Sony CFD-S05 CD Radio Cassette Recorder (Silver) Review

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(More customer reviews)Yes, it's a corny title, I know; what's not corny is this sweet little boombox from Sony. It was little difficult to find a unit like this with all of the features I was in the market for, since boomboxes seem to be on the way out -- at least in their old configurations.
Pretty much gone are days of tape, but I guess that there are some folks out there who still like cassettes; these are the people who will be happy with the CFDS05's built-in tape deck - I will probably never use it. The other features, such as digital AM/FM tuner with numerous presets, CD-R/RW capable compact-disc player, and AUX-in jack for portable music players, are just what I was looking for!
+ The sound, while not audiophile quality, is pleasantly full and crisp; the longstanding Sony Mega Bass feature helps the lower end a little, but don't expect miracles. All in all, it's a very nice sound from a not-too-huge footprint.
+ The digital tuner works well, picking up the new somewhat-hard-to-lock-onto local public music radio station with no difficulties at all. The presets take a little practice -- I actually had to break down and look at the instructions.
+ The CD player seems to have no problems reading my CD-R discs (I always play copies, never original discs); my previous RCA stereo clock radio would conk out in the middle of a CD-R playback.
+ The aux-in feature also works very well with my MP3 player, though it's necessary to crank the volume up a bit in relation to the radio or CD player - don't forget to turn it back down before switching sources!
- About the only minus I can come up with, and it's a minor one, is a lack of some "snazzy" features; there's no remote, no "sleep" feature, and the CD doesn't play back mp3 discs. I'm sure Sony could have included some of these features, but likely not at this price point.
The CFDS05's construction is pretty solid, though perhaps not quite as heavy-duty as the three other Sony boomboxes we own (that are all 3-6 years old, and we haven't had a lick of trouble from any of them). I am hopeful this one will be just as reliable as its predecessors.
Overall, I would say that if you're in the market for what I think is becoming a scarce product offering, pick one of these up while you can! I am very pleased that I found yet another quality Sony boombox to meet my listening needs - I've tried many, many others, and I always end up coming back to Sony.



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- Sony cassette recorder with built-in stereo- Band : AM: 530-1710kHz; FM: 87.5-108.0MHz- External Antenna : AM: Built-in Ferrite Bar Antenna; FM: Telescopic Antenna- Display : LCD- Battery Life (Approx) : FM Recording: Sony R14P: Approx. 4.5 hours~~Sony Alkaline batteries LR14: Approx. 19 hours; Tape Playback: Sony R14P: Approx. 2.5 hours~~Sony Alkaline batteries LR14: Approx. 13 hours; CD Playback: Sony R14P: Approx. 1.0 hours~~Sony Alkaline batteries LR14: Approx. 8 hours- Battery Type : Unit: "C" x 6 (optional); Remote: "AAA" x 2- Output Power : 3.4W Total (1.7W + 1.7W (at 4 ohms, 10% harmonic distortion))- Power Consumption (in Operation) : AC 13 Watts- Power Handling Capacity : With 3.2-ohm loads, both channels driven from 100-10000Hz; rated 1.7W per channel minimum RMS power, with no more than 10% total harmonic distortion in AC operation.- Power Requirements : AC 120V, 60Hz- Radio : AM, FM- Tape Cassette : Player, Cassette Recorder- CD Syncro Recording : Synchronized CD/Cassette Dubbing- Disc Capacity : 1- Tray Type : Flat Loading, Single CD- Type of Use : Portable Boombox- DC-In : 1- Headphone Input(s) : 1- Input(s) : Audio in Jack (stereo mini jack)- Output(s) : Headphone Jack (stereo mini jack), for 16-32 Ohm impedence headphones- CD : Player- CD Play Mode(s) : Program, Shuffle, Repeat, 20 Track RMS Programming- Digital-to-Analog Converter : 1 Bit- Format(s) Supported : CD-R/RW Playback Compatibility1- Frequency Response : CD: 20-20000Hz (+1/-2dB) Cassette: TYPE I (normal), 80-10000Hz- Sound Enhancer : Mega Bass- Tape Operation : Single Stereo Cassette (fast winding) Approx. 150 sec. with Sony C-60 cassette- Tape System : 4 Track, 2 Channel Stereo Cassette- Tuner Type : Digital- Tuning : Auto Scan Radio- Preset Channel : 30 presets total (10 AM, 20 FM)

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