Get out there and get one! Oh, wait, they're discontinued...
Written: Sep 21 '02 (Updated Nov 12 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great sound, inexpensive, Easy to use, Colorful
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: Great stereo, highly recommended.
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| midknight2k3's Full Review: Panasonic SC-AK25 Shelf System |
You know, I would trust Panasonic with my LIFE. I’ve had 3 Panasonic stereos so far and not a SINGLE PROBLEM has arisen from any of them. My baby, the SC-AK25, was manufactured in October 1998. It’s been through SO MANY things and it’s still working? It’s unbelievable. I’ve corrupted the CD trays by spilling water into it twice and it is still working to this day. I am not lying.
WHAT IT’S BEEN THROUGH
First that happened was that the CD Changer got messed up when I poured water in it (Yes, it was my fault). Anyone could have fixed this problem. I removed the 10 screws holding the case on and took a peek in. I saw three screws on the back for the CD Changer compartment to come out. After removing this and a few wires connecting it to one of the PC boards, I pulled it out and restacked the trays that slide out. I snapped it back in and it worked! Later I spilled water in it again and had to dry it off inside. I’ve used many different speakers, too and it’s still fine. Plus all the normal wear and tear.
PROS
Panasonic name
Very reliable
Great sound
Nice EQ
Plenty of bass
CONS
NONE
FUNCTIONALITY
This stereo has 4 functions: AUX, TAPE, CD, TUNER. This stereo has all the basics, plus much more. You get 1 Auxiliary input. There are 2 tape decks and you can record from a CD, the radio, or Auxiliary input, or you can record from another tape. That’s all pretty standard. The decks are both full logic. That means you press normal buttons (click click click), not the buttons that sink in like on boom boxes. Even the eject is full logic! You press eject and the deck makes some noises and then opens. The CD is also normal, you can program, shuffle, and repeat all, and repeat 1, and so on. My one gripe is that the repeat button’s on the remote and if you lose the remote you’re out of luck. The tuner has good reception, especially if you plug in the AM Loop antenna into the FM slot.
SOUND
This stereo is one of the best sounding ones I’ve heard, even with the included speakers. There are built in subwoofers for extra bass. I did my system the favor of picking up some KLH home-theater speakers that work fine with it, though of course the stereo is only designed for 2-channel output. It sounds very similar to Pro Logic on my newer AK-57. There is also a EQ Jog and Manual Joystick (cool!). You change the EQ by spinning the jog dial that revolves around the little joystick. The Preset EQ settings are as follows: Heavy, Clear, Soft, Disco, Live, Hall, AI EQ, Manual, and Flat. For Manual, you use the joystick to move the 'cursor' around and raise/lower the Bass, Midrange, and Treble levels (5-band EQ). AI EQ lets you move a dot around the screen towards either Soft, Heavy, Clear or Light. It's sort of hard to explain, you just have to use it. I generally use the Manual setting. There is a Subwoofer level: Off, Mid, Max. Off doesn't actually mean off in this case, however: off actually means "no extra bass". Mid and Max just add to the bass level.
LOOKS
This system is very nice looking; you can leave it out in the open. The real thing that helps is the Spectrum analyzer, another 'layer' behind the main display. The display looks 3-dimensional because of the way the rectangles get larger as they near the edge of the display. There are 4 settings: Normal, Peak Hold, Space and Off. Disabling the Spectrum analyzer just makes the display plain and boring. Normal goes from the outside dots to the inside ones as the output gets louder and Space is the opposite. I like Space because the dots fly by like stars would. At night this thing is a beauty. It looks like it has a million lights on. Green, Red, Purple....
OTHER FEATURES
This stereo's polite! When you turn it on, it'll greet you with "Hello" - when you turn it off it displays "Goodbye" and animates a row of Z's (meaning it's asleep). The stereo also has a timer which you can set it to record or wake you up. To set the Play mode, you set the time of wake up and it resumes your last listening position (Function, Place, and Volume). To record it’s the same thing except it records what ends up playing. It does have a 5 CD Changer. It is very quick to go from any disc number to another.
Conclusion
I like this stereo a *lot*: not too expensive, incredible sound, looks great, super reliable.. there's nothing to dislike about it! Highly recommended.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
midknight2k3
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Member: Zakk
Location: Seattle, WA
Reviews written: 40
Trusted by: 13 members
About Me:
When there's new technology, check here for reviews.
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