Station search and switching is fast and the DAB platform can store a generous 30 stations, all easily programmable and accessible. During tests, the DAB stations delivered a strong and clear sound with no pops or drop-outs – something that our reception often suffers in this region. With its ability to deliver a natural sound, the TSX-130 performs better still with FM, producing plenty of warmth and sonic detail on Radio 3 and 4. Thoughtfully, 30 presets FM stations can be stored too.
Yamaha has a lot of experience in building platforms for discs, so you would expect the CD deck to be pretty good and you would not be wrong. Reading from CD, including CD-R/RW, is quick and, again, the information displayed is plentiful. To kick things off with the CD testing, we decided to give a few tracks from Audioslave a spin. Lots of rumbling base, vocal pyrotechnics and attacking rock guitar offered a decent challenge.
Easy access to iPod functions from this remote
Now you could argue that the band themselves never really gelled as a unit, so the mix can feel a little disjointed and unfocused, especially with weaker systems. However, the TSX-130 has the punch needed to carry the music and recreates a surprisingly wide sound stage with good depth. The unit can achieve a 30W output from its 15Wx2 amplifier, delivered through its twin 8cm speakers. Indeed, it can go surprisingly loud with very little distortion, helped along by two rear-mounted bass ports.
The product also gets some brownie points for providing non-iPod owners with a top mounted USB port. There’s no 3.5mm audio input socket. Instead, the TSX-130 can read from USB storage devices and players. We plugged in a Samsung MP3 player from the company’s YP range and opted for a bit of Little Fluffy Clouds by the Orb. Again a wide and detailed sound stage was produced, although not on the same level as the CD player. Still, the machine does a decent job of maximising the sonic capabilities of MP3 files, and will also play WMA files.
COMMENTS
Nice but ...
I bet it doesn't sound as nice as my Yam YZF-R6 running at 15k rpm!
Flippy Flappy
What is it with all the ipod docks coming out these days? A few years back I bought a Logitech dock and the ipod slides into the slot and mates with the connector at the bottom. The ipod is held in place and the stress on the connector is virtually nil.
Theses days all the docks come with a connector sticking out of the top and the ipod just sits on top, and the connector takes 100% of the mechanical strain.
I realise that this is simply a cost saving measure to accommodate all the different sized ipods (the logitech came with adaptor sleeves which you would select based on the ipod model) but it still strikes me as crappy design, especially in the case of such an uber expensive device such as this.
Paris, because her dock is one size fits all too
@Overpriced
"A decent DAB radio, decent CD player, ipod dock and the box should add up to no more than £250"
Really? How do you figure that. Do you know the prices of all the components - how much their R&D costs, at what level that's amortised across their product line etc etc? Perhaps they're building up to a quality rather than down to a price?
Unless you're just saying, "I wouldn't pay more than 250, so therefore nothing should cost more than 250 - I have spoken", in which case you'd be a noily pra.
RE: Overpriced
You obviously haven't seen the prices that Naim charge for their kit if you think £250 is top end
What, no inputs?
Off to the landfill! If this had optical / analog inputs, the latter a truly unforgivable omission at any price, it would make for a swell around-the-house system.
