Sony TAM100 Gray Answering Machine

Sound quality is probably the most important criteria. The sound is recorded acceptably although words with a hissing letter like the s in please tends to create static distortions more acutely than other machines such a the GE 29868 which is cheaper than this Sony but sounds more clear. Part of the distortion is attributable to the speaker in the Sony unit which has a lower dynamic frequency thus producing a deeper voice but does not produce higher frequencies of the vocal spectrum clearly. The GE unit does a better job. Interestingly when listening to the unit from the caller's end does not produce as much distortion for words with 's' hissing sounds than it sounds on the replay on the unit itself thus indicating that the speaker is partly causing static clicks and crackles. The outgoing voice message is clearly audible (if you speak close to the unit when recording) but sounds lower pitched similar to other digital units with lower sampling rates or poor audio compression. Note that the microphone is inverted in the unit so if you flip the unit upside down and speak into the microphone hole underneath the unit, your voice sounds more clear, loud and crisp and with slightly less distortion.