All of the above and more. The 35z is one of the easiest units to use while in your car on a dark road. The volume dial is practical and smart, the buttons are easy to locate and the sound incredible. Understated, just the way I like it.

NOt the cheapest model on the market, but for what you get it really does translate into good value. Some uneducated friends may think it looks dull and old, just let them hear it first.

Bought a few months ago, with a new car. I wanted a unit that was fairly understated (not a Christmas tree on my dash board) with excellent audio and ease of use. Not knowing much about car audio I did a bit of research and chose what I thought is the best looking unit available.

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JVC (Model unsure)

Simple looks,no bells and whistles.Great sound even on a bottom line model.Plan on getting a 45z for my other toyota. choice of illumination colors.

wish it came with two pre-outs

I'm 36 years old and have been doing this for 18 years,so i guess you could call me a stereo guru.I've had alpine and one nak 500 cassette deck in those years and i've never had any trouble with any.The nak is "factory" looking but it's sound quality is better than the alpines i've had,tuner is better than the old nak tape deck i had.Hope the company can stay in business.

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Alpine.

Incredible sound quality : precision, smoothness, brightness in low and high frequencies. Amazing internal amp : 4x43 W max. but much power in fact. Sound quality : no comparison possible with other brands in this range of prices. It's only sound quality and no additional functions. The mid-high is really really nice, pure and amazing : I've only heard this quality on Pioneer 9000-series (much more expensive anyway). Moreover, the internal amplifier is a crazy one : after hearing for this HU, you can't listen to other brands the same, even Alpine or Clarion : not so precise and clear in mid freq. A wonderful product for the price.

Very very "sober" design. Difficult to eject some CDs. Some problems with CD-Rs. Not a lot of pre-outs.

Only for pure "analog" sound quality, and not for flashy-LCD aficionados...

Doesn''t look like a carnival sideshow. STRONG FM reception

CD sometimes acts like groundhog afraid of shadow.

Ugly is as ugly does. You want a television in your dashboard? Go buy one. They''re available. You want a no-nonsense cd receiver? Take a quick look at this one. If you live out in the sticks like I do you''ll appreciate the FM reception. (better than the Alpine, Blaupuphwhatever I had previously) The CD section sounds like...a CD playing in a car. It tends to have a lot of background noise. (horns honking, police sirens, the usual) If you have an amp laying around the preamp outs are nice. The unit does have a lot of features piled onto the few buttons. Many are not clearly marked or intuitive, but the ones (I) use regularly are easy to learn. Now the bad-- mine sometimes doesn''t eject the cd all the way. The problem seems to be exacerbated by cold weather. I have experienced some skipping, but it seems to be only certain disks. Overall I''m pretty happy with mine.

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Various Alpine products Blaupunkt Sony

excellent sound quality

ultra sensitive to certain disk.. i mean it skips alot
some electrical thing like when i press repeat botton.. it will function like random botton. The track jumps to wherever.
maybe mine is a defect, but hey who knows..?

i bought it brand new... and.. at first it's great excellent sound quality
and i really don't need to play with alot of bottons to set it up, it's just simple. but then after a while, when i eject the cd, it won't come out all the way. People at the dealer said that it's because of the rubber thing(which spins to roll out the cd) got dirty. There's not thing i can do about it. They also told me that it happens to all the headunit. Big Big B.S,... my friend has a sony one, but it never had that problem when cd won't eject fully.
anyway.. as i said before maybe mine is defect....

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sony
jvc
kenwood...
it's a much simple and neat stuff

Simply the best! Key word SIMPLY! No bells and whistles just great sound!
Isn't that what you are paying for????? The CD-35z has a MID control where most other units only offer Treble and Bass control. A HUGE + !!!!!!!!!

Nakamichi does not provide connectors that hook-up to the units pre-installed connectors forcing you to either buy the connectors or cut them off and splicing the wires another way. That's a personal thing and I may just be a bit too picky! :)

I have a 91 Camaro RS Convertible that HAD a older Alpine head unit along with a Sony Crossover and an amp to power the 4 speakers. Also another amp that powers a Fosgate 12" sub. I replaced the Alpine, Sony Crossover, and one amp with the Nakamichi CD-35z. After a easy installation I immediately noticed a larger sound stage and tighter bass response. For those Camaro owners out there, you know those 4x6 speakers in the dash can sound extremely harsh! Not with the Nakamichi CD-35z's Midrange Control! Get extreme highs with out the ear bleeding. You simply can't go wrong with this unit! This being a ragtop, the 43 watts per channel amp in the unit provides enough power to run with the top down at 60mph and you can still turn up the volume!
A note about the display..... Simply PERFECT! We had the top down and it was high noon and we could easily see the LCD display. The Alpine had the LED display which was impossible to see with the top on and sunglasses.

I'll agree with the comments left by the previous review, If you want all the bells and whistles and have more time to play with the settings than driving then buy another unit! If you want to simply pop in a cd and take a drive then buy the CD-35z. This unit is of audiophile quality and does not need all the bells and whistles for it to perform. If you want sound quality then buy this unit! You will not be dissapointed!!!!!!

I'm going to buy a Infinity Basslink 10" powered sub and replace the Fosgate 12" and amp I currently have in the car. This being a convertible I need all the room! The Basslink has gotten some serious reviews and I think it's worth a try. I'll leave a review in the basslink area when I make that step.
On a side note.....
I love talking and meeting other people with 3rd Gen Camaros.
Drop a email at lorelei7@webtv.net and lets talk Camaros and Stereos.
Looking to find other 3rd Gen Camaro RS Convertible owners out here.
With only a little over 5,000 made, the croud should be small. :)

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Replaced an older Alpine head unit and Sony Crossover and amp.

no bells and whistles that you don't need, it was difficult to find a headunit that didn't look like it came out of the pages of some teenager magazine--very clean and refined--great sound quality

none so far-every bit of space was smartly used--emphesis was placed on simplicity and sound quality.

the faceplate attaches straight on, instead of at an angle-top notch build quality--does not loose memory when the battery is disconnected for short periods of time--the average price in Tampa for this unit is 325.00--go to ubid.com the next time you buy something--as you see I paid a mere 117.00 for this unit--selection changes often though--I would have paid the 325.00(and it would've been worth the price) and almost did-a friend told me about ubid just in time--If you are an adult you will love this stereo--if you want a show instead of pure sound quality, look for something else!

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none compare--I use a kenwood in my car and it has served me well--I have used it for 4 years now(no whistles)I bought my son a Panasonic 150U and it has also served well even with the bells and whistles--I replaced a panasonic (which was also built of quality)with the Nakamichi--the Panasonic served me well but I couldn't see the display while I was wearing dark glasses--DON'T BUY SONY!!, unless you want to spend time taking it to be repaired, which will happen often. good luck and i hope this review helps

Simple and matches very well with the car! Pure quality sound!

None so far!

Simply the best unit I had ever! - I also had a Sony (MD) and a Clarion. The Clarion CD was good but forget the Sony! Nakamichi is the one for what they say... Simply-(sity) is always the BEST! I have to admit... the best I ever had!

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Sony, Clarion, Alpine (I saw couple of them before buy the Nakamichi) all of them are far behind! Even if Alpine used to be a very good manufacturer now has too "flashy" units like everyone else in the market (and it looks cheap!) exept Nakamichi.

Least-expensive unit producing 43 watts.
Excellent warranty.
Incredibly sound reproduction.
Simple, simple, simple to operate.
It's not flashy enough to get stolen.
Wonderful ergomonics.

I haven't experinced any problems so far!!

I recently purchased this product off of Ebay, as I have heard of Naka's superior sound quality. I was shocked to see a Naka deck on ebay, especially for such a low price. Immediately I bid on it. And I was shcoked when my bid for $135 had won (I was kind of in a money crunch). I had a bit of trouble hooking it up, but my brother is a seasoned electrician, and he had me set up roughly a two hours...amp, speakers, deck and all. My first test was a drive-in with my girlfriend. I wanted to see how well the unit received radio signals, and transferred to speakers. The sound is amazing!!! I easily will have the nicest stereo system going back to school, and thankfully...the face place is removeable and it not be stolen!! I also love the fact that their least-expensive unit still produces 43 watts per channel!!! Excellent excellent unit here!!!

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Sony's pathetic line..it far outperforms.
Alpine...doesn't even compare.
Pioneer...is an excellent competition...their Premier Line only, of course.

Sound quality.
Beauty as in "form follows function" elegance

Aesthetically challenged friends will call it boring, even ugly...
If you're considering this reciever, you're probably used to ignore this kind of thing...
DOES exhibit the mechanical problems listed above... his unit is not "defect". It is nothing too serious

This is a beautiful piece in the sense that all you pay goes to sound quality instead of dolphin animations on a LSD screen(or whatever). Bass Mid Treb adjustments, excellent definition and pretty rare(here in argentina at least).

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None