Customer Reviews

Onkyo CS-325 CD Receiver System

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In the price versus performance competitions, I always think Onkyo gives you the biggest bang for the bucks. I have a full size Onkyo 5.1. It sounds great and has been very reliable. Lately I have been looking for a mini system for my mom's apartment. After listening to Bose and other brands, I think the CS-325 gives the best value for the same money. I am an electrical engineer and had opened countless electronic equipment packagings. Let me tell you, I've never seen any packaging as neat and impecable as this one. The set up was simple and straight forward. The speaker feels very substantial, a sign of quality. Overall, the system looks very nice. Once set up, the controls are very user friendly. It is an excellent choice for a smaller space such as a city apartment. I am happy with its high to mid frequency range. I could ask for better bass perhaps due to its smaller woofer. Some may complain that the Ipod docking is optional. Still, it beats many systems that cost twice as much. At $200, it is a great buy. Onkyo CS-325 CD Receiver System

If you consider yourself an audiophile, this product is not of interest for you. But if you, like me, is looking for an upgrade to your good old boombox, but not yet ready to spent hundreds or even thousands for this purpose, seek no further - this is a great purchase! For just twice the price of a decent boombox you get a higher class system.

The sound is clean and rich; it is also rather powerful - with maximum volume at 42 I normally keep it in low to mid 20's. If you prefer a deeper bass, you might need to add a subwoofer - a special output is present. Personally, so far I am satisfied with SUPER BASS mode (besides I don't like having an extra switch to turn on and off, though, subwoofer Auto Standby feature should eliminate the need).

I also strongly appreciate the ability to play MP3 CD's. The display can show all the relevant information about the files. Navigation within the folders is also relatively easy considering the small size of the display. I haven't experienced any problems with reading particular CD's which other reviewers reported.

In terms of physical dimensions, be aware that the main unit is rather deep - 15", and won't fit a typical bookshelf. The speakers, though generally of a small type, are also quite deep - 11" (see the picture I added to show the system depth.)

With all that positive feedback I have to add some criticism. Three main complains so far:

1. No AUX (3.5 mm stereo) input for quick connection of an external portable player. With current ubiquity of such devices, this looks rather strange. True, that there is an optional iPod Dock, but (1) it is considerably overpriced - half a price of the main system; (2) other brands and types of portable players exist apart from iPod.

That said I should note that the problem is actually minor as you just buy a Stereo Mini-to-RCA3 "Y" cable splitter and connect your player through one of two inputs on the back of the unit. (I used the DOCK input for this purpose; another one, TAPE, I connected to TV, renamed it to VIDEO through a special option, and now can have a "home theater" whenever I feel a mood.)

2. No USB input. There exists a CS-525 model which main difference from this one is just a presence of USB port (in fact, even the user manual is common for 525/325), but for some reason it is not available in US. Weird marketing policy!

3. No resume function - CD playback starts from the beginning of the disk, not from the point of interruption, if you stop playback, switch to another source (like radio) or turn the unit off. This is a common deficiency for vast majority of mini and upper class systems. While virtually any car audio or portable CD player remembers the point where it was stopped and effortlessly continues from it whenever re-started, the more expensive systems do not provide this feature (so far I found the resume only on Bose Wave system, which is ridiculously overpriced). This is a total mystery for me! The feature is really missing when you listen to MP3 disks which may contain dozens or even hundreds of tracks.

With all the above I give only 4 stars, though I'd say that 4.5 would be probably more appropriate.

This is probably the the greatest piece of electronic equipment that I currently own. This CD receiver is built very solid: all metal housing, aluminum front panel, and pretty hefty at about 30 pounds altogether. Speakers are attached to the receiver through binding posts instead of spring clips and the speakers themselves sound outstanding. After a few days of use, the sounds really start to open up. When set up correctly to your room this system offers outstanding clarity and sound separation. I also love the bright, easy to read blue display which Onkyo uses (it is also dimmable on several levels). You will find that attaching a powered subwoofer to the sub pre-out will give you complete coverage of all audible frequencies. I have listened to all of my CD collection again, hearing things I have never heard before, making well-produced albums a true sonic experience.
Please don't go buy a sub-par, cheap, overpriced CD receiver (such as the sad excuses which sony make!). This is the best that money can buy. Hands down.

Pluses;
1. Size, which is the reason I got it, though I wish the heat sink was internal (see below),
2. Price, I found a 'open box' model w/o the speakers,
3. Ability to play MP3 files,
4. Bass & treble control (some don't have either, but see below),
5. Two rear aux. inputs (some don't have any),
6. 40 presets in any combination (AM and/or FM),
7. Full size bananna plugs for speakers (kinda overkill given the audio output, or lack of),
8. Power consumption, less than 25 watts and runs cool since audio is only 12 watts per channel, (but see below),
9. Standard 'F' fitting for external FM antenna. Also included AM 'loop' antenna (some people still do listen to AM).

Minuses;
1. Power hog when in standby if in clock mode (ok in normal mode with clock off). This uses half as much when it's in standby (10 watts),
2. Bass & treble, manual tune & menu are only available through remote. As with too many consumer electronics, you loose the remote you are SOOL,
3. Bass & treble have a very limited & crude stepping range,
4. Manual tuning of stations can only be done from remote. If you don't program any stations and the remote goes south, you have no reception!,
5. Useless "direct" gimmick button on front panel where Menu button should be,
6. External heat sink that could/should of been internal. (There's room for it on either side or above optical drive). This would reduce depth by over three inches. (The heat sink does not get hot at all),
7. Confusing procedure to rename stations and only allows room for 8 digits and/or letters (needs 10 spacs to have frequency and call letters with space between and decimal point),
8. Small remote, buttons could of been laid out better.

I bought the Onkyo CS-325 as a Christmas present for my wife. She wanted to have a small stereo for the upstairs bedroom. I looked at numerous systems before I decided on the CS-325. Most of the systems I looked at just seemed to be very cheaply built and they paled in comparison to the CS-325. We are both very happy with the design and construction of this system. It will not knock the roof off of the house but it does deliver a very pleasing quality of sound. The CD tray seems to be rugged and well built unlike a lot of the other systems in this price range. I highly recommend this mini-system for its high quality and price.

First thing that grabbed my attention when I opened up the box was how solidly made those speakers were. Quite heavy (as another reviewer noted), but still able to fit nicely on a well-adjusted bookshelf. Second thing that grabbed my attention was the considerable depth and clarity of the sound coming out of those speakers. It was almost like hearing it come out of a quality home theater system, except it was being pumped out from this significantly downsized piece of audio equipment. Bass response is also quite good (though some may prefer more "ground-shaking" bottom which in this case you can get an additional sub-woofer to satisfy that need; system comes with a sub pre-out just for that purpose). The receiver itself is also sturdily built, with easy access to the buttons and volume knob. Love the fact that the CD player is of the front-loading variety as the more recently manufactured slot-loading types tend to scratch the discs quite a bit. I found the stereo remote pretty simple to use after having to read the instructions only once. AM/FM radio is also included with a rather substantial number of presets at your disposal, but I've hardly had time to check those out yet. I mainly bought this system for the CD player itself and that alone has given me more than I could've hoped for. Only real problem I've had with this system was getting the speaker cables properly connected to the back end of the receiver, but once that was out of the way, the set-up was virtually a piece of cake. I've also noticed this receiver comes with an I-Pod playing option, which only adds to the bells and whistles it currently brings. Personally speaking, I honestly have no use for it at the moment but it's still a nice option to have should I finally get serious about owning an I-Pod.

If anyone out there DOES happen to find a better system for roughly the same price with more features than what this Onkyo has to offer, MORE POWER TO YOU THEN! Because as of this review I sure as heck haven't found one, lol!
>;-)

EVER SINCE I'VE WORKED FOR MARANTZ BACK IN 1978 I HAVE HAD A LOVE FOR HIGH END AUDIO AND GOOD SOUNDING SYSTEMS. I WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SMALL AND WELL MADE FOR MY PARENTS CONDO SO THEY CAN ENJOY GREAT SOUND BUT NOT TAKE UP MUCH SPACE. BOSE SYSTEMS(WHICH COST MUCH MORE) DO NOTHING FOR ME WHEN IT COMES TO WARM SMOOTH SOUND AND THEIR QUALITY OVER YEARS HAS CHANGED. THIS ONKYO UNIT IS MONEY WELL SPENT.IT IS ONE WELL MADE UNIT. THE WARMTH OF SOUND IS AMAZING VOCALS STAND OUT AND MUSIC SMOOTH EVEN AT LOW LEVELS. IT DELIVERS GREAT SOUND AT HIGHER VOLUME WITH NO DISTORTION. MAN YOU WONT REGRET BUYING THIS UNIT FOR THE PRICE MONEY WELL SPENT. YOU ACTUALLY GET MORE THAN YOU PAID FOR THIS BABY.

Updating my review...
I love this little stereo. I have had it for over 10 months now, and I am very happy. I am using it in my office to replace a high quality boom box I had before. I was mostly interested in good sound quality, and this system surpasses my expectations for this price. I am a little bit of an audiopile, and I can tell that the range isn't a wide as a full size stereo system, but it puts out more volume then I need for my office, and the sound is well balanced. I use the docking inputs to connect my iPhone and MP3 player too. You don't need the expensive ipod connector if you don't need to control your ipod/iphone with a remote (I just use a cord that has two RCA connectors on one side and a headphone jack on the other end).

I decided that I wanted to install some outdoor speakers by my hot tub outside my office. I wanted to use this Onkyo stereo to power them, but there is only one pair of speaker outputs; so, I purchased a Pyle Pro speaker control center that allows you to switch between four speakers. I found out that the speaker control center lets you power mutlple speakers at the same time, and I was amazed that this little amp can power both sets of speakers at a loud volume. This tells me that it is a quality Amplifier. Then my wife was saying it would be nice if we could watch a movie in the hot tub. I simply moved my large monitor to the window and connected an extra DVD player to the monitor and tape inputs on the Onkyo, and we have Movies in the hot tub.
I really appreciate all the inputs and outputs on this stereo.
Next, I might want to try adding a subwoofer since it has a subwoofer output.

I recently purchased an Onkyo CS-325 CD Receiver System for our kitchen. I was going to purchase an under counter system, but after listening to one in a big box store, was disappointed with the sound quality. The receiver itself is compact and takes up little countertop space. I put the two speakers on top of the kitchen cabinets, one on each end. The wires were routed up alongside the refrigerator making them almost invisible. The system sounds great especially with the speakers being high in the room. I have other Onkyo products and they always give you great sound at a reasonable price.

I purchased the CR-325 (the receiver/cd player without the speakers). It's a decent receiver/tuner and powers my Cambridge Audio speakers nicely. Remote is large and some aspects of the UI are a bit clunky. Overall, I would have rated this product higher if not for the CD problems.

In general, CDs take a long time to load. More troubling, I have found that 30% of the discs that I own fail to properly load and play. These are commercially produced CDs (and I have also had problems with CD-Rs). All of the discs that fail do play in other players.

I get one of three errors:

- No Disc displayed
- An incorrect listing of 99 tracks on the disc and disk does not play
- A correct track listing, but player fails to find any tracks

I contacted Onkyo. They suggested purchasing a lens cleaner disc. I bought and used one and it did not help.

It's possible that I have received a faulty unit and may attempt an exchange. Have others noted similar problems?

UPDATE:

I returned the receiver and obtained a replacement a few days ago. It does not exhibit the above mentioned disc problem. All discs that I have tried so far have played. While sound quality is not great, and there are some missing features, it's not bad for the price range ($100 - $130). So, I'm upgrading the review. I'm satisfied.