Logitech Squeezebox Duet: Product Review

For all the audiophiles out there like me, there is nothing better than the new receivers on the market that will stream digital media from your computer to your home audio/video system. These new units are just blowing me away. I did a lot of research before I bought mine and after the hours and hours of preliminaries, what I came up with did not disappoint me at all. I can highly recommend the Logitech Squeezebox Duet. Logitech has been a leading brand in computer audio/video for several years now. They have a full range of products for any budget including webcams, headphones, speaker systems, and more. The Squeezebox duet is definitely high-end and not for every consumer. But if you have the extra $380 to spare for your home entertainment, you can't pass this up. Basically, the Logitech Squeezebox Duet gets its name because it is composed of two units: the receiver and the wireless, multi-room controller. The receiver connects to your computer either through an ethernet hard-line or wireless 802.11G Wi-Fi with security support for WPA, WPA-2 AES, or 64/128-bit WEP encryption. If you use the Wi-Fi, setup is a snap, as it automatically detects and connects to available networks. If you don't have a wireless router, you can still connect through an ethernet cable to a provided PCI card that gives you 54 Mbps throughput.

There are no worries about support for any of your audio files. The receiver will play just about everything, including: MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, MP2, Musepack, WMA, FLAC, Apple or WMA Lossless, and "bit-perfect" CD audio streaming. But it doesn't end there. The Squeezebox Duet also streams internet radio whether your computer is on or off. The SqueezeNetwork is a unique Logitech service that provides access to thousands of internet radio stations and uses such popular music services as Pandora, Slacker, and Rhapsody. The biggest selling point, and what hooked me to this product is their firmware upgrade as of April 2008 that allows connection to Sirius Satellite Radio.

Once the receiver is connected to the computer, it is then run to your regular stereo audio receiver or powered speaker system through either analog or digital connections. Additional receivers can be added to the system to allow different music to be streamed to different stereos or speakers, or they can be synchronized to play the same music.

The multi-room controller features a 2.4 inch color display with 240 x 320 resolution. The scroll wheel and buttons allow simple control much like the iPod. It is powered by a removable Li-ion battery and recharged through the cradle. The controller is set for future upgrades with an SD card reader and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

All being said, there is nothing that should scare you away from the Logitech Squeezebox Duet. No matter if you run a PC, Apple, or Linux computer system, this audio receiver has you covered. Good luck and I hope you will enjoy the product as much as I have.