Is this unit really that bad?

[Tony3d]

Hi all. I'm looking for a cd jukebox, and ran across this item. It's a Sony cdpcx355. It seems to get very poor reviews, and I was wondering if I could get your opinions. It's hard to believe it's really that bad. I would also like to know how it sounds through it's RCA outputs. Thanks.

 

[bandphan]

Most would tend to run hard drive based servers nowdays. The problem we have run into with these types of systems is mechanical failure rate is high. As for sq via analog, its more than acceptable.

 

[AVRat]

I think it's the luck of the draw on those units. I have a CX-90ES that's worked flawlessly for 14 years in shuffle mode.

 

[JesseP]

I have never heard one and probably never will so let your ears be your own guide. I'm not sure if you have one or are looking to buy. If your looking to buy id make sure i had heard it before i purchased. As the previous posts said changers like this are sure to have a high mechanical failure rate. As for sound i wouldnt expect too much either. The majority of money put into this product is to make it hold and change through so many cds. I'm sure this takes money away from other important audio parts inside. If your goal is to shuffle through a bunch of music i would advise another path like the hard drive based server as recommended earlier. I don't know how you computer setup is but you can easily hook a laptop up and use it as a source. If playing cds is your main goal i would strongly recommend just getting a single disc player because they are generally much better players.

 

[XEagleDriver]

Contrarian Opinion--they work well, when treated right

Hi all. I'm looking for a cd jukebox, and ran across this item. It's a Sony cdpcx355. It seems to get very poor reviews, and I was wondering if I could get your opinions. It's hard to believe it's really that bad. I would also like to know how it sounds through it's RCA outputs. Thanks.

Tony,

I own two, a CX335 for over 10 years and a CX355 for over six, and they work just fine--no problems in my experience, YMMV. BTW I am retired military, and each unit has been moved several times--of course I emptied them prior to the gorilla brigade showing up!

I agree with the others the analog output is quite good (this is not a "reference" piece of equipment, but what is at this price point ). I now connect them using optical connectors and let my Denon's better DACs decode the signal.

They do not like to be jostled hard, should be installed on a reasonably level surface (duh), and when you fill them, keep the CDs fairly evenly spread around the carousel, not bunched up in slots 1-150 of the 300 available. That last point is where many others cause a problem.

I would love a digital solution, but most of those are much more expensive (Sonos, Olive, Fireball, etc.) or they involve a HTPC which I do not care to maintain and these guys just keep chugging along.

Cheers,
XEagleDriver