Customer Reviews

Sony CFDG505 Radio Cassette Recorder Boombox (Black)

5 star:		(86)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

It may seem like this is just another boombox in a never ending list of products whose faces change each year. On the surface this unit has cheap plastic parts, a big ugly 'X', and a silly little display that is about as exciting as a clock radio from 1982. The parts such as the CD door could easily be destroyed by a one-year-old (meaning, the child would not find it very difficult at all).

So, why would anyone want this $100 hunk of plastic? And why was the unit I purchased the very last one on the shelf? And why in the world is it missing features like "MP3 playback", and includes archaic features like "cassette deck"? You've got me! Fortunately, none of this matters.

For the purpose I bought it for--plugging in a portable music player--this is the box that puts all the others to shame. For such a low price I doubt there is any product in the world that delivers this kind of power and bass response. Featuring 2 4" speakers AND a 4" subwoofer this unit is ready to churn out a wide range of hip-hop, dance music, and much more.

To put it bluntly this 20 watt system (4W + 4W @ 3.2 ohms, 12 W @ 4 ohms) sounds huge and is a perfect companion for a device such as an iPod. I consider this product fierce competition to some of the weak sounding speaker systems alluringly sold along side iPods. With a simple cable (1/8" stereo to 1/8" stereo, NOT INCLUDED) you can plug any portable audio device into this boombox.

Sony has successfully filled this corner for years, offering cheap boomboxes with good bass, and the very important "line-in"! Oh, and it comes with a remote control, plays CD's and CDR's, and has an AM/FM radio. It's fairly heavy and has a deep footprint: 20 13/15 x 12 7/8 x 9 1/2" (530 x 327 x 241mm). Despite any oddness, for this price I can't imagine being happier.

I ve always loved boomboxes and have owned dozens of them over the years. I have the Sony G55 that I still use,but Im always on the lookout for something bigger better and more powerful, and this is it. I tried it out in a local Best Buy, tuned to the local FM station and I was blown away by the deep bass and seperation. When you can notice that in a crowded store thats a good sign. I also wanted a line in for my portable dVD player and my roady2 from XM and I am very pleased.

I wlways loved the "virtual surround" on some of these but I couldn t find any unit with this kind of sound, virtual surround and a line in, but this sure comes close.

Only complaint is the lack of a lighted display,but I can live with that. With four different sound settings, the super woofer and a line in jack this is as closeto perfection I ve found in a boombox.

I agree with the review that is written underneath this one~ when you recieve it, it is not attractive and you wonder "Where in the world will I put this thing so it doesn't look like a space ship just landed from Venus?" But when you turn it on.... It just dosen't matter. It has the best sound I have ever heard from a portable and you will have no need to own any other type of stero. If your looking for a CD player, this is the one.

I'm 47 and I have owned alot of sound equipment in my day. This is a good sounding boombox with A CASSETTE PLAYER! When you are my age, at some point in life you must have owned vinyl records, 8-tracks, and compact cassettes. So if you're like me, you don't want to be bothered throwing away all of your tapes and replacing them with CD's. But what to play them on? Good luck finding something that sounds great and that you don't have to search used vintage stereo equipment stores or pawn shops to buy. Now this thing looks stupid, and I feel really old when I look at it (because this product was obviously meant for the younger crowd), but I can get past that because of how good it sounds. Not to mention that I don't have to replace all of my cassettes now. I cannot vouch for it's quality as I know things are made much more cheaply these days, but I plan on being very careful with it so I can KEEP MY TAPES and have a great sounding box on which to play them.

The boombox is freaking magnificent! However, there are two features that I wish the CD player had: 1. The ability to select specific tracks, and 2. The ability to fast-forward within a track. If those features were incorporated, it would be PERFECT!

This boom box is well described by the reviews I read on the internet. The sound is great for a versatile, not-too-heavy, and not expensive player. I use the tape player, the CD player, and the radio (which has good reception). I have trouble seeing the displays on the front sometimes and I think the way you open and close the CD hatch seems a little flimsy, but it works and the sound is really fine. I am 66 years old and am amused by the color and decoration more suitable for a 13 year old (perhaps). I play everything from old rock and roll to classical and heavy bass African music on it, as well as taped lectures. I'm very happy with my purchase

I bought this boombox to use mainly as a car stereo so I could hopefully eliminate spending $700-$800 on a complete car system, since my car stereo doesn't work at all. I knew I needed something loud and with a big bass sound to overpower road noise. Sony's Xplode boombox does not dissapoint! Fantastic booming bass when and if you want it, as it is adjustable and can be cranked up as loud as I would ever need. I read the reviews here and am quite happy with my purchase although I wound up buying it online and picking it up through a local retailer, since Ace Digital claimed the unit was out of stock and perhaps discontinued. If you want a great boombox with with incredible sound, move quickly and get this unit before it does dissappear from production. I do however wish the unit came with a bigger display that was backlit. It's really small and hard to read. The remote control is great but you can't tell what function you are accessing unless your standing inches away from the display. Kind of defeats the purpose of having the remote control. I would have given the unit 5 starts if it wasn't for this. In any case, I like the unit so much, I may be purchasing a second one for the house. If you are a stickler about full rich sound, no matter what your style of music, this is your boombox.

I just bought this unit because I have had good luck with Sony products, including an earlier model Sony boombox, and because of positive reviews of sound quality from other reviewers. I also wanted something that was "take anywhere" to play CDs, radio and especially MP3 player. Well, it does all those things. But there are some drawbacks that users should be aware of. First, this thing is BIG. That may be OK, but don't try to carry it on your lap in the back seat of most economy cars. Also it has TERRIBLE FM reception. The old Sony boombox that this one is replacing for me can pick up FM from most local stations throughout our house. This one is only able to pick up FM if it's close to a window, then only the strongest FM stations. When listening to some stations, you hear "bleed-through" of another nearby station. When I hooked up my MP3 player (which has an FM radio feature) the tiny SANSA Clip player had much better FM reception than the giant Sony boombox. Finally, the connection for MP3 player does not have very good volume. You can get great sound, but you have to turnyour MP3 player volume as high as it will go, and then turn the boombox volume quite high. When you are playing the MP3 then switch back to FM or CD, you have to be careful not to blow out the speakers because the volume is so high. I'm still searching for a good combination player with good sound, great MP3 connectiblility, good FM reception, and battery operation for use on the go. This one is OK, but far from perfect.

I can't see the tiny display and there is no backlight so if it is dark, forget about it. The sound is good but the annoyances take away from the package. The bright ring of red light that comes on when the bass is boosted is kind of annoying. My girlfriend has the predecessor (CFD-G55) to this model and the display is bigger and has a backlight. Overall, it's pretty good, but I can only give 4 out of 5 due to the annoyances.

I bought this boom box for an elevator rave I was throwing. It's quite loud, and the built in subwoofer performs well even with Electro House music. The auxiliary port makes it easy to play music from an iPod or Computer. The construction and carrying handle are solid, but the plastic Sony XPLOD Styling is tawdry. Nevertheless this is a good quality product, and definitely worth the money for anyone who wants a big sound on batteries.