Best value unit I've had (while it worked)
Written: Jun 19 '01 (Updated Aug 14 '01)
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Pros: Great value, low price, BBE II, 2 pre-outs, never skips
Cons: Small buttons, useless sound presets, mine became defective after 10 months
The Bottom Line: This is a great unit for the price. With the money I saved, I was able to upgrade my speakers. UPDATE: the unit became defective after 10 months of use.
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| rfman's Full Review: JVC KD-SX750 Car CD Player |
When I changed my vehicle, my Blaupunkt receiver / CD player went with it, and I started shopping for a unit to replace the less-than-stellar factory unit in the new vehicle. Having a few other JVC products with which I was quite satisfied, I found the KD-SX750 quite impressive for the price. It offers decent power (45W x4 max), has 2 RCA pre-outs for my amplifiers, a remote control, and BBE II, which is more than just the bass boost that competitors offer. I would like to point out that the unit does support CD-changers, unlike what the Epinions description states.
After having enjoyed my KD-SX750 on a daily basis for the past 8 months, here are my impressions:
-THE VERY GOOD:
-The value of the unit. It comes with many nice features, works great, sounds great, and is very inexpensive. I bought mine for 227$ CDN, which converts to about 150$US. I doubt that a better unit exists for that price.
-The display. Not only is it a cool blue and white illumination scheme, but also it is readable in direct sunlight. Many units are unreadable if the sun shines directly on them. The JVC unit had a LED display that becomes white on black when in direct sunlight. This may sound marginal to you now, but it is a feature you will really enjoy with use.
-The CD mechanism. It has never skipped. Period. On any road, winter or summer, it will not skip. And I should mention that my car has a firm suspension. This is very impressive.
-The BBE II feature. I really like the BBE II, as I like to listen to FM radio, and it compliments it very well. Rather than just being a bass boost like on many other units, BBE II actually boosts the low AND high-range frequencies, which are the most attenuated in an automotive listening environment. And since FM modulation unfortunately attenuates low and high frequencies, BBE II makes FM listening much more enjoyable. It’s also great for CD listening, although a complete well-tune audio system should not need it for CDs to sound good. It is adjustable to three levels or can be turned off completely.
-The GOOD
-The output power. Although 45W x 4 is somewhat common in new automotive head units, I want to point out that it’s more than sufficient to power your main speakers. I would not use it for subwoofers, but there are RCA pre-outs to connect amplifiers for subwoofers.
-The two sets of pre-outs. At this price point, often only one set of pre-amplifier outputs is included. The JVC KD-SX750 come with two, which is nice for people like me who want to connect two amplifiers to their system.
-The CD-changer controls. Although I don’t use them, it’s nice to know that I could connect a CD-Changer to my JVC if I wanted to.
-The remote control. It’s nice to have when you’re using the stereo to play music when you’re at a gathering, or when you’re tuning the amplifiers in the trunk and need to adjust the volume. Not essential, but a nice bonus.
-THE NOT-SO-GOOD
-The small buttons. Many buttons are quite small, and can be difficult to operate with gloves on in the wintertime. It’s also easy to press the wrong button when driving and end up pressing shuffle instead of repeat. It’s much easier and safer to make adjustments when stopped.
-The music preset modes. The unit has music presents such as beat, soft, etc. Not only do none of these actually sound good, but also they modify your BBE settings, even after you turn them off. I do not use them, but for people who aren’t too fussy on system tuning, they could do the trick.
-THE REALLY BAD:
Nothing to report here.
*** UPDATE ***
As of the 12th of August 2001, my JVC KD-SX750 developped a serious problem, after only 10 months. With the engine off, it became impossible to crank the stereo to moderately loud levels without the system shutting itself off. This is a big problem for me, since I like to crank the system up at shows. I returned the unit to the retailer (luckily, I had bought an extended service plan), and they will credit the initial purchase price towards another unit.
Whether or not I got a lemon, I don't know. All that I had said previously still stands, but it's useless if the radio doesn't work in the most basic way. This is why I had to reduce my rating from 5 to 2 stars. It's my policy that products that become defective within a year should not get more than 2 stars. The fact that I have to dissassemble my dashboard again has me less than pleased also. (For those wondering, future shop would do the installation, but my car has a customized interior, and I don't let anybody else work on it.)
I will be getting a much higher-end unit this time, and I will report
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 150
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Epinions.com ID:
rfman
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Member: Luc Delorme
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Reviews written: 103
Trusted by: 15 members
About Me:
Electrical Engineer, amateur photographer, car buff, technophile, video game player and collector.
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