Sony ICF-CD513 Clock Radio

Pros: Functionality - AM, FM1, FM2, CDROM, TV, WEATHER, REMOTE, CLOCK, and TIMER.
Cons: None - This unit has it all!!!

SONY ICF-CD543RM. This is a fully functional Under-the-Cabinet Digital Kitchen Radio with AM, FM1, FM2, CDROM, TV, WEATHER, REMOTE, and CLOCK. It also has a KITCHEN TIMER that is easy to set and turns down volume when buzzer sounds. It has an...

Pros: Well, I suppose it does play music...
Cons: Poor sound, cheap construction, slow control response, finicky about CDs

I purchased two of these from Overstock.com with the idea that I would mount one in my kitchen and one in my shop.

The units seem fairly well constructed, but without that certain quality "feel" that I associate with Sony. The plastic was lifeless, and a shade of white that screamed "made in the factory of the lowest bidder".

The controls are simple, but the unit seems to respond slowly to button presses. The unit also seems very finicky about the CDs I feed it. Slightly damaged CDs that play in other players will not be recognized by the Sony.

Unfortunately, the worst thing about both of my units is the sound. It is extremely muddy and bass heavy, more so if you switch on the "Mega-Bass" feature. The poor sound was consistent in all the rooms so I'm pretty sure it was a "feature" of the Sony.

This is definitely not a box to put in your high-end kitchen, in fact, it's probably not a unit to put in a low-end kitchen either.

Pros: Decent styling and good size to fit under any cabinet
Cons: Poor shielding/grounding and sound quality. No battery backup for pre-sets, clock, alarms.

Lousy shielding for a so-called kitchen appliance means you'll listen to a loud hum with your radio or CD tunes. Not even a grounded chassis via 3-prong plug! Inexcusable for a kitchen unit!

Fussy CD deck means that only "perfectly clean" CD's will play.

No battery backup means that every power glitch will have you reprogramming the clock, alarm settings, radio station pre-sets etc.

Mediocre sound quality. You have to turn it up to drown out the hum from other kitchen appliances. Not good for much besides FM Talk radio. (Forget AM unless you really like "hum")

Pros: Great sound from a little radio, convenient undercabinet style.
Cons: slightly tedious setting the radio stations the first time.

I picked my radio at a Sony outlet store, so perhaps it was a "good one". I LOVE this radio. It replaced a full sized sony boom box which sat on a kitchen counter for many years of great service.

I have played many, many CD's in my player, and have never, ever had a single cd rejected by the machine. I simply keep cds in their cases when they are not being played, and so my don't get scratches I guess. The sound is great, it's a surprisingly big sound from such a small package. The radio gets lots of use, as it's used daily, and once the channels are set then it's trouble free. We listen to FM and some AM, but mostly NPR, local AM radio and CD's. For this purpose it's just great. I'm going to find one similar to this for my mom, who covets mine, for Christmas.

Pros: Good sound
Cons: No external antenna and crappy FM tuner

Nice little unit with good sound. However the FM tuner is pretty bad. No external antenna, weak FM reception and other appliances close by cause interferences with the FM tuner.
Manual tuning is a pain since the receiver does not find the next strong signal. You have to "step" manually through the band to find the strongest signal. Kind of early 80's technology.
And once you have a longer power outage all programmed stations are gone and you have to program it all over again.

Pros: MEGA BASS
Cons: NOT AVAILABLE IN BLACK

THIS RADIO HAS OUTSTANDING SOUND FOR SUCH AN INEXPENSIVE UNIT. LOVE THE MEGA BASS TOO. THE SOUND FROM THIS RADIO DEFINITELY FILLS OUR KITCHEN.