Awesome sound for a mini-system, looks great, quality Yamaha product.

Only one tape deck.

This is a great system compared to the other mini-systems out there. The sound is amazing for a mini-system; this baby puts my old system to shame. It looks very classy, and you gotta love the blue light around the volume nob. At times the system seems to lack bass, but a good sub would fix that in a hurry. The GX-500 really shines when you pop in a jazz cd. My Chick Corea collection sounds fantastic.

One minor complaint is that the tape recording volume can be too high at times. A few of the tapes I have made have minor distortion in really high sections. I wish that you could manually adjust the recording volume, but you can't.

All in all this is a kick ass system, If you can still find it don't hesitate to buy it. You won't be sorry.

Similar Products Used:

Sharp, JVC

great cd player, good speakers

bad radio tuner, the undimmable bright blue light

excellent cd sound from this system. the speakers are also very good. i bought a pair of sony speakers so i could have speakers st all four corners of my room and the sonys sound like toys compared to the yamahas. they have much tighter bass and clearer highs. the radio reception is also pretty good but tuning precisely is difficult. you can't manually move the station from say from 98.75 FM to 98.80 FM. the tuner basically stops at the station that it picks the clearest signal from. but i'm not a big radio listener so this doens't bother me as much. the cd is slow and sometimes 1 of the 3 cd's has a tendency to slip out of its slot, but i'm just being picky at this point. all in all, a great sound value for the money. i've tried similar products from jvc and sony that cost more and aren't near the sound quality.

Similar Products Used:

jvc,sony

This system is perhaps the best value for a mini system imaginable. Classical music and Jazz are my primary interest. I bought this system for my office (university music professor), but it is powerful enough to use in a large rehearsal room. I was delighted see a mini system that can deliver me from the "boombox by any other name" products. The value is tremendous-$379.00

It doesn't have the Yamaha "piano finish" that the $600 Yamaha system with MUCH worse sound and less power had.
Do you want sound or looks?

EQ settings are not adjustable

For the price, this mini system's sound has presence and clarity. The bass is balanced for "real" (I mean) acoustic music. Rap and the like will need a subwoofer.

I sat in the store for two hours, annoying the Hell out of adolescent clerks, while I weighed up the pro's and con's of the GX-500, the Pianocraft and a few other systems by Sony and Panasonic. It was soon apparent that Yamaha had the goods over the other systems. The top end is crisp, yet almost ethereal, sparkling over a well represented mid-range and a surprisingly good bottom-end. The bass isn't at all muddy, although the bass tone control does accentuate a definitely boomy frequency.
As mentioned before, it sounds beautiful at low volumes but can still shift a lot of air when required. I tried a few sub-sonic excerpts from cds and it was shocking how well the little speakers were coping. If you really need to feel your bowels rumbling then maybe you’ll have to buy the sub.
I used to hate presets until this little system came along with three simple modes: Rock, Pops and Jazz. All are extremely good at what they are designed for. They don't exhibit an exaggerated EQ like Sony and Panasonic presets and I find myself using them all the time. There is a function called "Ymersion" that I haven't found a use for as of yet....perhaps if you listen to relaxation music it would do the trick.
The only fault I have with this unit (and it is very minor) is that the carousel is slow at changing discs and is quite clunky when doing so. Apparently this is because the mechanism really lifts the disc a fair distance from the carousel when moving it into the actual player….at least that’s what the clerk told me.
To cut a long story short, if you are looking at buying a system for less than $700 I would heartily recommend this unit. For its meagre price tag the GX-500 does a magnificent job. And it looks really classy…you’ve gotta love the blue light around the volume control.

Outstanding sound in such a small package. Great controls, easy to use. Easy on the eye.

Can't really think of any. Perhaps Yamaha could have made the cabinet a little nicer

After moving into a new house, I was struggling to find a home for my full-size hi-fi system (Onkyo with Advent floor speakers). I finally decided to check-out the mini and micro systems that would fit nicely into my office. I looked at everything, JVC, Onkyo, Bose, Panasonic...just to name a few. Yes, they were small in size, but also small in sound quality. I was about ready to stick with my full-size system when I stumbled upon the Yamaha GX-500. The display in the store was not connected, so I bought the system with the full intention of returning it once I listened to the sound quality. Was I wrong...this system is outstanding. It is almost as good as my $1,000+ Onkyo/Advent system, it is difficult for me to hear the difference. Given it size and value ($329), I'm very satisfied.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo, JVC, Philips

Sounds Great. Looks Great. Only $249.95 at Crutchfield.

This is a great value. I have been looking for a shelf-system for a few months. It sounds great and the blue light is pretty cool. The price sold me. Get one before they are gone.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, RCA

Good tuner section. Nice overall balanced sound from the 3-way speakers.

The remote is not easy to see/use in more subdued lighting.

I had my eye on this unit for over 6 months. When the price fell to the $300 level, I jumped. Wow, it was worth the $399 normal selling price, and then some. The sound quality is pretty amazing for such a small, relatively inexpensive unit. I got the black speakers, though I wanted the cherry. I'm sure it doesn't effect the sound.

I thought the 3-way speakers would be a joke at this price point, but, they work very well, especially for their size. To augment the bass, I added a small powered subwoofer, and this filled out the bass very nicely. It sounds like a much bigger system. The CD section jammed on me once, as was reported by someone else here, but it turned out to be my fault, as the unit was not level.

I would recommend this unit to anyone who needs a small system for a small area, or to anyone who wants a good-sounding unit and won't let the small size of this unit color their judgment. Buy while this unit is still available.

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Various mini-systems from Aiwa, Sony, etc.

Overall sound quality and clarity. Clear and balanced mid's and high's

poor bass response, no equalizer (although the 3 presets are fine for me)

The clear sound quality is unrivaled by any other mini systems i've used. The midrange and highs stay crisp and well balanced even at higher volumes. The bass from the 3-way bookshelf speakers is warm and well balanced for jazz or classical listening but lacks the loudness for hip hop and rock. I use a 70- watt subwoofer from yamaha (the subwoofer line level output is a definite plus in this system)to improve the response and the final sound is superb. At higher volumes, the bass remains tight and does not drown out or muffle the mid's and high's. This system is a great value on it's own, and now that it has been discontinued you should be able to find it at a very low price (around $250)

Similar Products Used:

sony, aiwa, and terk mini-systems

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Similar Products Used:

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Quality finish (especially cherrywood-finished speakers), sound, size and price.

Lack of classical music frequency preset, remote control.

I purchased the GX-500 for my parents as a replacement for their older (20+ years)full size system. I was impressed by the quality of sound, and the "look" of the system, and had a difficult time finding a comparably priced system. I was surprised by the lack of a frequency preset for classical music, I would have expected that more people listen to classical then jazz (mo offence to jazz lovers). Highly recommended to upgrade speaker cable (store in Montreal threw in upgrade at no cost).