CD-Player Reviews

The unit I have may perhaps be the predecessor (SL-SX282C). Its look and features are identical. I must give praise to this unit! For the price, it has functioned incredible for me. I have abused mine horribly, dropping it on tile, gravel, concrete about 6 times now. I thought the poor thing had given up the ghost finally on the sixth time...upon examination, the spindle was bent so badly the cd was moving over an 1/8" inch up and down.....and the unit still attempted to play!! I applied judicious pressure with a ball point pen..and its working again..hehheh. The buttons are easy to use and have a positive click. It has a a lockout slider so the buttons aren't pressed by mistake. The 40-second skip feature really is skip free. The battery consumption seems to be better than advertised. The remote is a nice feature for car use, although kind of redundant for handheld use....but its fun to play with. Careful with the battery compartment lid...its kinda flimsy..but it stays attached, which is nice. The spring loaded top also is a bit delicate, but opens nicely with a slider in front....nice touch. As for the sound....just leave it on "x-bs" mode...best highs and lows. Mine also has a weird mode called "train", which cuts the highs a bit. Replace the lame sounding supplied headphones with a nice pair of Sony earbuds and it becomes studio quality (tip- when looking for headphones, look at the "specs" section....pay attention to the frequency range...get the lowest in MHZ (megahertz) that you can....my Sony earbuds go down to 13 mhz...it helps the x-bass feature immensely...this is key to good sound in headphones) If you're looking for tight, crisp, bass heavy sound on a budget...Its a great setup. Just don't drop it *7* times...lol :D

I've had this CD player since Christmas now, and so far it's been everything a good CD player should be. It's even got some small and unnecessary add-ons that just make playing with it even more fun. The lid lifts up pretty far, and in addition to that, the front button to open it works so that you don't even have to pull it open with your fingers - it opens automatically all the way. Other players might do this, but my old one didn't and was a cheap GPX from '98 that wasn't very good. For the record, by the way, I wouldn't recommend any GPX. This CD player also has another nice feature - the battery door is attached by a hinge, so you don't have to worry about taking it off to replace the batteries and possibly losing it (as I did with my old one). The buttons on the top are easy to use and self-explanatory, and so far it hasn't skipped at all - which was the main concern. My old one got to the point where you had to press play for 15 minutes before anything actually happened, and if you moved it ever so slightly while loading the 10 second anti-skip, it would skip repeatedly for the entirety of the CD and not stop until you turned it off and started all over - a HUGE problem since I mainly used it on train and car rides. Anyway, this player is nice, my mother picked it out (pretty good considering the only thing I said it needed to have was color). I haven't dropped it yet, but it held up well on my latest train and car rides. Overall, nicely funtional and pretty too.

This is a wonderful little stereo with incredible sound. It's cute and compact and comes in a cool, techno-futuristic color. The CD player is awesome and the tape player is great, too. It is easy to operate and would be ideal for little kids who love music. I get clear reception from the radio and the body is compact so it's easy to tow around. It uses batteries or can be plugged into a socket. It's well worth the price and is the perfect gift for any kid or teen who loves music!

I find most boomboxes to be pretty ugly but this one looks great. It is small and the green color is much better looking than in the picture. The display is easy to read and it has a headphone jack that you can plug headphones into. Amazon has a great price on it too!

Today I bought Cream's "Wheels of Fire" and "Live Cream" used on Amazon.com so I could burn my own super CD of live Cream. I'm going to mix in a couple tracks from "Ginger Baker's Air Force" and have my own dual CD set of Cream greats. Then I'll sell the CDs for about half what I paid for them.

This is how my life changed since I bought this machine, which is a little termperamental about what CDs it will record but is otherwise trustworthy and steadfast. It has not broken down in six years of continuous use and has allowed me to burn 250 of my own CDs and another 100 or so for my friends from CDs, records, tapes and even 8 tracks. It won't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse sonically but it gives me more control over the final product than any prior machine I used while making cassettes and CDs the past 30 years.

As a person that buys 30 CDs a month and sells about half that number, I have high expectations for my music library. This machine allows me to create CDs with Anton Bruckner, Jack Bruce and Nat King Cole mixed in or whatever fits my mood. I'm sorry Philips discontinued this model but am pleased to say they still offer live technical advice over on their web site.

I bought mine on E-Bay as a used and it worked just fine. I used it for over two years without any trouble until it got stolen in a break-in, from high speed dubbing, or recording from tapes using the analogue connection manually, to recording over the air radio broadcasts. It worked even better than the 'brand new and sealed' Sony RCD W-3 that I got as a replacement from the store. The only trouble that I encountered with it was that it had trouble recording 80 minute disks. I was later told by Philips that it was actually meant to work with 74 minute disks only and I only wish they would tell people that important fact before they buy or at least write that in their manual. Otherwise everything else was OK. I give it a high five.

i looked for a deck for a long thime i read several reviews and decided to get this one. i looked all over the internet for a good price, and i found it for [less], i love this decks features. i use the cd text all the time, it sounds awesome, the features are easy to use. i have looked at decks before that i can't understand, and this one was the easiest by far. i have always been fond of pioneer cd players so i i have known that i was going to get a pioneer for a long time, and it is well worth it for anyone who looks at it. i especially think it looks awesome.

This is the fourth Pioneer car cd player Ive had and they seem to keep improving. This one looks just like the 6400 but allows you to play mp3's. Thats the best part. The mp3 function works great and it's played all the cdrs Ive used. The display animations are nice, but it would be nice if they could make them longer. Sound is clear and the remote that comes with this is easy to use. This is the first time Ive had a car cd remote and I used to think the idea was silly but I find myself using it all the time so I dont have to lean forward. This radio also has XM capability. Overall I love the look and sound of this player.

I COULDN'T BELIEVE HOW GOOD AND QUICK THIS PIONEER DVD PLAYER REALLY WORKED. ITS AMAZING HOW YOU CAN GO FROM THE BEGINNING OF A MOVIE TO THE END IN A MATTER OF A FEW SECONDS.

i find this dvd /cd player one of the nicest to use and watch. very easy setup and what a great looking piece to look at too. the colors a very accurate with no bleed through as i have viewed from other pricer players. the black detail was outstanding and i also like the ability to adjust it if i liked. freeze framing was very cool to use, no motion jiggle was observced. the audio portion sounded bas good as my elite 700.00 cd player. so if you want one of the best dvd/cd players currently on thr market this is the one.

I was lookin for MD stereo long time. Then finally I found it! It is very compact, good design and good sound. I love it.

This home MD-stereo is the best price you can get so far, plus this isthe one of the newest system just release by Sharp. Compare to Sonyand other company's home MD-stereo..., this one really saves you a lot of money. It's sound quality is exllent and it's so stylish. It maybe a little too big as a mini-stereo system, so you might concern about its dimension, Anything else is a A+.

I shopped a long time before settling on the Sharp XL-55. This unit is very simple to use, sounds better than most systems costing several times the price, and is smaller than most. The added benefit of the cassette deck for us old-timers is a big plus. The included speakers sound pretty good, but I'm gonna upgrade mine to a set of Bose. Reception is pretty good, not great.

Pros:

Simplicity of a single CD player
Cassette deck w/logic controls
Actual bass/treble controls, not preset EQ!!
Small enough to actually sit on a 12" shelf
Simple, logical remote control
Rotary volume control, not push-button

Cons:

Cassette deck's "Pause" button disabled in some modes
No "Scan" on the tuner, so switching to non-preset
stations is tedious.
External antenna connection doesn't accept rooftop
antenna wire

At $200, this would be a 4-star system, but for under $100, WOW! I am thoroughly pleased.

The Sharp XL-55 is attractively styled, with aluminum fronts and woodgrain sides. All of the buttons on the front panel are well marked. You can figure out most functions without having to read the manual, except for setting the clock and resetting the unit if you get it wrong. The remote control provides full control of all functions, including recording on the tape deck and adjusting the tone controls. Think of the Sharp XL-55 as the little brother of the Sharp XLHP500, which is bigger and has a CD changer.

Setting up the XL-55 is easy except for hooking up the speaker wires. On any stereo, connecting speakers out of phase (+ to - and - to +) will result in a strange echo sound in stereo audio. To prevent connecting the speakers out of phase, many manufacturers color-code the speaker wires to match the proper connectors. On the Sharp, one wire on each speaker has a white stripe on it, but it is hard to see. You need to look closely to get the wires connected correctly.

Power output is 20w per channel, which is ample for a large room. Instead of preset equalization settings, you have individual control of bass and treble, which I prefer. A clock with alarm and sleep timer makes the XL-55 useful as a bedroom stereo.

Many bookshelf stereo systems are 14 to 16 inches deep, even though many shelves are only 12 inches deep. You should measure the actual unit before buying any bookshelf stereo because the published dimensions may not include a protrusion or cables that stick out of the back of the unit. Case in point -- the Sharp XL-55 is often listed as being 9.75 inches deep, but when you include the protrusion that sticks out of the back of the unit, it is actually 11.7 inches deep, but it still fits on a 12-inch shelf.

The XL-55 features AM, FM, Tape, CD and an AUX input for other sources like the audio of a DVD player or VCR. There is also a digital output from the CD player to interface with equipment that has a digital audio input. A line-level subwoofer output is provided, but you will need a powered subwoofer if you want the extra bass. That can cost more than you may want to spend if you don't already own one.

The included speakers have plenty of treble, but needed a bit of bass boost. I found the best sound was with the bass set at 2 and the treble at 0. You may be just fine with the sound of the original speakers, but if you have any unused stereo speakers lying around, try them to see if you like the sound better. The XL-55 is rated for 4 ohms, so do not connect extra speakers with the supplied 4-ohm speakers still in place. However, you could power two sets of 8-ohm speakers connected in parallel.

The AM/FM receiver worked as expected with easy digital tuning. You can store up to 30 stations in the preset memory. FM sensitivity with the wire antenna provided was fine. An external loop AM antenna can be moved around for the best reception.

The single-play CD player is on the top of the unit. It has all the usual features including track programming and skip forward/backward. It handles all types of CDs, including CD-R and CD-RW, without a problem.

The tape deck will record from the radio or CD. It is set for Type I (standard) tape. Type II (chrome) tape will work, but you won't get the best sound. The tape player has full logic control, meaning that it will stop at the end of fast forward or rewind and stop the deck if the tape jams. As expected in this price range, the tape deck does not have Dolby noise reduction.

After listening to and checking the features of the units from just about every manufacturer, I found the Sharp XL-55 to be the best executive bookshelf system for the money.

I have been an audiophile for 42 years -- constantly searching for the best playback of recorded sound available. When conventional CDs became available they displaced LPs in the marketplace because of their small size and the fact that their sound did not degrade with the ticks and pops that even the best-maintained LPs eventually acquire. But, despite these advantages -- as well as significant improvements in CD sound over time with technological advances such as oversampling -- many connoisseurs have maintained that CDs have never achieved the warmth and high-frequency sweetness characteristic of top-grade audiophile LPs. Now that has changed. Super Audio CDs played on this player are superior in sound to the finest audiophile-quality LPs I've ever heard. Furthermore, even conventional CDs played on this SACD player sound better than they do on typical CD players. In fact, the best conventional CDs in my collection equal audiophile-quality LPs in sound when played on this SACD player. I'm sure that some die-hard LP fans will dispute the foregoing assertions, but my reply to them is "Buy or audition this player and decide for yourself."

By the way, I also own a DVD Audio player and DVD Audio discs do not come close to the sound of SACDs. Furthermore, my DVD Audio player does not noticeably enhance the sound of conventional CDs as my SACD player does. SACD is definitely the way to go if you want the best sound currently available, and this player is quite reasonably priced

Just purchased this item last night. I also purchased my first Super audio cd to try it out. I am very happy with the cd player, not only does the super audio cd sound much better than my regular cd's but it also seems to make even the regular cd's sound better. There seems to be better speaker seperation when hooked up to my surround sound system. My only complaint was with the sales person not telling me you need to have a 5.1 input on my receiver to make the player work in 5.1 mode. My receiver does not have an extra input for SACD players. Also that the super audio cd's are all not recorded in 5.1 some are stereo...the one I bought. I hope this technology catches on and that future cd's are all recorded in this fashion. This player makes me a believer that there is a better media than cd.

This is one of the best players I've ever had. It has lasted me three times as long as my other cd players have, and it eats up as little battery juice as a regular radio walkman. If you need a cd player, this is the one I recommend

If you looking for an excellent basic player,stop looking further,this is just the right player for you.this player has everything you expected, from super anti-shock protection to bass booast and the player time is just right, more than 30 hours of music you will enjoy.And most important this player will not skip even if the ESPMAX function is off.the bass effect is excellent and it is also adjustable by threelevel.ok,lastly,this player is super value for your money.

I bought the CFD-G30 for a garage radio, but this is now hooked up to my HiFi VCR for watching James bond. There is no power nor bass shortages here. This unit is a true BOOM box and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to feel there music from a small system.

My wife told me she would get me a boombox for my birthday (so I could jam to tunes at work). DANG, but she wasn't kidding about the BOOM! I was expecting something a little smaller and wimpier, but no dice ... this thing gets LOUD. And with the adjustable bass (three settings: no bass, some bass, lots-o-bass) it sounds really full and not "tinny" or distorted when you crank it up. I only turned it up to 6 and it seemed like I was disturbing my neighbor's peace!

Plus, the radio tuner is digital, so you know if it sounds crackly that it ain't YOUR fault. I always have to pay a lil' bit for the good sound when it comes to boomboxes, but it pays off, because I'm hard on them -- 3 or 4 years, tops. We'll see if this one can beat it.

Overall, I think this is a pretty good box, especially for the price. And who'da thunk, because most Sony personal CD players I ever bought broke after 4 months or so.