Sony CDX CA860X

Price Paid:  $250.00 from eBay

Year / Model Reviewed:
 2001 cdx860x

Strengths:
Easy to learn. Convenient remotes. Excellent sound. Versatile.

Weaknesses:
It can skip when hitting average bumps. Other than that, It is a very nice receiver.

Summary:
Easy to learn settings. Great eq7 equalizations. I personally like the CLUB setting. It hits with a deep crunch and nice highs. The remotes allow you to control the volume without reaching for the stereo, which is nice because while driving offroad you will have control over the stereo. Also, when you want to change the track or volume you don't have to make it so obvious because the remotes stay near. The illumination is really nice. The contrast can be easily adjusted so that you can see it in the daytime without squinting. There are 6 outputs for the rca's which give you the flexibility to amp anything you want. DSO feature sounds amazing. I can't understand who would want to leave the DSO off. Th HPF and LPF crossovers are also good features that you don't expect to see in a stereo. I plan on amping the 2 sub channels and the 2 front channels from the stereo and running the factory 4x6 speakers with the HPF on the receiver. Then I can listen to the clarity of the speakers instead of making them into tacos.

Similar Products Used:
Audiobahn, Pioneer

Price Paid:  $200.00 from eBay

Year / Model Reviewed:
 CA860X

Strengths:
The internal amp in this CD player works great and gets louder than I''ll ever need. I was amazed at the quality of the sound that comes out of the player. A friend thought I had installed some tweeters along with the new CD player. The thing has some great features. Built-in 7 band eq, built-in crossovers, 6 preamp outputs at 5.5v. It also has a great radio tuner among many other great features.

Weaknesses:
CD''s sometimes skip and it can take a while to load a CDR but that isn''t too big of a deal. I was hoping that the built in crossover would allow me to set the crossover points to be different for the front and rear channels, but it doesn''t.

Summary:
It is strange going from a CD player with buttons on it to the 860X with no buttons, only remotes. After only one trip out of town I started to appreciate having a remote control because it is easier to have a remote than reaching for a button to change stuff.

Similar Products Used:
My old CD player was a pioneer. I''m not sure of the model number.