Customer Reviews

Panasonic SC-EN7 Slim-Design CD Desktop Audio System

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

 

 

I bought this with quite a bit of reluctance as a player for work. It is actually working out fine...

PLUS
--Nice looking 3+ people came by and admired it.
--I use headphones almost exclusively and sound was fine (I haven't used speakers yet).
--Line in capabilities
--FM reception is decent (of course this is affected by how much interference around the player).
--Reasonably small footprint.
--AC adaptor--I love not having to keep changing batteries the way I used to with my MP3 players.
--MP3 capable--even displays MP3/ID3 tag info and handles folders.
--Affordable

MINUS
--Headphone jack is in back (inconvenient)
--Sliding door access to CD player is a little awkward
--If you lose the remote you lose some functionality not available on the player.
--No random play feature

I went shopping for a system that had superior sound and found it with this after previewing several systems that cost more. The highs are open and airy, and the bass is tight and full -- not at all boomy as on some boomboxes. The CD player plays CD-R/CD-RW and MP3 flawlessly. The radio quality is excellent even in my urban location. My guess is that the reviewers who complained of poor sonic quality failed to use the four equalizer settings (bass, clear, soft, and vocal) and Panasonic's Live Virtualizer to tune the sound to their taste. This is a well-designed, high quality music system at a fair price.

Good sound for the dollars spent.
Compact unit take up a small amount of shelf space.
Typical single CD functions.
Hard to read the display from much more than 3 feet away.

Downside:
Has a regular pole FM antenna rather than one built in to the cord, as well as a separate AM antenna - tough if you have limited space above the unit.

This is a tough job - great sound from a small unit. The Panasonic SC-EN7 is ok, but not great. It has quite a few features...but I would trade those features for quality sound. The biggest problem is that the mid range is not bright enough. Instead, it's a big muddy. It does have good bass, but needs a better mid range sound, in my opinion. I'm going to keep it, but probably would recommend others to look around for another one. Also, I don't like the fact that the remote has many features that aren't on the console. So, if you lose the remote, you are in trouble!

I wanted a little supplementary system for my home office---I wasn't expecting much, sort of a glorified boombox. Which is what this is---but I must say, for having spent only $100 bucks, this little system knocked my socks off. I have been playing some acoustic and country music, which pretty much sounds good on anything because it is so well recorded. But today I put it through its paces with some pretty cutting edge rock and I was pleasantly surprised. Granted, it's not a high-end system, but if all you want are some nice tunes for your den or kitchen, this little box is highly recommended. Great on highs and lows, midrange a bit muddley as on most small systems---quite good at higher volumes. A bit less clear at very low volumes, which is true of most small systems.

What I mean is that this unit was just about perfect for us because of we wanted in terms of features. I can see where someone desiring really high quality music reproduction would be disappointed, but this is not for that purpose (IMO).

Big Pluses for us:
Sleep timer
Fast forwarding within individual mp3 files (not just jumping from beginning to end)
Great for a disk with 10 folders and 200 mp3 files spread through them.


Minus - Having most of the controls on the remote is risky. Lose it and you pretty much lose the best parts of this unit.

FYI - We wanted a unit for listening to CD audio books in MP3 format. Thus the sleep timer and ease of manuvering around large numbers of files in multiple folders are SUPER features. I could not find them anywhere else. Since it is not [primarily] for music, hi fidelity is not as important to us.

This is a great unit for home MP3 use. If you just want to play [regular audio] music CDs, look elsewhere.

This is a very good system. Sound quality is excellent. Panasonic has really delivered with this one. I really don't understand how some people can give this system a bad rating. I guess they are expecting the sound quality of an expensive home theatre system or something. It needs to be understood just what this product is exactly. It is a desktop audio system. For its size it has incredibly clear sound and exceptional bass. However, it does not sound like a $1000 Bose Acoustic Wave system, so don't expect that. I highly recommend this item to people who want clear and rich music out of small system. For the money it can't be beat. I absolutely love mine and you will too.

I read the scattered negative reviews on this item here and elsewhere and was frankly undecided about this item. It was intended to replace an aging Sony Boom Box in my work office. I set the thing up and was horrified to find that the sound quality was aweful. After a few moments of reflection I realized it was user error! Whoops! I had reverse-wired the speakers. (they are hard wired into the speakers and you have to match them to the back of the unit. Not the most intuitive layout for the connections, but I should have been more careful.) I quickly corrected that issue and was very pleased with the sound quality. I listen to a variety of classical, jazz and classic rock. So far, so good. Three solid days of use now. Generally very satisfied. One major gripe: The receiver reception is poor. I regularly listen to a nearby FM radio station. For whatever reason, this has proven to be a frequent challenge with lots of fading and crackling. The old styled whip antenna probably doesn't help much.

This unit is great for what it attempts to be. It only has a few tiny issues:

1) It isn't really an alarm clock, but you can use it like one via the timer function. If it was really an alarm clock, it would have a snooze function.

2) The display's backlight is only active when the system is on. It would be nice if it was on all of the time so you could see what time it is at night.

3) It is so nice that it plays MP3 CDs, but it takes a while to read the file system when it starts playing and... the worst problem in the whole unit... it doesn't do random mode for MP3 CDs!

But, the sound is good, the overall functionality is very good, the CD mechanism is quiet, the remote is handy... so the previous 3 small problems are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. I highly recommend this unit for bedrooms/dens or as an alternative to an alarm clock.

Both the AM and FM reception is poor. There is no provision for an external FM antenna (whether that would help, I don't know) and the whip anntenna is terrible. Even fairly strong stations come in with static -- weaker stations don't come in at all. AM is just as bad. If you don't care about the radio and just want a CD player, the sound is passable.