Product Reviewsbellman & symfon mino personal amplifier (be2030)

Good but expensive

The Mino is a good little unit and definitely helps in a quiet group setting. I can hear people with quiet voices *most* of the time, and understand most of what they say. I use a pair of high-quality Shure earbuds which have good crisp sound but not much bass. This actually a plus for voice intelligibility; I tried some earbuds that had better bass response but got a lot of low-frequency sound such as rumble from a dishwasher. Even with the treble turned up all the way on the Mino, there was too much low frequency sound. I recommend earbuds with weak bass.
I also tried open-air headphones (Sennheiser PX-100), but found that I couldn't turn the volume up as much as I'd like without getting feedback. I definitely prefer and recommend earbuds to avoid feedback problems.
I have tried to use the directional microphone a few times, but have never had good luck with it; the omnidirectional mic works fine.
The frequency response listed only goes up to 10 kHz, so it's not "high fidelity" by any stretch of the imagination. However, there is plenty of clear, undistorted volume up to that frequency, and no added hiss that I could notice.
I do NOT like the fact that the battery isn't user-replaceable, as that is very likely the thing that will fail first. Then it's either buy a new unit, or send it to the factory for battery replacement, pay shipping (probably both ways), pay the out-of-warranty service cost, and wait a couple of weeks. Ridiculous! I'd give it 5 stars if it wasn't for that.
Overall, the Mino is a neat, compact little unit that works well -- but it's overpriced.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: new | Sold by: lWnbvWiOS8K@Del...