Nice Sounding Player That Stands Up To Use And Abuse
Written: May 25 '01
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Pros: Nice sound, durable construction, elegant case.
Cons: Terrible in-the-ear headphones, incomplete and misleading special offer labeling on the package.
The Bottom Line: The SL-SW860 has excellent sound and is suitable for use in demanding environmental conditions without skipping. Nice case compared to other players.
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| gregory-v's Full Review: Panasonic ShockWave SL-SW860 Personal CD Player |
About a year ago I purchased an SL-SW850 portable CD player for my wife. In that time it has performed flawlessly and she isn’t the type to handle electronics with kid gloves... If it cannot survive being tossed around in her car then it doesn’t deserve to live!
I have been so impressed with the 850 that I recently purchased two SL-SW860 players; one for myself and the other for a friend’s daughter who is graduating from the 8th grade. All three units cost $120 because they were “unadvertised specials” that were reduced $40 from the list price because the model was being discontinued; I expect an SL-SW870 to appear shortly. A quick review of online prices indicates that the 860 is currently available for around $120 plus shipping from a variety of vendors.
We have been using the Panasonic cassette and CD players that feature “beefed-up” construction and water-resistant seals because we tend to use them in dusty, damp environments. And while we have yet to drop a CD player, the companion cassette units have held up very well to falls onto myriad surfaces, including concrete. Our first cassette player eventually gave up the ghost but I felt that it had served us well. Its replacement unit seems to be even better constructed so I expect years of service before it needs replacing, provided it doesn’t take too many headers onto solid concrete...
As far as I can tell skipping during play is not an issue with either the 850 or 860 if you use the “A Shock” feature with a 40 second memory buffer; the players have never skipped while in the “A Shock” mode and I have given them some severe shakes just to test the system. However, when “A Shock” is disabled the player readily skips when it is bumped, particularly while listening in a car.
Apparently portable CD players do not sound alike and I would imagine that the headphones used with a particular unit has a lot to do with the sound quality (or lack thereof...) I think that the Panasonic 860 sounds just fine; in fact, I am listening to the Grateful Dead’s “Anthem Of The Sun” CD as I am writing this.
As some reviewers have noted, the Panasonic SL-SW860 may not offer a maximum sound level that matches some Sony products. I have no first-hand experience about whether this is indeed a fact or not, but it is true that the Panasonic’s maximum sound output doesn’t hurt my ears, nor have I desired greater output from the unit. But if this is important to you then by all means audition various players and check the specifications before making your decision.
At the same time I must add my voice to the chorus of reviewers who have specifically mentioned the absolutely diabolical nature of the headphones supplied with the unit. They are very uncomfortable in my ears and become totally unwearable after about a minute; they would work better as a particularly nasty form of torture. Amnesty International should be calling for a ban on these headphones any day now...
So I recommend throwing away the headphones and getting another pair. My own personal taste in headphones tends toward light-weight units; headphones that seal out most environmental sounds are not my cup of tea. When I was an FM radio DJ back in the 70s I developed a strong preference for Sennheiser headphones because they didn’t bother my sensitive ears and they hung around my neck with much more grace than the heavier headphones popular at that time.
I was able to find Panasonic RP-HT25 headphones on sale for $5.99; they are regularly priced at $9.99. These are basic light-weight “outside-the-ear” headphones that take advantage of the “S-XBS Extra Bass System” setting that boosts the low-range response of the player. While the “X-XBS” setting is fine as far as it goes, I wish that there was an intermediate setting as well. Panasonic also offers a similar set of headphones that features a volume control on the cord so that you don’t have to access the player in order to adjust the volume. In my area they run around $20; sorry, I don’t know the specific model designation.
There are no doubt better-sounding headphones available; there are certainly more expensive headphones out there. But I consider portable headphones to be essentially “disposable” so these match my requirements for relatively low cost and good sound. If you are doing most of your listening inside or in non-demanding environments then it might pay to seek out better headphones.
The player does have a peculiar quirk regarding the factory default setting for the Play Mode Selector, which is located inside the unit. Apparently the CD player comes with the selector set to “Resume.” This allows the unit to start playing at the beginning of a track that was playing when the unit was powered off. It also automatically activates the all-track repeat function..
Now this may be convenient in some situations but it is a pain in the behind if you want to listen to a new CD beginning with the first track and ending with the last track. It took me a while to figure out why the player was acting goofy right out of the package until I read about this “feature” in the manual. I suggest that you switch the Play Mode Selector to the “Normal” position as soon as you can and only activate “Resume” when it suits your needs.
Recently we have begun using the 850 in my wife’s Eclipse cassette player in her car. It took us a while to do this because Panasonic insists that only one particular “car-kit” will work with the 850/860 and it was unavailable locally. So I finally decided to see if a standard Sony car kit would work with the Panasonic since the local outlet told me that I could return it if it didn’t work.
The $30 car-kit I purchased, which utilizes a Sony DCC-E345 multi-voltage power adpator and a CPA-9C Car Connecting Pack works juts fine and sounds great, so I think it is safe to use this particular combination with the Panasonic portable players. Using the Sony car-kit might affect the Panasonic warranty, so be sure to read the fine print and then make your own decision about whether you want to go to the trouble of finding the Panasonic car-kit (I could only find it direct from Panasonic) and perhaps spending more for the specified car-kit.
Finally, I would like to mention that both the 850 and 860 models came with a prominent sticker on the package announcing a “Free Sport Belt” available by mail when you purchase certain portable CD players. The trouble is that both times the offer had expired long before I purchased the players.
I don’t particularly expect Panasonic to make such an offer for an unlimited period of time, but I would appreciate it if the company would go to the trouble of specifying an expiration date for such offers on the exterior of the package so that some consumers (like myself...) are not duped into buying a product thinking that we are eligible for a special offer that has already expired.
The SL-SW860 comes with a hand grip for jogging and an AC adaptor.
Final word: this is a great player that will stand up to hard use and sound good too. If its set of features matches your needs I think you will find it a good value, particularly if you purchase it for around $120, which I think is a very attractive price for a player of this quality.
I would have given the SL-SW860 five stars if it came with usable headphones and a special offer sticker that stated the basic terms of the promotion that included the expiration date for purchasing and mailing the required certificate and purchase receipt.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 120
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Epinions.com ID:
gregory-v
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Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 3 members
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