Panasonic CQ-DFX77

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Crutchfield

Year / Model Reviewed:
 1999

Summary:
I had this deck from 1999 to 2000 when I gave my vehicle to my father. I wanted him to have nice cd player. Back then it had a cool color display, and a simple menu design. I loved the way it looked at night, and the silver finish. Back then I had a kenwood cassette/cd changer setup. Then I decided to upgrade. So I went with the panasonic because it had higher preamp voltage, looked nice, and cost more. I used it to power my system which had JBL components, a PPI and Phoenix Gold amp, and a pair of 12" JL Audio W4's. And this deck rocked my system! It had much more clarity than my old Kenwood Cassette deck. I expected it to have reliability problems because panasonic had not been in car audio as long as kenwood, clarion, etc. But to my surprise, I had no problems whatsoever. This deck may not have been the fanciest, or most expensive, but it was reliable. And when I sold my amps and subs, I was able to power my components with enough power from the deck alone. I would lay and listen to my system at night before I went into the house. And the panasonic powered my speakers with about the same clarity that my phoenix gold was powering my jbl tweets/mids...albeit with much less power. There were minor complaints, but no glaring weaknesses.

Strengths:
Reliability, sound quality.

Weaknesses:
Glare in daylight made it hard read the display.

Similar Products Used:
Kenwood Cassette/CD changer combo. The kenwood cassette would eat up and not spit out my cassettes. And the cd changer would not work sometimes. The Panasonic worked wonders for me.

Price Paid:  $100.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 1998

Summary:
this deck is really good for competition with the sub outputs and other bass controls.the high definition bass drops the bass very low.it puts out bass better than my new pioneer deh-p3300. not to dis pioneer this is a tight deck.

Strengths:
i really like the sub outputs. they put out nice deep low bass.the face plate looks nice at night time.

Weaknesses:
they are no weakness

Similar Products Used:
no deck compares.

Price Paid:  $300.00

Summary:
Long lasting and great sound.

Strengths:
Everything On this CD-player was better then I could have hoped for. Has Sub output's that worked great on my 600Watt Sub.

Weaknesses:
Nothing at all, It is all I was looking for in a deck. Never have I had a problem with it.

Similar Products Used:
Dosen't compare. Blows all other out of the water

Summary:
The best thing about panasonic decks are that the controls are all in good spots and well laid-out. They also are attractive and cheap.

I paid about $240 for it when it came out and was well worth it compared to the competition. It is probably harder to find now but I would definity recommend Panasonic to anyone who likes a good performing deck for a decent price.

Strengths:
Nice looking, solid power, three pre-outs, well-placed controls

Weaknesses:
Sometimes the buttons stuck, but I think that was my fault because it gets dirty on gravel roads

Similar Products Used:
kenwood, pioneer. I preferred the Panasonic.