Summary: I've owned this head unit now for almost 8-years.It has outlasted three vehicles and currently resides in my wife's Ford Explorer. The simplicity of form and function is what attracted my interest. I'd frankly not heard much about Nakamichi as far as mobile audio was concerned before I bought it. As a former Navy ET, I was not really one to be loyal to any particular brand. Once I read the specs on this unit, the $325.00 price tag was, to me at least, a steal. It hasn't disappointed me, even to this day, with the huge advances in technology since I purchased this unit, it's reproduction is still far more accurate than other units I've purchased since then. It even rivals the Clarion DRZ 9255 I have in my own vehicle. I'm looking forward to the demise of my wife's car, so I can use this head unit in a project car in my garage...a nice 70&1/2 Z/28 It's simple to operate, it looks clean and does not attract the attention of would-be thieves (who wouldn't know what the were stealing anyway)and, from my experience, seems to last forever.If I could find several of these out there, still in the box, I'd snap them up in a minute.
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Summary: This is the best CD head unit I've owned to date. However, the radio tuner is woefully inadequate for a supposedly high-end name like Nak. Next time I'm going with either Alpine or Kenwood, as I need xlnt CD reproduction and free FM radio. If you listen to a lot of radio, stay away from the Nak.
Strengths: CD section is crystal clear and highly defined.
Weaknesses: The radio tuning capabilty is sub-par.
Similar Products Used: Concord and Eclipse.
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Summary: pretty good cd player when it work properly. No bells and whistles, just good sq. This is a follow up review. I made back in 2001.
Strengths: relaxed laid back sound, simple elegant design
Weaknesses: reliability issues especialy the transport mechanism. Quality control at Nakamichi. Made in Mylasia (what the f#*k)? tuner section is weak sauce! Even Nakamichi tech tell you to stay away because poor built and has many issues. Even the mb-100 and cd-700 have issues with mechanism, supposely made in Japan, doubt it because poorly built mechanism
Similar Products Used: clarion very good sound and reliable, sony sucks, jvc decent, panasonic decent, alping sucks overated, phillips old school very good sq, pioneer decent, eclipse pretty good kinda of bright though
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Summary: SQ is pretty good. I bought the thing because I own a lot of Nakamichi equipment already (amps, Xovers, speakers) and like the sound quality each piece has to offer. The extra inputs of the CD45Z allows me to hook up a DVD/MP3 player and my Nakamichi TD1200 mkII. Nothing comes close to the sound quality of the TD 1200 mkII, of course, but good media is hard to find, and CDs are much more convenient. When my Nakamichi CD760 bit the dust, I had to find a replacement. I couldn't afford much at the time, so I settled for the CD45Z. I'm quite happy with my decision. As with all Nakamichi head units, the AM/FM reception sucks to the bone. The deck is simple and elegant. I have no idea why people are so impressed with the 20 bit DAConverter. Anyway... I've owned a lot of decks in the past and this one is definitely in the upper half. Although it's often true that you pay for what you get, the CD45Z gives pretty good bang for the buck. I wish I had the money for a Nakamichi CD 700. Now that's one heck of a CD player.
Strengths: versatility and sound quality
looks and feel
reads burned CDs (bonus)
volume knob
specs (yes, I'm a specs freak)
Weaknesses: Not much, except remote is kind of goofy
Similar Products Used: Fujitsu Ten, Yamaha, Clarion, Sony, Denon, Eclipse, Nakamichi CD 760, a few others I can't recall or want to admit I had.
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