Sony MDX-C7900

Price Paid:  $150.00 from online car stereo.co

Year / Model Reviewed:
1998 sony mdx-7900

Strengths:
powerful and clear sound,nice display switches from green to amber to match your dashboard.good styling.

Weaknesses:
blinks on and off,wont play cd changer when it happens.

Summary:
i bought the sony mdx-7900 2 years ago, it was great.but now the reciever blinks on and off and it doesnt play that good. i took it to a stereo place to see what was wrong with it,they told me it is the head unit,and it would cost more to fix it.so i have to get another one. i wish sony would tell things about that.

Price Paid:  $230.00

Strengths:
Great D/A conversion for excellent sound reproduction. Tuner strength is incredible. Menus for settings are user friendly. X bass is enough to make the old people hate you. More presets then I could possibly fill for radio.

Weaknesses:
Bad, maybe intentional weak engineering on audio output section, and faceplate hinged connection hook. No mute button or ATT button (c'mon guys I had cassette decks in the 80's with that!!) Lack of good display options.

Summary:
Since I'm writing this review at a time when the product is pretty much a clearance item in most places, I would say get it for under $200 and you've got yourself a bargain. The sound is so good I'd rather listen to my MDs in my car then in home or on my portable. Sometimes I just drive in circles around my destination to listen a little longer! I have to say the audio output chip has an engineered flaw of frying IMMEDIATELY if any accidents happen to occur and your speaker wires or line-outs short out for even a millisecond. Sony even sells the chip itself for a whopping $40 because they know do it yourselfers will have accidents. I just ran 2 external amps after blowing 2 chips in a row on a hidden speaker wire problem. Sounds better and cost about the same. Also after a while the clip the clings to the back of the detachable face came off, along with it's tiny spring. I re-assembled but I'm afraid to remove the face as there's fear as to whether I can re-attach it again. I'd have to say it's a good but can-and-has-been refined product. Sony's newest car player and recorder is light-years ahead of the C7900. Now I just need $500.

Similar Products Used:
I've had cd players that didn't sound this good. I wonder what the ESS series sounds like!! It definitely is a casette-killer hands down.

Price Paid:  $189.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 1998?

Strengths:
This is a follow up review. Great Sony service!

Weaknesses:
laser only lasted a year.

Summary:
Even though I love this unit I did have on nagging problem but it only happend a couple of times. Twice in the first year it would not read discs. You could hear the laser search but nothing, the disc would eject and the display would either say blank or error. The problem cleared after awhile... A week after the one year Sony warranty it failed for good. To my surprise when I called Sony they cheerfully extended the warranty to cover the unit. I shipped it to Atlanta and received it back a couple of weeks later and it's working fine. Thanks Sony for a great product and great service.

Similar Products Used:
Sony Home MD Deck MDS JE-520

Price Paid:  $249.00

Strengths:
Great product. The wired remote needs getting used to at first. I have mine mounted on the transmission hump of my 94 toyota 4X4 behind the shifter and transfer case shifter.

Weaknesses:
I would like to have had a wireless remote like the one that I had for my old Kenwood KDC-7005. I had the face go out on me and I had to get another one. It was a real pain-because of Circuit City that is!

Summary:
It was a closeout at Circuit City and I paid about $100.00 less than retail. It was a good deal. I have it set up with a pair of Polk EX-2560 6 1/2" components and a MTX Thunder 250X and a Kenwood Excelon XW12 sub woofer.

Similar Products Used:
Kenwood KDC-7005 CD receiver/Kenwood KRC-405 cassette receiver

Strengths:
Awesome minidisc player. No problem with it. Bass sound great and give a lot of power. I use it to drive a 5.25" fullrange. Sound great. Additional of JBL 4" component driven by RF 100z2 and 12" RF HX2 driven by RF 225.2. Perfect!!

Weaknesses:
Need remote controller, subwoofer preout. motorized flip face. Wired controller need to be upgrade!

Summary:
I paid 250 on this unit. Pretty cheap compare to market price. If need more upgrade, need one Kenwood heat unit with LCD screen to watch movie. This will be my next thing to get!

Similar Products Used:
None