An A/V receiver with the WOW factor

Advantages: Looks great, sounds awesome, feels awesome
Disadvantages: Detailed set up can be tricky - just as well it comes idiot proof!

...Ok then, so I'm a lucky boy.... On my last birthday my wife decided that she wanted to treat me to a home cinema system so off we went to our local Richer Sounds store (they are VERY cheap and VERY helpful - recommended everyone pays them a visit!) with cash in hand an wangled a deal. I got this Marantz A/V Receiver , A Yamaha surround sound speaker package and a Panasonic DVD recorder for the princly sum of £350 - a bit of a discount from the £900 RRP! I'll be reviewing each product in turn so check out my other reviews if you want a full system checkup! So into the review of the A/V Receiver: 1) The Theory I wanted a reciever that not only looked good, but that also provided the output and poer to match. I've long been a fan of the Marantz range as they not only look and feel good to use, they also have the reputation...

Durahm.Dazzler 24.05.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Marantz SR 4400 A/V Receiver

  Port El Kantaoui

Advantages: Beautiful Beaches
Disadvantages: Mainly For Couples, Hassle From Local Shopkeekers

...Port El Kantaoui is a purpose built Holiday Resort on the Northern Coast of Tunisia in North Africa. It is situated just a few kilometres North of Sousse, Tunisia's second largest City after the Capital Tunis. It was built in 1979 with a modern 300 Yacht capacity Marina as its focal point. In recent years this Marina has become a popular mooring location for the rich and famous undertaking their Mediterranean Cruises and the Marina here is said to rival those long established Marinas of Nice and Marbella on the Southern Coast of Europe. It is now also Tunisia's most popular Holiday Resort. I stayed in Port El Kantaoui between the 2nd and 9th July 2006 and found the experience to be a rather interesting one. Since it was my first visit to Tunisia I was a little unsure of what to expect and as my Holiday approached I began to hear...

micksheff 22.07.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Port El Kantaoui (Tunisia)

Port Aventura Salou

Advantages: -
Disadvantages: -

...Port Aventura is in Spain, it is a theme park that is split into five different themes which are China, Far West, Mediterrania, Mexico and Polynesia. These lands are all decorated alike the country they are named after, the attention paid to the decoration is brilliant and it really gives you that fun theme park feeling. There is also a water park called the Costa Caribe which has an in and outdoor pool and some really good rides within it, there are different slides and rafting slides and a nice place to relax and catch a tan in this park. The water park is clean and has pleasant caribean surroundings. This park is only open in the summer period of the year, it can be very busy but is a great place to visit when you are visiting Port Aventura. There are a good selection of rides in the Port Aventura park including the Dragon...

lorrainek90 12.11.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Port Aventura, Salou, Spain

Bon Vacances at Port Bourgenay

Advantages: Masses to do, something for everyone.
Disadvantages: Maybe a bit pricey in high season

...beyond our budget if it wasn't for the Clubcard vouchers that are worth four times their face value, but after much debate and research we plumped for Port Bourgenay, run by Pierre et Vacances, as it looked like it was in a perfect location, is close to the beach, and there seemed to be a lot to do. It cost somewhere in the region of £1000 for the accommodation (£250 in deals) for seven nights and £300 for the return ferry. ~*~ Location ~*~ We live in the south west, so a Portsmouth - Cherbourg crossing is ideal for us. We always get the earliest ferry (around 9am) so we arrive in France around 3pm which gives us plenty of time to drive to our accommodation and settle in by bed time. Or so I thought! This really wasn't the easiest place to find at all. We knew the main towns that we had to head towards: Rennes, Nantes, La...

chilcott1 28.09.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Pierre & Vacances Port-Bourgenay, Talmont

"Calem" Port the taste of Porto

Advantages: Port lovers paradise
Disadvantages: Too many to try for one visit.

...We spent a wonderful long weekend in Porto. One of our places to visit if we get round to it. Whilst we where there we visited the Port Wharfs, due to the name and my love of Port. We set off on the Sunday morning, and had a varied trip to get there by the tram, vehicular and the old trolley bus. We travelled over the bridge designed by Eifel who designed the Eifel Tower, in fact he designed two bridges that span the Rio Douro, both well worth walking over if you have a head for heaths go on the top level if not use the lower level, your choice. As you are on the higher level looking over the Douro River you have a vista of all of the Port houses, all the names that you have heard of at Christmas on the TV, and seen in the adverts in the papers and magazines. We opted for ?Calem? as it was open on the Sunday...

bostonianbeer 11.03.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Calem Port Wharf, Porto, Portugal

Pleasure Port

Advantages: walking distance from city centre
Disadvantages: none

...Barcelona's Port Vell is a fabulous oasis of restaurants, bars, a huge aquarium (the largest in Europe), a shopping mall, and an Imax cinema. An amazing bridge takes you across to these delights. We came across Port Vell by accident, we had walked along Les Ramblas and as we got to the bottom we could glimpse the sea and a huge wooden wave suspended in air, which intrigued us. The huge wave was part of a fantastic swing bridge, which is as wide as it is long and is on two levels. Judging by the amount of people making the crossing we decided that there must be something to see at the other end. After stopping half way across and sitting on one of the many benches scattered over the bridge we watched the world go by relaxing with the sun on our faces and the sea and boats swaying in the gentle breeze. A large shopping mall...

Freddydog 22.03.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Barceloneta & Port Vell

PORT EL KANTAOUI

Advantages: NONE
Disadvantages: NONE

...PORT EL KANTAOUI This is a lovely port, when we went to TUNISIA we stayed right in the centre of Port El Kantaoui and Sousse. I recommend the Tuk-Tuks there great. The port itself is based on an old fishing village, which has been extended ? from what I have been told. There are many shops and restaurants, but, beware of the toilets. They are not very clean ? for example we went for a meal in the port and the toilet were right next door to where they prepared there food and the toilet weren't' very clean ? I couldn?t bring myself to go, so I waited until I got back to the hotel. There a lots of things to buy there special is leather and it is really cheap, I bought some belts and my dad who is crazy about sandals bought 3 pairs of leather sandals. The jewellery beware some of it isn?t stamped like our jewellery is, I...

KIWIMULLAN03 10.07.2007 (11.07.2007) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Port El Kantaoui (Tunisia)

  Port Aventura theme park

Advantages: lots to do, lots of water rides
Disadvantages: not cheap to get there, not enough white knuckle rides

...I've been in the resort of Salou in the Costa Dorada of Spain. One of the main reasons this place was chosen was because it been so near a theme park. Port Aventura is run by Universal. Location = It is really near where I stayed in the centre of Salou so it only took a short walk to get there which made it very convinent. It involves walking along a dual carridgeway and a fwe roundabouts but there is a wide path so it is not dangerous thorugh there are trees in the middle of the paths. There are a lot of hotels in the area so it makes it great for families who want a beach holiday but also a day or two in a theme park. If you are really lazy, you can get the train too from the main train station in Salou or use a bus, taxi or road train. If you live a bit further away in such towns as Cambrils or La Pineda, there...

miss_d_bus 10.07.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Port Aventura, Salou, Spain

Whip it Real Hard... Rick Ross - Port of Miami

Advantages: Thumpingly Seductive and Addicting Songs with Phenomenal Production
Disadvantages: Rick Ross may be the worst lyricist on Earth; lots of crap

...I can't lie: Rick Ross has got some bangers. Yes people, I know he's possibly worst lyricist in existence. I know he's a fat, obese, fried-chicken-eatin motherfucker. I know he's cocky. I know he fakes the funk about sellin' drugs. I know, I know, I know. I can't deny it though. A lot of the songs on Port of Miami are simply dopalicious (lame). Yeah, like a lot of albums of this caliber, we're loaded with several pieces of utter donkey nut, but unlike a lot of these albums, we're treated to some legit bangers. Take "Push It". While the song-title might make one initially think it was about Ross' mother painfully pushing his disgusting, bearded baby out of her snatch, nope. It's about pushing drugs and hustling. Surprise Surprise. A rapper talking about hustling? No Way! But I digress, "Push It" is sick. Rick samples "Push it to...

bigdiship-hop 12.10.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Port Of Miami (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Rick Ross

A terrific Reserve Ruby Port

Advantages: Good value for money, smooth and supple flavour, good with a cigar
Disadvantages: Not widely available

...On a recent visit to Lisbon I decided to indulge in some of Portugal?s most famous fortified wine, Port, which is a favoured tipple of myself and many other Brits over the years. Glancing across the wide range on offer in a Portuguese supermarket I picked up a 75cL bottle of Fonseca Bin no.27 Fine Reserve Port for 10.44 euros (around £7.20; I think it also available in the UK from Waitrose supermarkets for £8.60). This Port is a Reserve Ruby which means it is made from better quality grapes and aged for longer before release than regular Ruby Ports which are generally the cheapest on sale. Fonseca is a British owned Port house which I?ve heard has a good reputation and when a friend and I tucked into the bottle we began to understand why. In my opinion it was a very good example of an extremely drinkable, supple and smooth Port which...

zallin 19.07.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Fonseca Bin No. 27 Fine Reserve Port, Bin 27