Sony ICF-CD553RM Under Cabinet Kitchen CD Clock Radio (Silver)

by Sony

Product Details

• Item Weight: 7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 9 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0001NBHP8
• Item model number: ICFCD553RM
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,880 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

SONY ICF-CD553RM -- They say a "watched pot never boils," and the best way to keep your eyes of the pots and pans while remaining in the area is to update your kitchen's entertainment factor! The Kitchen CD Clock Radio is designed super-slim, and mounts under the kitchen cabinet to keep your counter space free for food preparation. Voice Memo function Dynamic Sound Space / Mega Bass(R) Sound System Cooking Timer Remote Commander Remote Control

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

106 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really nice system ..., September 4, 2004

By 

warrends - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony ICF-CD553RM Under Cabinet Kitchen CD Clock Radio (Silver) (Electronics)

Pros:
Looks great.
Extremely easy to install.
Functionality is very good.
Sound is very good.

Cons:
The dial/knob is NOT for volume or tuning, which is somewhat counterintuitive. Other than that, no flaws.

Overview:
I installed this radio just a few weeks ago. Install was extremely easy. The included template made drilling the 4 holes an exact science. And the height-adjustable legs made the fit perfect and were very simple to place and adjust, and using these the unit should fit under any cabinet setup.

It does look nice, which is important in a kitchen, and we just remodeled ours, so this looks the part.

Functionality is generally very good. Like I mentioned under weaknesses, the knob is used for the timer, which is not how most radios are set up. But we've already gotten over that. Radio is easy to use, including setting the presets and such. Likewise for the TV and weather stations. I haven't had much trouble with reception, but that will depend entirely on your own situation. The CD player is easy to use as well.

And the unit sounds good. For a small sound system, and one that is mounted under a cabinet, which is not the most acoustically perfect area, is sounds good. And the enhanced "MegaBass" and "MegaExpand" features do help quite a bit. I tend to keep them on all of the time.

All-in-all, I am very pleased with this unit.

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good sound quality but poor radio reception, October 21, 2005

By 

J. Shelton "usedbooks4sale" (Denver, CO - USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony ICF-CD553RM Under Cabinet Kitchen CD Clock Radio (Silver) (Electronics)

After reading the other reviews I thought maybe I wouldn't have the reception problems others have mentioned because we live in a suburb of Denver and our kitchen has lots of windows. We tried the radio in several spots and finally found one where the signal seemed clear. However, when I stand in one area of the kitchen not too far from the radio, the reception gets very fuzzy. You have no flexibility with this radio because there is no external antenna.

I listened to several under counter radios in the store (this one, the GE, etc.) and this one has the best sound quality but unfortunately I returned mine because the fuzzy signal when standing in certain spots was too annoying.

If you only listen to CDs, you will be happy with this. But if you want to use it to listen to FM radio, look elsewhere.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I really (did) like it!, February 25, 2006

By 

Hope Elisabeth "My $.02" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony ICF-CD553RM Under Cabinet Kitchen CD Clock Radio (Silver) (Electronics)

This radio has excellent sound quality! I live in a rural area (two hours from the nearest "city"), and I have wonderful FM reception with this radio. The only reception problems I've had have been with the Weather bands -I can't pick any up in my area -and with one AM station. Because the AM antenna is inside the radio, the placement of your radio will determine what stations come in best. In other words, you can't move the antenna to get better AM reception once it's installed.

It took fifteen minutes to install this radio. A template is provided for the screws, so all one needs is a drill for the four screws.

This radio uses buttons instead of a knob for adjusting the volume, and for locating stations. I would prefer knobs (hence my rating of 4 stars.)I would also like to see a scan option for the selection of stations. (If it has this option, I've not found it.)

I can't praise the sound quality of the radio enough. To me, this is the best feature. There are several different options to choose from when deciding on the sound quality. I like this because it allows me to choose one for listening to talk radio, and another for listening to classical. It makes a difference.

Try it! If you aren't pleased with it after a few days, you can always return it.
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Back with an update after using this radio for many months. While I still think this is a decent radio, I've become rather irritated with the come-and-go nature of the reception. As the seasons change, so do the stations that I'm able to pick up. (Since it's in a fixed position, it is difficult to tune-in a station that's fuzzy.) This requires constant resetting of the stations that I've preset. Since there isn't a scan button, one must stand there and bump the radio up bit-by-bit until finding a new station. (Call my lazy.) These days, I mostly use the radio for its CD player and the very handy kitchen timer.

I still give this radio a wonderful rating on sound quality, but if I could, I would bump the rating down to 3 stars.