Customer Reviews

EMERSON Heritage' series AM / FM Stereo Table Radio with Built-In CD Player in Wood Veneer Cabinet

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was looking for a table radio, a CD player would be a bonus. I wanted a radio that would look good in a living room and would look like an antique. This radio is truly beautiful! The people who have seen it have commented on the beautiful wood and styling. The sound is really good too - I am not an audiophile but I have a few friends who are. If you are buying a radio like this you are not looking for the ultimate stereo. If you are looking for a gorgeous addition to your decor that sounds great too - this is it. Love the old fashioned dial too! Just like my Dads old short-wave radio I played with as a kid. I like this radio so much - I will be buying another one soon - as a gift!

Love this Radio/CD player. I like to leave the lid up and see the CD spinning like an old-fahioned vinyl 45 !!... With some of the CD's that now look like vinyl records it is even more retro-looking! The Radio AM/FM is just as great with the lighted dial... Just sit back and re-live the 50's and 60's.... S. Wickert

This bookshelf radio is probably the most authentic yet modern Radio on the market. I was well pleased with the design from outside authenticity, to modern design inside. Well constructed, priced well, and an addition to any vintage look or decor that you would want. Beautiful, good quality with a nice design. Dont be afraid to purchase this one, you will love it.

Just picked one of these up. It is a very good looking system and the looks match th epicture.

The sound quality is abotu what you expect not bad not great.

The radio tuner did an average job and had some trouble picking up some stations.

Overall I'd give it a B

One thing I've noticed about product reviews is that most are written immediately after the item is purchased. That tells people how something works out of the box, but doesn't really speak to longevity.

I have owned this retro CD player at least three years now (maybe four) so I have a little different perspective. Out of the box I would have rated this a 5 out of 5. It looks wonderful and is very heavily made; not at all a cheap veneer-over-plastic affair. I was astounded by the beautiful sound quality -- much better than I would have expected from a radio that appears largely ornamental.

So why only four stars, three years out? Well, there seems to be a problem with the push-button controls, and I'm willing to bet I am not the only consumer experiencing it. Another review mentioned that the programming features are confusing, and it is easy to push the wrong button when all you want to do is play a song.

Unfortunately that aspect only gets worse with age. I don't know if the push-button controls just wear out after awhile, or if there is dust inside my player that I can't get to easily. What has happened is that the 'play' button (arguably your most important control) only works when it feels like it now. It has never failed to play a CD for me...eventually...but you have to be real patient with it as it ages. Lately, I'll need to tap the play button 4, 5...as many as 6 times before it activites. Striking it harder seems to help it make contact, but it is a frustrating process.

Otherwise a 5/5 product. I can tell you that three or four years out, once I coax it into play mode, it sounds as great as it did fresh out of the box. And still looks soooo cool!

I am delighted with this radio. It looks even nicer than the picture here and I was not expecting the quality of sound it delivers. I especially enjoy the dial tuning--no more bypassing stations with the limited digital tuners on today's radios. Sometimes I want to listen to a station that may not be as strong as adjacent ones but is adequate for information so it's great to be in control of the bandwidth again. I live in a 200+ year-old Cape Cod and really enjoy the feeling of "home" this retro model affords. The sound from both the programmable CD player and the live broadcasts is excellent. I ordered this one for my bedroom, primarily for the CD player, and it performs so well that I am ordering another for my living room. You can't beat the price!

I purchased this 1940's styled radio/CD player for a retirement gift for a lady who had worked 44 years as a school cook. She loves anything World War II era. I wanted one for myself when it arrived, and every staff member fell in love with it,too. We used it during the party to play period music. The retiree was thrilled with it. It's just a beautiful accent piece, and the raised lid to play the CDs reminds you of a phonograph.

I ordered this stereo on 9-15-09 through Amazon from qualitycds-dvds14. For the refurbished stereo I paid $48.59 plus $9.99 shipping. Thus $58.58. I received it on 9-18-09 from JG Entertainment in Apple Valley Minnesota. The stereo was in poor condition. It had numerous scratches on the wood cabinet and the plastic front face plate. The top fell off when I opened the lid. The cd player did not work.
On 9-18-09 I sent an email to qualitycds-dvds14 regarding the condition of the stereo. Jonathan Gaylord of qualitycds-dvds14 responded by email to tell me that he lives in Minnesota, works with a drop/shipper in California, does not see the product that is shipped from California and would pass along my comments to the supplier.
Jonathan emailed me on 9-18-09 asking that I send him pictures of the stereo. On this date I emailed him numerous pictures from all angles of the stereo.
On 9-20-09 Jonathan emailed me to tell me that he would be discussing this with his supplier.
On 10-6-09 Jonathan emailed me to tell me that he was going to get an RMA # so that I could return the stereo for a replacement stereo. On the same date he emailed me with the RMA # and asked me to send the stereo to MegaGoods, Inc. in Los Angeles, California.
On 10-7-09 I boxed the stereo in its original box (always keep the original box because you cannot send it back without the original box) and sent the stereo by UPS at my cost of $11.24.
On 10-21-09 I received from JG Entertainment a replacement stereo. The replacement still had a few scratches but not nearly the amount on the first stereo. The plastic face plate had no scratches. The cd player works and the sound is good.
All in all this has not been a good experience and has taken much time and effort to correct the mistake of sending a very poor quality stereo. As a side note it is interesting that the original and second shipping tag noted that the stereos were being sent from Minnesota where Jonathan says he lives and claims to have not seen the stereo since it was dropped shipped from his supplier. I guess that I do not understand how this drop shipping works but to me if the return shipping tag on both stereos show that they were shipped from Minnesota then how did they get dropped shipped from California?
One other item. I had always thought that refurbished meant that something was like new but used. The first stereo was not used, it was abused, and had no right to be advertised as refurbished. Buyer beware. No more refurbished for me. What this amounts to is a $48.59 purchase and having to pay twice for shipping. Not such a good deal. Once again, buyer beware.

This actually is my second radio like this. I had the first one a couple of years and loved it. I even got positive comments about it from visitors to my home. Some people actually thought it was an antique. The sound is good. Due to a recent power surge that occurred during a recent power outage (my husband hooked our home up to a generator at the wrong setting -- but I won't get into that!) -- my first radio got fried. I wanted another one just like it very bad, but had difficulty finding it. There were similar ones at a much higher price and with features I felt I didn't at the spot in my home I was using it. I'm giving it four stars instead of five because one, the programming of the CD is a little difficult. I've had to write out some cheat notes from the manual with the function of each of the buttons to avoid accidently pushing program, or repeat rather than play. Another negative I can say about it is that unlike when using FM, FM stereo, or AM, when the knob in front is turned to the CD function, the light in the dial is not on and it looks as though the unit is off. The only way to know for sure if it is on is to flip the lid up and look to see if the red numbers are on displaying the tracks of the CD. This incidently is the reason my first radio got fried. Besides not having it attached to a surge protector (like I do now), the unit was left on after playing a CD the night before, and no one realized it until it was too late. The unit turns on and off by turning the volume dial.

I wanted to get the Susan Boyle CD for my elderly parents' Christmas then realized the only CD player they had was in their car. This worked out wonderfully & my father was really impressed with the sound quality. He will also be able to listed to AM talk radio while sitting on the sun porch now. We all enjoyed it Christmas morning while sitting around and will go great with my folks' decor (my mother is such a stickler about the interior design of her house).