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(More customer reviews)To judge the value and usefulness of my opinion, one must understand where I'm coming from. I needed an amplifier which was both affordable (I'm cheap that way!) and which would accommodate multiple devices. Specifically, I needed to connect and be able to select among a TEAC reel-to-reel tape deck, a Panasonic cassette tape deck, a Thorens turntable (yes, I still play vinyl), and a CD player. These beautiful antiques (well, all but the CD player) have been with me since the 1970s and I was in no way ready to give them up, but my National Panasonic quadraphonic receiver finally gave up its electronic ghost. It had been playing only stereo for years anyway, and no new media come in four-channel quadraphonic format, so a stereo amplifier was all I needed. Nor did I still use the radio tuner in my old receiver, so the absence of that was not a problem.
What did I give up (besides the third and fourth sound channels that no one uses any longer anyway)? The old receiver had a beautiful hardwood case; the new Pyle Pro amplifier has a fairly thin metal case. The old unit had beautifully chromed metal push buttons and knobs; the new one has black plastic ones. The old unit allowed me to adjust the volume on each output channel individually; the Pyle Pro does not. The old one had sliding controls to help achieve the best possible sound balance in a given room and with a given speaker configuration; the Pyle Pro does not. The old one had a "Loudness" button to enhance sound quality when played at very low levels; the Pyle Pro does not. The old one had a knob that could swap channels from one speaker to another (left to right, back to front, etc.); the Pyle Pro does not.
For use in a typical living room with a typical listener, however, few of the bells and whistles on the old National Panasonic receiver were ever used. The level of finesse that they were designed to achieve exceeds that of the non-audiophile, and I don't really miss them. The only adjustment that I wish the Pyle Pro had would be individual volume controls for each of the two stereo channels/speakers rather than just one master volume control. Otherwise, it has everything that an average home user of music could desire.
Oh, it does one rather strange thing: when changing the volume, the "on" lights dance around. Each of the five inputs has a button on the front for selecting which input the user wants (turntable, tape deck, CD player, etc.) A light appears above the selected button (and that, by the way, is the only indication that the unit is turned on; there is no master "on" light.) When the volume knob is turned, the lights above other, non-selected buttons turn on briefly. When the volume knob is no longer being turned, the light returns to burn steadily above the selected input button. This isn't really a problem, more of a curiosity.
My television set has perfectly adequate speakers of its own, and I have no need whatsoever to pipe it through the amplifier and the Bose speakers attached to it. No "home theater" here. Nor have I attached the Pyle Pro to my computer in any way. What I am attempting to show here is that I have a pretty simple, straightforward audio setup. If I want to play a record, I want to hear the sound come out of my speakers with good stereo separation, with no distortion, and with adequate volume. I want the same thing when I play a tape or a CD. Simple. The Pyle Pro PT-600A allows me to do all those things perfectly. The sound is, so far as my ears can discern, perfect. The volume is fully adjustable and has amplification to spare. The base and treble can be adjusted independently. I ask for nothing more, and the Pyle Pro delivers everything I ask for. The headphone receptacle works perfectly, too, and the speakers automatically fall silent when a headphone jack is plugged into it.
Other reviewers have commented on the tiny font and dark colors of the remote control unit. My only question is why anyone would want a remote control for an amplifier. I'm not accustomed to having one, and there are too many remote controls lying on the end table now, so any perceived shortfalls in the remote control are, to me, irrelevant. I suppose the bottom line is that if one is a rabid audiophile who loves stacking multiple components in metal trays and manipulating every conceivable adjustment to an amplifier, then the Pyle Pro PT-600A is probably not going to prove very satisfying. However, if one simply wants to listen to stereo recordings from up to five different devices all connected to a single amplifier, and if one is satisfied with simple push-button controls, and if one can accept the absence of individual right-and-left speaker volume adjustments, then I believe that the Pyle Pro PT-600A will provide a fully satisfactory listening experience. I miss the external appearance of my old National Panasonic quadraphonic receiver, but I love the performance of my new Pyle Pro, and if I must trade appearance for performance, I'll choose performance any day.
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