apanthropy's Full Review: Sony XplodŽ CFD-G505 Radio/Cassette/CD Boombox
First things first: I bought this unit to replace my old CFD-G500 (basically same unit) so obviously I do think the device has merit.
Initial Experience
It comes out of the box like you'd expect any boombox to. Nothing special about the presentation or anything.
You plug it in and everything works like it should. When you first turn it on, the "super woofer" is set to "too much", presumably to draw attention to that feature when it's used as a working demo in the store.
Cool Features
It *is* louder and cleaner and has more bottom-end than your average boombox.
Has line-input for MP3 or other device
Remote control
Not So Cool
The sub-woofer has 3 settings: Offless bass than your average full-size boombox, sounds about the same as a $30 boxMediumSounds good at all volumes, this is the only setting I ever useMaximumToo much bass. Well, let me amend that... it's not "too much bass" as in rattle-your-house... it's more like distort-your-sound. The tiny woofer, dinky amplifier, and excessive emphasis on bass make this largely unlistenable unless your music is very old, recorded long before today's era of strong woofers and thumping speakers . To be completely honest the 3 different settings are stupid because it only sounds good in one setting... the other two are horrible.
The bass, in "medium" setting... is clean and satisfying at most volumes. But NOT even close to on par with a reasonable home stereo. Good for a boombox though.
The CD player really should play MP3's. C'mon... in today's age it almost seems pointless to have a CD player without MP3 capabilities, given how cheap the technology obviously is. My roommate bought a USB based MP3 player for $9.99 a little while ago (all he had to add was a thumb drive). And on that note, I don't think I've used a cassette tape this millenium..
The unit is pretty big. Like pretty darned big. And heavy. Before you even add batteries.
Oh, it has an equalizer thing with 4 presets (and no user adjustment) ... it's basically flat, add bass, add treble, add bass and treble, add midrange. - I listen to it "flat" usually.
So why did I buy a second one?
Well, the first one I bought several years ago, this model's predecessor. I got it for the line-in jack so I could use it in my bedroom with a laptop computer for streaming internet radio... it works well for that. But, I also used it as a shop radio, out on the porch, out at the lake... normal "boombox" duties. After a while it developed a hiss that was always present, except oddly enough in FM Radio mode. Some part of the preamp circuitry is b0rked up apparently, so although the unit still works (the old one, I mean) it's not awesome anymore so now it's just a shop radio. Overall I liked the unit and only those JVC HUGE boxes sound better.... so I bought another Sony and it does the job.
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