Rating: 
Summary: Sonic Blue "Customer No Service" BBB Complaints
Review: At first this system was flawless. Then the light panel went. After that, the connections to the speakers went. I sent the unit back and after two months, they sent a replacement which was also defective. They promised to send another replacement but now their e mail and cust service numbers have been disconnected. I did a Better Business Bureau search on this company and the results are listed below:
Here's your BBB file:
Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with theBureau.Specifically, our records show a pattern of non-response to consumer
complaints brought to its attention by the Bureau. The following data concerns complaints processed by the BBB since the firm's
file was opened or over the last 36 months, whichever is less. Sonic Blue
Inc has had 107 complaints. 24 were closed as Resolved. 57 were closed as
Assumed Resolved. 1 was closed as Adminstratively Judged Responsible.25 were
closed as No Response. The company's size, volume of business, and number of transactions may have
a bearing on the number of complaints received by the BBB. The complaints
filed against a company may not be as important as the type of complaints,
and how the company handled them. The BBB generally does not pass judgment
on the validity of complaints filed.
Rating: 
Summary: Huge Disappointment...
Review: Being a HUGE fan of my RioVolt SP-250, I figured I couldn't go wrong with the EX-1000. Boy was I wrong! As soon as I hooked it up, I put the batteries in the remote, and the blue light around the volume dial started flashing away. The blue light flashes whenever a button is pressed, meaning that the remote was broken... which it was. I couldn't do anything with the remote unless I held down one of the upper tier buttons while pressing the button I wanted to use. So, that was my first disappointment. Second disappointment, I put in some audio CD's I burned, several of them have loud pops at the beginning of each track. I was also dissapointed that there was no CD text on the screen. The manual boasts CD Text playability.... I should also say the problem discs play fine everywhere else, including my RioVolt SP250. Most of My MP3 discs display garbage for the titles, I don't know why... my RioVolt 250 has no trouble with the names.. What bothers me the most is the EQ/BASS settings... I wish they could be used simultaneously... there's not enough BASS on the Rock or Classic EQ, and not enough treble on the Bass Boost settings. Also, the salsa and samba EQ settings reverse the stereo channels... Sonic Blue said this shouldn't happen, but I've had 2 units (returned the first) and it happens on both. It also drops some of the files on some of my MP3 discs (like 1 disc with 101 songs, it only shows 100, but the RioVolt shows 101). The reason I'm keeping the unit is the sound. Despite the EQ anomolies, like forgetting the e=settings, etc... I think it does sound very good overall. I do play with the EQ settings alot. And I DO like the fact that I can pop one disc in and listen for several hours. The radio gives pretty good reception also. I think Sonic Blue needs to do a lot more work with the software, as there are lots of bugs in it.. (You can fast forward infinitely through an MP3 file, and when you stop forwarding, the file plays from somehere in the middle of the file --- EQ settings don't always stick or are not always accurate --- Salsa and Samba settings reverse the channels --- MP3 file names don't always display properly, etc.) Too bad there's no firmware upgrade path.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great System for Price
Review: Does everything it says it will and then some. Last night discovered something that may be of help to folks out there-
First a computer lesson -
There are two naming methods for files on cds -
1. Joliet - 64 character file names - standard used with most op systems
and
2. Romeo - 128 character file names - works with NT and XP op systems. If you have saved your mp3 files with method two -(Romeo sytem) there will be problems for the RIO Ex1000 reading the file names and displaying same properly
- SIMPLE FIX - re-rip and use joliet (64 char) file names and everything will work fine with the RIO Ex1000. hope this helps some out there- great sounding system. br
Cookie
Rating:
Summary: RIO EX1000 Executive Microsystem
Review: first and foremost this comes directly from J&R Music - was 6 days from time of order to delivery - can't beat that with a stick!!! The system is exactly what I was looking for something that would play MP3 files effortlessly!! it does-- taking id3 tags and displaying each play with artist and song title and time. For a small system has a very rich sound along with many built in features - am & fm radio, cassette player and clock. Thank You Amazon.com and J&R Music
best regards. Cookie
Rating: 
Summary: very satisfied
Review: For the price ,sound quality and what it has to offer , this is a great product, i don't know why there are so many negative reviews.I'm nothing but pleased.
Rating:
Summary: Great item!
Review: I actually went to J&R to listen to this system. It sounded great. For the price, I definitely couldn't pass it up. You get a LOT of quality and options for an amazing price when compared to the other systems. It has a lot of power, clock/timer/alarm, high watts, powerful speakers, plays all CDs, surrround sound, etc. The sound quality is excellent; very clear and crisp, although the bass is a little muddy sometimes. The unit is very sleek and modern looking--very attractive. The wood is a light birch/beech, with silvery/light blue speaker netting covers. The display has many different colors to choose from--I keep mine on violet. I am very pleased with this purchase--especially with the price and quality.
Rating:
Summary: Great item!
Review: I actually went to J&R to listen to this system. It sounded great. For the price, I definitely couldn't pass it up. You get a LOT of quality and options for an amazing price when compared to the other systems. It has a lot of power, clock/timer/alarm, high watts, powerful speakers, plays all CDs, surrround sound, etc. The sound quality is excellent; very clear and crisp, although the bass is a little muddy sometimes. The unit is very sleek and modern looking--very attractive. The wood is a light birch/beech, with silvery/light blue speaker netting covers. The display has many different colors to choose from--I keep mine on violet. I am very pleased with this purchase--especially with the price and quality.
Rating:
Summary: Great item!
Review: I actually went to J&R to listen to this system. It sounded great. For the price, I definitely couldn't pass it up. You get a LOT of quality and options for an amazing price when compared to the other systems. It has a lot of power, clock/timer/alarm, high watts, powerful speakers, plays all CDs, surrround sound, etc. The sound quality is excellent; very clear and crisp, although the bass is a little muddy sometimes. The unit is very sleek and modern looking--very attractive. The wood is a light birch/beech, with silvery/light blue speaker netting covers. The display has many different colors to choose from--I keep mine on violet. I am very pleased with this purchase--especially with the price and quality.
Rating:
Summary: Bad luck?
Review: I bought this stereo and at first was very pleased with it. The color display is great, sounds great etc. For whatever reason though my mp3s burned onto cds were split into about 6 sub-tracks and there was skipping in between each one. This was very annoying. Its not supposed to happen so i emailed tech support. After a while I got a response and she asked if i was using direct cd... I said yes and since then there has been no reply (about 2 weeks) I also tried calling tech support and someone told me there was nothing able to help my problem but he would email if he found something. Also the titles display for the songs only shows the number of directory rather than actual song... ON top of that about a week later the color display stopped functioning properly. Instead of the 10 or so default colors there were only about 4 that worked properly. The others flashing a combination of many different colors or none at at all. It might of just been bad luck with the player but there companies tech support makes me never want to go through them again...
Rating:
Summary: System Didn't Even Last 2 Years!
Review: I bought this system late in 2001, I thought it had nice features for a little bookshelf system. Almost a year later a speaker capicitor went out, and of course it's a type that I couldn't find anywhere, even in a big city. Tech support was not able to give me the manufacturer, I'm not sure why. Then 6 months later, the left speaker went out. We think it's a short on the board, or something loose. I can't believe this system didn't even last 2 years. I've had other stereo systems that lasted 10! I do NOT recommend this system at all!!
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