Comparison Panasonic SC-UX100 vs Philips FX-10

The number of radio stations that can be stored in the tuner's memory.

By itself, the memory greatly simplifies the work with the tuner. Instead of having to manually search for your favorite stations each time, it is enough to “remember” them and in the future simply select the desired wave from the list in the receiver’s memory. The number of memory cells in modern audio systems can reach several tens; this will be especially useful for residents of metropolitan areas, where there are many stations on the air, as well as for those who often have to travel and tune the receiver to local frequencies.

The total sound power provided by the audio system at maximum volume, in other words, the total power of all the speakers provided by the device (including the subwoofer).

The higher the power, the louder the system will sound and the larger the area it can cover. On the other hand, high power significantly affects the price, dimensions, weight and power consumption of the device. In addition, when evaluating and comparing according to this indicator, it is worth considering some nuances. Firstly, some manufacturers go to the trick and give in the characteristics not the average, but the peak sound power; such numbers can be quite impressive, but they have very little to do with real loudness. So if it seems to you that the claimed power is too high, it's ok to clarify what exactly is meant in this case. Secondly, when comparing, it is worth considering the presence of a subwoofer — it plays an auxiliary role, but it can account for more than half of the total system power. Because of this, for equal total power, a device with a subwoofer may be quieter than a model without a subwoofer: for example, a 2.0 40W system will have 20W per main channel, while a 2.1 40W model may have 20W per subwoofer, and only 10 watts for the main speakers.

Nominal sound power (see "System power") on each of the main channels of the audio system. This indicator is most often indicated in models with a subwoofer (see "Number of channels"); knowing it, you can estimate the power distribution between the main speakers and the subwoofer.

Sensitivity determines the intensity of the acoustics response to a signal of a certain level; Simply put, the higher this figure, the higher the volume of the speaker system will be at the same signal level. Note that in the case of audio systems, this parameter plays a secondary role: it is important for selecting acoustics for an amplifier, and here both of these components are in most cases optimally matched by the manufacturer to each other.

The term "impedance" refers to the resistance of a speaker system to alternating current. Note that in the case of audio systems, this parameter plays a secondary role: it is important for selecting acoustics for an amplifier, and here both of these components are in most cases optimally matched by the manufacturer to each other. Therefore, in fact, information about the impedance can be useful only when looking for speakers to replace the complete ones: it is highly desirable that the new acoustics have the same impedance as the standard ones.

The total frequency range reproduced by the acoustics of an audio system. Measured from the lower threshold of the lowest frequency speaker to the upper threshold of the highest frequency: for example, in a 2.1 system with main speakers at 100 – 22000 Hz and a subwoofer at 20 – 150 Hz, the total value will be 20 – 22000 Hz.

In general, the wider the frequency range, the fuller the reproduced sound will be, the less low and high frequencies will be lost due to insufficient acoustic capabilities. On the other hand, do not forget that the actual sound quality also depends on a number of other parameters — primarily the frequency response. In addition, human audible frequencies range from 16 Hz to 22 kHz; deviations from these values are very small, and the upper limit also decreases with age. Therefore, from a practical point of view, it does not make sense to provide too large a frequency range; and impressive performances like 10 – 50000 Hz, found in top-class models, are usually more of a kind of "side effect" of high-quality speakers (and at the same time — a marketing ploy) than a really significant moment.

— Omnidirectional sound. As the name implies, audio systems with this feature radiate sound evenly in all directions, covering a space of 360°. Thus, the device can be installed in the centre of the room and evenly “fill” it with sound, which will be clearly perceived at any point. On the other hand, an omnidirectional system usually sounds 1.0 (mono); the design may include various tricks to ensure surround sound, but these still in most cases do not reach full stereo.

— Voice assistant. Audio support for voice assistant. The most popular nowadays are such assistants:

• Google Assistant
• Apple Siri
• Amazon Alexa

However, other solutions are also possible. Anyway, it is worth noting that this is not about the function of the audio system itself, but about compatibility with smartphones, tablets and other gadgets that have their own voice assistants. Thus, to use the voice assistant, you will have to connect the audio system to an external device. On the other hand, the capabilities of such assistants are usually more extensive than those of built-in voice control systems(see below); advanced features are often supported, such as natural speech recognition with complex queries (“Play the last album of the band … that I listened...to”), weather forecast, sports scores, etc. Of course, the specific set of supported commands and languages \u200b\u200bcan be different — depending on the voice assistant and its version.

— Voice control. A feature that is virtually mandatory for smart speakers (see "Intended Use") and hardly found in other types of audio systems. As the name implies, this control allows you to control the device using voice commands. It differs from the voice assistant (see the relevant paragraph) in that in this case we are talking about the simplest commands related to the main functionality of the audio system — for example, "Stop", "Continue", "Next track", etc. It is worth having in mind that voice control is almost guaranteed to support English, but the ability to recognize other languages should be specified separately.

— Smartphone control. The ability to control the audio system from a smartphone, tablet or other gadget with a special application installed on it. Usually, the connection is made via Wi-Fi (see "Interfaces"). The convenience of this function lies not only in the fact that you can control the system from a distance — the application is often more convenient and provides more options than the controls on the radio itself.

— Multiroom support. Device support for Multiroom technology. This technology allows you to create a single wireless network in the house from several speakers located in different rooms, and simultaneously play music in all these rooms. The specific features of such networks in different models may be different, they should be specified separately. So, some devices use a Bluetooth connection, others use Wi-Fi (directly or via a local network). In some cases, the control speaker broadcasts sound to all the others, and the same music plays throughout the house, in others, the speakers are “equal”, and different tracks can be turned on simultaneously in different rooms. Some audio systems require an external sound source (smartphone, tablet, etc.), others are capable of playing the role of a player themselves, including for streaming Internet services.

— Synchronization of speakers. The model supports the ability to synchronize the operation of several speakers connected to one signal source. This solution allows you to realize truly stereo sound, improve the quality and power of sound reproduction, as well as expand the stereo panorama. The only thing is that both speakers must support the appropriate connection type. Different brands may have their own speaker interconnection technologies (JBL Connect, JBL PartyBoost, Sony Party Chain), or maybe a universal TWS.

— Karaoke. A popular entertainment that allows users to sing their favorite songs to the backing track (musical accompaniment with the original vocals cut out) — in such a way that the vocals superimposed on the backing track are played through the acoustics of the audio system. This feature requires at least one microphone input.

— Karaoke Mix. An extended version of karaoke (see above), which provides various additional features — for example, performance evaluation in points, singing competitions, etc. Usually, it allows you to connect two microphones already.

— Internet radio. Ability to listen to Internet radio stations on the audio system. In general, such broadcasting is similar to conventional broadcasting, however, it is carried out not through the radio, but through the World Wide Web, which provides some additional features. So, Internet broadcasting has no restrictions on the range and ranges, allows you to listen to programs from any country and in any language; and the list of broadcasters is extremely extensive, among them there are both traditional radio stations duplicating their programs on the Internet, and specific, purely network projects. The presence of this function assumes support for at least one network interface — Wi-Fi or LAN (see "Interfaces").

— Recording to a USB drive. The ability of the audio system to record to an external USB device — for example, a USB flash drive. In this way, you can record your favorite radio programs from a conventional tuner or Internet station (see above), copy music from optical discs, etc.; Specific USB recording capabilities vary by audio system model.

— Clock. Ordinary clock — a device for displaying time, most often in the form of numbers on the display. Sometimes these hours are the most convenient. In addition, this function is necessary for some other features — primarily the alarm clock (see below).

— Alarm. A classic alarm clock that sounds at a set time. It can be useful not only for wake-up calls, but also in other cases when you need to warn the user about the arrival of a certain time. A feature of this function in audio systems is that the inclusion of a specific radio station or musical composition can be used as a signal.

— Shutdown timer. A feature that allows the audio system to turn off automatically after a user-defined time. Thanks to the timer, you can, for example, turn on relaxing music to fall asleep and fall asleep peacefully — the audio system will turn off on its own.

— Nightlight. The presence in the audio system of its own built-in lamp of low power, which allows it to be used as a night lamp. A night light can be useful for both young children and adults who are uncomfortable falling asleep in complete darkness; in addition, it can come in handy in situations where you have to get up in the middle of the night or early in the morning, before sunrise — at least with the light from the nightlight, it's easier to get to the main switch.

— RCA. The RCA interface uses coaxial cables with characteristic "tulip" plugs and corresponding connectors. It can be used to transfer different types of data, however, in this case, it means connecting the audio signal from the preamplifier in analogue format, one channel of audio per connector. RCA is widely used in modern audio technology, but its resistance to interference is very limited.

— Mini-Jack(3.5 mm). Standard connector for most modern portable audio equipment. In audio systems, it is mainly used to connect such equipment — primarily pocket media players. It uses analogue signal transmission, while the resistance to interference, like RCA, is not high, and the quality may even be lower due to the fact that both channels of stereo sound are transmitted over the same cable.

— Coaxial S / P-DIF. An electrical version of the S / P-DIF standard, using a coaxial cable with a “tulip” connector for signal transmission. Do not confuse this interface with the analogue RCA described above — despite the identity of the connectors, these standards are fundamentally different: "coaxial" works in digital format and even multi-channel audio can be transmitted over a single cable. Compared to optical S/P-DIF, this interface is less resistant to interference, but more reliable because electrical cables are not as delicate.

— Optical. One...of the varieties of the S / P-DIF standard is, along with the coaxial one described above. In this case, the signal is transmitted via a TOSLINK fibre optic cable. The main advantage of this interface is its complete insensitivity to electrical interference, while its capabilities are sufficient even to work with multi-channel audio. Among the shortcomings, it is worth noting the high price of connecting cables, as well as the need for careful handling of them.

— Under the microphone. Input for connecting a microphone to an audio system; can use different types of connectors (3.5 mm mini-Jack, 6.35 mm Jack, etc.). This function is mandatory for models with karaoke (see "Advanced"), but can be used for other purposes.

— Instrumental. Connectors used to connect musical instruments (acoustic or bass guitars, keyboards, etc.). Most often they are made in the form of 6.35 mm Jack format sockets. The audio signal from pickups has its own specific characteristics, so the instrument input typically features a higher input level and special impedance matching to ensure optimal sound quality.

The presence in the audio system of its own LCD display. Such displays may have different characteristics: in some models, these are the simplest indicators in which symbols are made up of separate luminous fragments (similar to how numbers are made up of separate “sticks” in the simplest electronic watch); in others — full-fledged matrices with an image formed from pixels. However, anyway, the display makes the control of the audio system more convenient and intuitive, because. can display various additional information — the selected signal source, track name, RDS data (see above), equalizer settings, error messages and much more.