Radio Reviews

We were looking for a low price, portable cassette tape player with good voice reproduction that operates on house current.

The Sony CRSB15 does this very well. In addition, radio reception (both AM and FM) is reasonably good and music reproduction quality is acceptable.

I have this unit and the two Panasonic boomboxes that can be used for dubbing tapes. I found the quality of the dub was a little better (higher s/n) than on the Panasonic 570 or the other one (530? 470?). However after not much time I found that the record head did not always engage properly. On this unit the head moves at an angle, it moves 90 degrees or less into position instead of moving straight ahead when record is pressed. I did have less reception problems with this than the Panasonics; on the P's the station has often drifted by the time I've recorded 45 minutes. I had forgotten about "AFC" until that problem with the panasonics. I have both this model and a very similar one the model # I think sony 318, which keep stations in a little better when recording while mobile. But that had a body hardware problem as well - the door came off very easily! No wonder the guy sold it to me for $15 on ebay.

No deal here.

Played with the display. Really nice. Picks up local TV stations and weather stations. Can record voice memos. Really nice unit.

I spent a lot of time looking on Amazon for a clock/radio/cd device. The dual alarms - both with CD (pick your own track), radio or alarm (which is ding, ding, ding not the type that will sent you into cardiac arrest every morn), semi-forward facing speakers, nap timer, and other features, make this a keeper in my book. I've had it a week (as of 9/18/2003). The unit is heavy, but that enables 1 hand operation of the buttons so the unit stays put. CD sound is rich, however it won't rattle your windows, but in the bedroom we don't want our music to be too intrusive...The radio sound quality is less robust than than the CD quality - that may be my station...The only feature I'd prefer is a jack for headphones (then I could rattle my ears and block out my wifes snoring). I'm very pleased with this buy.

This is a nice clock radio. But it is hard to see at night becaue it sits at an angle. The worst thing is that it does not have a battery backup. Which does not make sense, because the power is going to go out at some point. The best feature is the digital tuner.

I just got a pair of these this past Father's Day and after three days of use, I love them! I have them hooked up to my receiver through the headphone jack so I can watch TV or movies at any volume I want without disturbing the family at night, or while other people are in the room reading or whatever.

The base doubles as a charging stand, so they are always ready to go. The base also only broadcasts when it detects an audio signal. The headphones themselves only turn on when they are on your head. All very well planned out and designed.

I haven't tested the whole 150ft range, but I have been able to get all over the house and still get good sound quality. My only problem with them so far is I wish the adjustable strap could get a little tighter ... they feel a little loose on my head. Other than that, a great set of headphones!

The RXD5 has everything I expected from a mini hi-fi system: Big fat sound in a compact size plus lots of useful features. I got it to listen to dance music (drum 'n bass, breaks, house, techno, trance) the way it should be heard: loud and clear. Comments below are based on this annoying stuff.

Here's what I've discovered in two days. With the bass boost activated (3 settings: Off, Normal, High) the low end is pretty damn fat. So fat that it will carry through the walls even at low volume. If your music thumps and you want to listen at a comfortable level, while doing homework or reading let's say, just hope your neighbors and roommates are the understanding kind. You can't trim the bass separately, only turn off bass boost. Still sounds okay, but just okay if you like a full range. There are 10 EQ presets: Rock and Jazz work best for dance music IMHO (boosts lows and highs). The Dance setting has a flatter high end--I like my snares and cymbals extra crispy. There are also settings for Action, Romance, Drama and Sports, for "soundtracks and special listening situations" says the manual. None of 'em ought to be used for music. There's also a Flat setting. A "Groove" button cranks everything up: switches the volume to "power" mode (subtle but noticeable overdrive), changes the EQ curve (to what, I don't know) and kicks bass boost to High. You can Groove and adjust each independently, e.g. leave the volume in power mode and set your own EQ preset and bass boost setting.

I went home at midday to TURN IT UP and I couldn't discern any distortion. It delivers nice clean sound. Wish I could do that at 10 p.m. I also wish the mids and highs were a little snappier through all that bass but it's more than acceptable. It's not muddy at all, just not super crisp. My roommate doesn't care either way, but she wasn't home so nyah nyah.

You can't rewind or fast-forward a cassette while a CD is playing, they use the same buttons. You can change CDs while listening to a tape, but not while listening to another CD.

The jog dial lets you jump to specific CD tracks and select your radio presets. It also fast-forwards and rewinds the cassette, one click per song if there's silence between songs. (It's an advanced EMSS search that lets you stop at the second/third/fourth... song from where you are instead of just the next or previous song.) The cassette deck also has standard FF and REW; press again to continue playing the tape.

Biggest disappointment for me (it's minor but annoying) is the CD changer which is a little loud and clunky-sounding when it's doing its thing, a vibe-killer if you're trying to seduce your date with a continuous two- or three-CD mix. *Might* not hear it over the moaning... It might also mar your morning experience when you use the Wake To Music feature.

Don't tip the unit too far while CDs are loaded. I was hooking up the FM antenna and one disc ended up on top of another. There is a lock function for safe transport. It locks the changer mechanism, not your CDs; remove your discs first.

You can synchro-record a CD on the cassette deck (start both at the same time) or record manually. If you want to do the latter it's a one-two process, just so you know: Hit REC/PAUSE first, then select the tape direction (side) to record on. While recording from CD to cassette, pressing STOP stops the tape first, then pressing it again stops the CD. The cassette deck can muscle through those thick 100-minute tapes.

Random tip: If your cassettes sound dull from overplaying, activating the Surround Sound feature might help boost the highs. Worked for me.

There's a neat-o Tape Select Edit feature that tells you the required tape length for a particular CD, and the total playing time for side A and B so you'll know how much blank space there will be at the end of each side. A bonus for the arithmetically challenged.

I don't use the radio much. You can tune in .1 increments but as far as I can tell you can't hold the button to run up and down through the frequencies, you have to click-click-click your way through.

The "DJ" effects are Loop (repeats a segment of a song like a performance sampler) and Flash (cuts the sound in and out repeatedly). Each has an adjustable interval but you can only adjust it while the effect is activated. You have to hold the button down to activate the effect.

Don't ask me about the karaoke feature. It's there for *you*.

I don't have the remote with me but as I recall it has most everything you'd want to do from a distance. And finally, the LED display is pretty bright in a darkened room. Consider that if you put this thing next to your bed. It goes dark when you power the unit down.

I recommend you compare features with the other models in this line before deciding. I like the RXD5. Buy it and throw a party. I'll bring the music.

These headphones are really great for working out, they are light, comfortable and the sound quality is excellent. You can connect to a CD player or computer with relative ease and the sound is still great. They fit differently than most headphones, and it takes some getting used to, but they are comfortable.

If you want a radio for working out this one is great. It holds to your arm really well and the sound is really good. It also gets good reception.

The only downside is that the arm band is velcro and it looks like that might get really fuzzy after too much use.

But if you are looking for a cheap radio for excercising, this one is great!

Sony thinks of nearly everything! They even give you a wire so if you want you can hook these up to your walkman and use them for regular headphones.
*The radio picks up very good
*They have a nice red display so you can see how to tune in the dark.
* and they only use 1 AAA battery so they are very light