Pics of the Symphony

[An Aurora]

What is the going opinion on the Evenflo Symphony? I saw it at BRU tonight and was pretty impressed with it in the couple minutes I played with it. DD has about an inch of harness height in it, which is comparable to the EFTA.

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh53/carseatphotos/Picture001.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh53/carseatphotos/Picture002.jpg

They have a cute girly cover!

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh53/carseatphotos/Picture006.jpg


For comparison, this is her in the Blvd: hard to tell from the pic, but she's well above the top harness setting.

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh53/carseatphotos/Picture003.jpg

The Frontier

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh53/carseatphotos/Picture004.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh53/carseatphotos/Picture005.jpg

ETA: sorry for the huge photos, I tried resizing :confused:

[Neatfreak]

The cover with the flowers is really nice - pink in moderation!

[BookMama]

Are the flowers on the seat cover itself, or just on the infant padding?

I saw the Symphony at BRU last week but didn't really have time to play with it. It seemed OK. I'm really not impressed with the 40 lb harness limit though. :twocents: (I know, I know, the seat will get most kids to 4 years old harnessed, etc. etc. But still.)

[crunchierthanthou]

What is the going opinion on the Evenflo Symphony? I saw it at BRU tonight and was pretty impressed with it in the couple minutes I played with it. DD has about an inch of harness height in it, which is comparable to the EFTA.

Thanks for the pics. It does look nice, but I have a hard time recommending a 40 lb seat that costs $200 when there are several good 50+ lb convertibles.

Given that we've yet to see one that's passable, I'm ignoring the fact that it's a 3 in 1 until I see the booster in action. :p

Did you play with the surelatch at all?

[An Aurora]

The cover with the flowers is really nice - pink in moderation!

That's what I thought too, although if you took out the infant padding it would just be plain black. So once they are old enough to care, it would be a boring ol' black seat :rolleyes:

[An Aurora]

Thanks for the pics. It does look nice, but I have a hard time recommending a 40 lb seat that costs $200 when there are several good 50+ lb convertibles.

Given that we've yet to see one that's passable, I'm ignoring the fact that it's a 3 in 1 until I see the booster in action. :p

Did you play with the surelatch at all?

Seriously?! I thought it would be a 50lb seat since they have the EFTA :confused:.

I didn't play with the SureLatch, other than to notice the alligator clips.

[crunchierthanthou]

Seriously?! I thought it would be a 50lb seat since they have the EFTA :confused:

you're not the only one. my best guess is that it didn't pass at 50. otherwise, there's no point in taking a step backward when pretty much all competition is moving forward.

[BookMama]

So once they are old enough to care, it would be a boring ol' black seat :rolleyes:

As a parent, that would really tick me off, LOL. Why on earth didn't they put the pattern on the seat itself? $$, I'm sure - it's always the $$. :p

[snowbird25ca]

What's really sad, is that this seat will fit kids longer by height than a BLVD, so with just a touch higher weight limit they could've given some competition.

I do think for the average person though it will be a decent option - especially when you increase the likelihood that the seat is installed properly with the Sure Latch, and most parents don't harness beyond 40lbs anyways.... (Not saying it's right, just saying that's the way it is.) And the harness is adequate to get kids to 40lbs.

So with bottom slots that will fit a newborn, and a harness that will actually last height wise to 40lbs for lots of kids, then a booster - if the belt fits half decently IRL, it really isn't awful.

Though we can still want a 50lb ff'ing limit. :whistle:

[An Aurora]

What's really sad, is that this seat will fit kids longer by height than a BLVD, so with just a touch higher weight limit they could've given some competition.

I do think for the average person though it will be a decent option - especially when you increase the likelihood that the seat is installed properly with the Sure Latch, and most parents don't harness beyond 40lbs anyways.... (Not saying it's right, just saying that's the way it is.) And the harness is adequate to get kids to 40lbs.


I totally agree. DD has an inch left, so it's a good 1.5" taller than the Blvd. That's at least a year (probably closer to two) of torso growth. My kid outgrew the Blvd FF'ing by height at 30 pounds, but she actually has a chance of hitting 40 lbs before she outgrows the Symphony by height.

[canadiangie]

I wonder if it will harness to 47lbs in Canada? (similar to the EFTA, the Chase/Traditions/Express/Vision, Bolero and Generations).

I think it will be great competition for all the 3-in-1 seats (which I know are *improved* but I'm sure tired of checking the same old, kwim? :o

Anyway, I love the subtle pink pattern. Is the fluting/trim along the edge pale pink as well?

[crunchierthanthou]

I totally agree. DD has an inch left, so it's a good 1.5" taller than the Blvd. That's at least a year (probably closer to two) of torso growth. My kid outgrew the Blvd FF'ing by height at 30 pounds, but she actually has a chance of hitting 40 lbs before she outgrows the Symphony by height.

but you have to admit that your dd is rare. she's petite and yet has a crazy long torso. how many kids outgrow a boulevard ff by height by age 3? I think even children of average weight will be pushing 40 lbs well before reaching the height limits. and before they're ready for a booster, which has long been one of our complaints about the Dorel 3 in 1s.

[An Aurora]

but you have to admit that your dd is rare. she's petite and yet has a crazy long torso. how many kids outgrow a boulevard ff by height by age 3? I think even children of average weight will be pushing 40 lbs well before reaching the height limits. and before they're ready for a booster, which has long been one of our complaints about the Dorel 3 in 1s.

I agree she is freaky tall with a freaky long torso. She was out of the Blvd a few months before her 3rd birthday. :rolleyes:

[snowbird25ca]

but you have to admit that your dd is rare. she's petite and yet has a crazy long torso. how many kids outgrow a boulevard ff by height by age 3? I think even children of average weight will be pushing 40 lbs well before reaching the height limits. and before they're ready for a booster, which has long been one of our complaints about the Dorel 3 in 1s.

My dd would be about proportional for the harness height and 40lbs. She has somewhere around a 15" to 15.5" torso, and is 35 to 36lbs depending on the day. She would be in the 3rd from top harness setting on the Frontier as well with possibly needing the next one up if it was installed. We don't have the MA anymore, but I imagine installed she has about 1" room left in it based on how she last fit and having had a torso growth spurt since then.

I'm going to have to try her in the BLVD when we get it back in at work. I'm curious now if she'd have outgrown it already.

She's 4yrs old, and right around 50%ile for weight and a bit higher for height, and I expect she'll be close to 5 if not 5yrs old when she hits 40lbs. Not really an awful booster age - especially comparing to a 3yr old. ;) (Not that she'll be in a booster the moment she hits 40lbs, she'll be harnessed until at least age 6. :thumbsup: )

Angie - I'm guessing we'll be another year before it's in Canada since that seems about the norm. And I also wonder if it'll come in at a higher weight the way the generations/traditions/chase are 47lbs here. The EFTA is 50lbs in the US, so same as us basically - we're 47lbs with the EFTA due to how they're interpreting some older legislation from TC and not believing that you can go between that weight point and the new 65lbs - all or nothing. :rolleyes: (I don't know if there's merit to that belief or not, but that's the reasoning for it having a 47lb limit here. :()

[NannyMom]

The woman I'm apprenticing with actually spoke to the engineer of the Symphony and he did say they are working on getting it to 50 pounds. Not that that's helpful for right now. But if we wait, hopfully it'll improve (and hopfully it won't take as long as the Dorel 3-1s!). I'm hoping to get to BRU today and play with the SureLatch.

[Wineaux]

The woman I'm apprenticing with actually spoke to the engineer of the Symphony and he did say they are working on getting it to 50 pounds. Not that that's helpful for right now. But if we wait, hopfully it'll improve (and hopfully it won't take as long as the Dorel 3-1s!). I'm hoping to get to BRU today and play with the SureLatch.
See, my thoughts are that if you are still working at getting a seat to 50 lbs, then you shouldn't release it for sale until you get it right, but that's just me.

[An Aurora]

See, my thoughts are that if you are still working at getting a seat to 50 lbs, then you shouldn't release it for sale until you get it right, but that's just me.

ITA.

[fyrfightermomma]

I just got back from BRU to play with this seat.

I don't need more than a 40 lb seat for my kiddos :) but I think they really need to try to up that weight limit for the 90% of kids who do need the extra weight limit. It was a pretty cool seat. Nice tall harness slots and the head rest was very easy to adjust.


I LOVED the SureLatch. It was so easy. I put it in my car and within 15 seconds it was rock solid. I've never played with the Safeguard seat so this is new for me and I was like a little kid in a candy store. LOL. Very cool feature. I think they should put that on all their seats.

All in all it looks like a decent seat. They just need to up those weight limits!

[MomToEliEm]

I just got back from BRU to play with this seat.

I don't need more than a 40 lb seat for my kiddos :) but I think they really need to try to up that weight limit for the 90% of kids who do need the extra weight limit. It was a pretty cool seat. Nice tall harness slots and the head rest was very easy to adjust.


I LOVED the SureLatch. It was so easy. I put it in my car and within 15 seconds it was rock solid. I've never played with the Safeguard seat so this is new for me and I was like a little kid in a candy store. LOL. Very cool feature. I think they should put that on all their seats.

All in all it looks like a decent seat. They just need to up those weight limits!

Did you happen to bring your tape measure with you? If so, what were your measurements for those top slots? It was reported that it was only 16" tall. I would love to hear that they extend higher though.

[fyrfightermomma]

Did you happen to bring your tape measure with you? If so, what were your measurements for those top slots? It was reported that it was only 16" tall. I would love to hear that they extend higher though.


No I ran in to get something else. They looked maybe a hair less than the EFTA. It's so hard to say. It's kind of a squishy seat and those red tabs don't go completely to the top. Hopefully next time someone goes they will bring it!

[An Aurora]

Did you happen to bring your tape measure with you? If so, what were your measurements for those top slots? It was reported that it was only 16" tall. I would love to hear that they extend higher though.

No, they are at least 17"-17.5". DD has the same amount of room as the EFTA, which is 18".

[An Aurora]

No I ran in to get something else. They looked maybe a hair less than the EFTA. It's so hard to say. It's kind of a squishy seat and those red tabs don't go completely to the top. Hopefully next time someone goes they will bring it!

Yeah, it was hard to figure out the top harness setting. I had the headrest up all the way, but I stuck my finger in the harness slider track and there was no obvious stop to it like there is in the EFTA.