Musical Doorbell/Door Chime
by Microsystems Development, Inc.
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Our Price: $49.92 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Tools See more product details |
Product Details
Manufacturer: Microsystems Development, Inc.Model: MDB-2
Color: White
Product features:
- Over 100 built-in songs and sounds
- Keyboard to program your own song
- Simple two wire replacement of existing door chimes
Tools and Hardware Reviews of Musical Doorbell/Door Chime
Customer Review: Works well, but needs a larger speaker
Summary: 4 Stars
Nice compact unit in an off-white plastic cabinet. Lots of tunes to choose from. Has special tunes for birthdays, holidays, etc. Also includes a few voice announcements such as "there's someone at the door". You can record and store other tunes of your own choice via the provided built-in mini-keyboard. All tunes are played via either chimes or bells -- whatever you like best. Switching between tunes at a future date is easy and takes less than a minute. MP3s cannot be uploaded and played. For the back door, the unit provides a separate tune that can't be changed -- but it adequately serves its purpose.
Our Microsystems Development musical doorbell replaced an older Nutone musical doorbell that stopped working after 15 years. When I got in touch with Nutone regarding possible repairs (it currently sells for over $100 on the Web) they recommended that I get in touch with a local electrician. That would've cost me close to $200 to replace Nutone (since most of the electricians would've charged me "at least" the manufacturer's list price) -- plus another $75 to $150 for their time. At that cost, it was never going to happen. I would've preferred to return the old Nutone doorbell to be repaired, but Nutone doesn't offer that option. So the old Nutone went into the trash.
Overall, this musical doorbell was relatively easy to install, looks quite nice on the wall, and it was half of the Nutone's Web price. Only took about 20 minutes to take the old Nutone off of the wall and mount and wire this one in its place. I used the previously installed AC bell transformer, along with the in-wall wiring that had been used for the Nutone unit. If you don't already have a transformer, you'll need to buy one -- or you can optionally run this musical doorbell off of batteries. Amazon sells these transformers, and so does Home Depot and Lowes. Lighted doorbell buttons are supported, and the diode that you'll need for your front doorbell button is supplied with the unit.
Only negative is the small speaker that's built into the unit. While the doorbell has an option for several different volume levels, at the highest volume level it does produce some noticeable distortion in the sound. If you're sitting in front of a TV a few rooms away from the doorbell, it may not be loud enough to readily hear. When I have the time I'm planning to recess a 5 or 6 inch 8-ohm speaker into the wall next to the musical doorbell which should fix both the original speaker's insufficient volume and distortion. At that point I'll be able to hear the doorbell anywhere in our 3,500 sq. ft. home.
The doorbell supports using an auxiliary speaker located elsewhere in the house. So in our basement I installed an inexpensive 6" x 9" Radio Shack speaker -- which is quite loud & clear at the doorbell's highest volume level. I wouldn't recommend buying the optional speaker that Microsystems Development sells since it uses the same very small speaker that comes with their musical doorbell unit.
I give the company high marks for customer support. The company that makes this unit (musicaldoorbell.com) answered questions via email within a few days, and there's also a user forum at their Web site with lots of helpful information.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with my purchase (except for the "too small" speaker). My old Nutone came with a larger, better quality speaker which was louder and had less distortion. But please realize that the Nutone muscial doorbell that I'm referring to had been purchased 15 years ago, and I don't know if Nutone's current model uses the same speaker as before. A lot can change in over 15 years!
Description of Musical Doorbell/Door Chime
This Musical Doorbell replaces your current chime and gives you the choice of sounds to announce your visitors. Choose from the pre-programmed selections, or program in your own tune using the keyboard. Includes chimes, old favorites, patriotic, spiritualDoor Chimes & Bells Tools
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