Bought this system in late 1999 and still use it. The remote still works well. I have recently noticed that the volume control knob is not working as it should when I turn it to increase or decrease the volume, it has no effect. Will use a compressed air can and clean it. The cassette unit works perfectly as well. I have connected a Philips CDR unit to it and use it to record my cassettes to cd. The speakers are in great shape and sound great after all these years.

Don't see any.

I have this system gx 500 since 1999 still works fine except for the cd player wich is sometimes erratic but after all these years

To Dim the blue light you can just pull the volume knob off and put a bit of black tape over the light. It worked well and very easy. The GX-500 has a lot of options which may make you think one of the three cd are not working. The sound is great. I bought mine used and very happy with it (after I dimed the blue light. DJ

I picked this up a few years ago on the used market for my bedroom system and have been very happy with it . The main thing is the sound quality is great . As mentioned even the preset EQ's sound good , which is pretty rare . Although bigger than other systems I don't mind the size. Yes the CD changer is noisy when changing and a bit slow but I usually fall asleep before any CD change . I use it every night , might be CD , Tape or radio , set the timer and before you know , dream land . I also have a DVD player hooked in the Aux input and use it for movies . The amp is listed as 80w/ch and I have swapped out the supplied speakers for a few other models and all have worked great . Current ones are a set of Koss M95's which really sound nice on this system , but have used Energy and Mirage also with good results . One feature that I like is the inclusion of real tone controls with the ability to turn off the pre-set stuff, you can really tailor the sound . The tuner seems to work fine but could they have made it more complicated to program ? I don't have any issue's with the remote and can work it in the dark , although the dreaded blue light is strong enough to read in the dark almost , another bad point. .But if you come across one on the used market , you will not be sorry . Upgrade to larger gauge wire for the speakers and try some different bookshelf speakers , the amp can handle better quality ones .

I may open it up one day and clip the power lead for the blue light on the volume control and then it would be almost perfect.

-Awesome sound for price, and size. -looks awesome -practical and I dig the remote, as it has alot more functions then a majority of other mini system remotes.

The headphone amp sucks, and it's 1/8" thats the only weakness in my opinion.

Awesome mini system! best i've heard before. The amp is pretty good, definately above average for Mini systems. It looks very retro (brushed aluminum look) and the wood speakers also look nice. Alotta mini systems these days are built for bass and only bass, but the gx500 (seems to me) as though it is aimed for a more natural sound, which is great for people who listen to real music, as oppsed to genres such as rap. I've sice purchased new speakers and it sounds even better.

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Thats the only mini system I have, I use it for my darkroom because its handy. All my other equipt. Is older audiophile stuff.

Well balanced sound. practical control lay-out. Conservative yet stylish design.easy to read display and controls.

Haven't come across any yet.

By far the best overall sounding,stylish, easy to use mini-systems that I have come across.

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have always used full sized audio equipment, (Pioneer elite systems). I am very satisfied with this unit

Excellent sound for a minisystem. Good looks.

Tuner somewhat awkward to use. Only 1 cassette deck.

Overall this is a great value for the money.

The GX-500 is discontinued but should still be available (usually at a nice discount). Obviously this won't be the best sounding system you could buy but if you don't want to spend a lot of money this is a great system to get.

The first thing you notice about the system is the good looks. The lines are very clean and there are just a few buttons (the remaining buttons and knobs are hidden behind a panel); it is very classy looking. This is in contrast to almost every other unit I saw in the store (although JVC and Sony have some nice looking units but they are usually a little more expensive).

The sound is very good, both from the CD and Cassette. The sound is crisp and clear but seems to lack bass without the bass boost. There are 3 presets (rock, jazz, pop) and these work very well. I also wish there were a classical preset. I wish that you could change the presets without the sound disappearing for a second. The good news is there are bass and treble knobs so that you can adjust the sound yourself. The YMersion feature is interesting. It creates a 3D effect with some reverberation as if you were in a large hall. The only use I've found for this is for orchestral music where the effect can enhance the sound. But for loud rock music it just muddles the sound.

The tuner is a little non-intuitive to use -- I had to consult the manual to see if the radio worked. There is also only one cassette deck which is different from most units in this class. That may disappoint some people but I don't mind since I never do tape to tape recording.

Overall, this is probably the best system you could buy for the money.

well-built box matched well with nicely finished cherrywood veneer speakers. The CD sound is good when compared with equivalent Sony cmt-vp1 (which i nearly bought instead, at a slightly higher price). The cassette deck isn't so hot, but again for an all-in-one system, not bad at all. i haven't really used the tuner with a decent aerial, so the quality hasn't been the best -- even so, it seems able to pull in even usually weak FM stations. Overall, good sound at the price.

The overall sound from CD playback can sound 'pinched' and lacking in a broad soundstage. This may be fixed when i replace the relatively poor quality speaker cable that came with the system (i have some audioquest f14 to spare, i think). Vocals feel 'shut in' when compared with my audio separates (Sony 7ES cd player, Pioneer A400 amp, EV sentry30 speakers, on custom stands).

worth buying if you're looking for a cheap all-in-one system, that gets close to good transparent sound typical of better hifi.

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sony cmt-vp1, jvc d88 microsystem

Great clarity - especially for classical music.

A subwoofer could help. Tuner doesn't sound as great as the rest of the system.

All in all, this isn't the best sound I heard from a system - but its close to it. The Y-mersion sounds synthetic when used with anything other than jazz or classical. And the sound that comes from the cd is so good that you can't help but notice that the tuner sounds a bit tinny. Tapes sounds fantastic too. But at $250 you would be hard press to find a better stereo. the tone at Midrange and higher frequencies is extremely clear and definitely worth noting. Distortion is very minimal at high volumes. The extra audio input is also especially convenient since i can hook it to my computer and listen to mp3s.

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Aiwa

Sound Quality, Construction

Slow CD changer

Considerably better sound quality than usual panasonic, sony , etc. silver stereo boxes. Speakers don't have alot of bass, but they are fairly accurate otherwise. I hate the thumpy sound anyway. I don't really care for the ymersion setting, sounds too fake. Classy looking. With a subwoofer it would be great.