after the manufacturer’s warranty expires? 
• Are parts and labor covered? 
• Are any specific types of repairs and components excluded? 
• Do you have to pay a deductible amount out of your own pocket for each repair? 
• What shops will you be able to use for repairs—in this area and elsewhere in the country? Are these high-quality shops? The best way to check this out is to call some of the top-rated shops on our Audio Equipment Repair Ratings Tables and ask each whether it will make repairs for you and then collect directly from the extended warranty company you are considering. 
• How financially sound is the company that issues the extended warranty? 
• Will you be able to pass coverage to the buyer if you sell your equipment? 
• How good is the price of the extended warranty? 

One way to assess the cost of an extended warranty a store offers is to compare it to the price you would pay to buy a warranty backed by Warrantech. You can buy a Warrantech extended warranty from any of various outlets, regardless of where you buy your equipment. The following are the prices mail-order merchant J&R Music (www.jr.com or 1-800-221-8180), was charging for Warrantech audio equipment extended warranties and replacement warranties when we checked— 

One-year replacement warranties
$9.99 for products costing under $100
$19.99 for products costing under $200
$29.99 for products costing under $300
$39.99 for products costing under $400
$49.99 for products costing under $500 

Two-year extended warranties
$19.99 for products costing under $300
$29.99 for products costing under $500
$59.99 for products costing under $1,500
$89.99 for products costing under $2,500
$129.99 for products costing under $3,500 

Four-year extended warranties
$49.99 for products costing under $300
$59.99 for products costing under $500
$109.99 for products costing under $1,500
$159.99 for products costing under $2,500
$229.99 for products costing under $3,500 

It doesn’t make sense to pay your retailer more than you could pay for a Warrantech warranty since a number of good repair shops accept Warrantech coverage. We have found that retailers frequently offer comparable coverage at prices lower than those listed above, but if your store quotes a higher price, ask it to match the Warrantech price, or simply buy a Warrantech warranty. 

Also, these warranties generally make more sense on products with moving parts, like CD changers, than for products with only electronic components, like receivers, and they make more sense for consumers who will be using their products heavily. If an electronic component is bad, the problem is likely to show up right away; mechanical parts are affected by extended use.