This is one of the best sounding 5 disc CD player out there. Very reliable and a great performer.

Solid sound, great value

If you pause a disc, it will keep spinning FOREVER until you stop it. Maybe some people like this though: "don't mess with the user's input".

A lot of people claim to have reliability problems with this unit, but mine has been just fine. Over 3 years of use now without a single problem. No loud transport noise fresh out of the box, no skipping discs, etc. Maybe I just got lucky, but I'm very happy with it. Even reads a few discs I burned myself that skip in my CD-ROM drive. Audio-wise it's great. I don't have the best room acoustics or anything like that, but it sounds very transparent on a variety of music types.

Plays clear, on both regular store bought cd's and computer burned cd's too

Not the coolest looking cd player on the market

I have had nothing but good experiences with my player. All the features it?s suppose to do, it does well. I have read a few horror stories on this board but I bought mine from Best Buy like a lot of other guys but I can?t think of anything truly negative.

Aesthetically nice. That's all though (please read below)

Many which I will list below. If Nakamichi had any respect for their customers, they would have posted a toll free number here where they can offer a FULL REFUND to anyone who ships back this player to them. But since they do not offer this reparation to their customers, I will NO LONGER purchase any Nak product ever! I concur with many previous posters as to their callousness and disregard for the paying customer. This is unacceptable.

In a nutshell, my player often malfunctions as well. It skips, can't read many discs, has loud motor noise, and fast forwards by itself!!! Nakamichi would NOT honor a refund as well, so I decided to NEVER purchase anything from them again. I told my audio enthusiast freinds as well, and they agreed not to support Nakamichi when they heard my story. If they were a worthy organization, they would have posted a toll free number for refunds on this lemon of a unit!

Great looks, sounds nice WHEN working correctly (which is not too frequent)

Defective; Nak customer service does not return calls/e-mails

Don't purchase this unit whatever you do! Mine skips on about 30% of CD's! It also goes into fast forward cue mode by itself, thus playing the CD's in fast speed, which of course sounds like your favorite artist on speed/crack! Given some of the other negative reviews here, Nakamichi should be ashamed of themselves for selling such junk to the public! I am going to spread the word far and wide for people NOT to buy Junkamichi!! I would be nicer if they returned my calls and e-mails by the way, but after this showing of callous disregard for the consumer, I will spread the word via the net that Nakamichi blows! It is a shameful thing that a 'respected' higher end manufacturer like Nakamichi has stooped to this low. If anyone who is affiliated with Nakamichi is reading this, SHAME on your lousy company! I give 1 star simply because there is no choice for no stars.

Similar Products Used:

Technics SL-PD8

Ease of operating

Higher Oversampling

I've read all the bad comments about this cd player but don't agree. I installed a system in a restuarant which continuously played cd's. After a year, it would kick out cd's regularly...yes..but why? The lens was never cleaned and some of the cd's were scratched with fingerprints. HELLO? Clean the damn thing! Learn how to keep your discs clean! Duh..
The oversampling is too high for ignorant people. If you don't know what that means, then you need to learn. Any of you have bad teeth? Any ever deglect maintenance on a car?
If you don't take care of things, they will eventually come back to haunt you.
Yes, I ended up swapping the Nak. player for a KLH player.
Two times oversampling is what morons need. nuf said.

Similar Products Used:

KLH DA1302

Sounded OK

Whine and pop

In Dec. 98 I bought the AV-500 Nak receiver, so I decided to go with the CDC-200 Nak CD player for compatibility and use of the remote. The receiver has been fine, but the CD unit has been a bummer- to say the least. Mine suffered from BOTH the nerve racking AD/DA noise pops , as well as the ungodly high pitched whine (mentioned by other reviewers). If you buy/own this CD player you are running the risk of getting an absolute LEMON. I would recommend it to nobody, and if you're a perfectionist like myself this unit can potentially cause you much pain!! I had the extended warranty through Best buy so BB replaced mine with a Yahmaha CDC-505 recently which has been satisfactory so far. The BB repair folks could not solve the problem so they replaced it. They put the generic "replace internal board" on each return and never changed the problem at all. On the last return I was so frustrated I wound the power cord on the unit in a peculiar fashion to check them- and you guessed it, the unit came back and the cord wasn't even touched! I wonder if they even took it out of the box!! This unit has been one big headache and I'm overjoyed to get rid of it!

Very nice looking player, but the buck stops there.

Noisy, skips often, does not live up to Nakamichi name and reputation.

As soon as I hooked it up, I noticed that the transport mechanism (while it's playing) was a bit too noisy. Also, the player skips quite a bit on many CD's that play fine on my Technics. Customer service at Nakamichi was very uresponsive and uncaring when I called to inquire about the player. All the guy there said in a robotic tone, was that this is really not a Nakamichi, and that it was manufactured by SOMEONE ELSE!!! So you are really not getting a true, full-fledged Nakamichi player here!!! Can you say CONSUMER FRAUD??? Like some previous posters, I am NEVER buying another Nakamichi product again. It really is a shame.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo, Technics

I love the looks, but that's as far as i'll go.

Everything. Too many flaws, and mechanically, it skips on most of my discs at certain times, and the motor whines and is too loud!

STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLAYER!!! IT IS A LEMON, AND AN EMBARRASSMENT TO THE NAKAMICHI NAME!!! Mine has been nothing but trouble. Without being wordy, the biggest problems is that it can't read discs properly (it often skips and fast forwards by itself), and the motor noise is whiny and loud. Even if you are not a critical listener, you can hear this during lower level sound passages. This is DISGRACEFUL for a Nakamichi. And to boot, Nak wouldn't even refund me or give me credit for another Nak CD player, since they claim... GET THIS... that they DON'T MANUFACTURE THIS PRODUCT, AND THAT IT IS REALLY NOT A NAKAMICHI!!! WELL, I CONSIDER THIS TO BE CONSUMER FRAUD!!! F U NAKAMICHI... I AM NEVER BUYING ONE OF YOUR PRODUCTS AGAIN IF THIS IS THE WAY YOU TREAT YOUR CUSTOMERS (i feel better now)!!!

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Onkyo, Technics, you name it. They are all better than this Nak.

Sounds good but note the weakness below.

Interior mechanical design or manufacturing must be deficient. It makes a mechanical high frequency whine.

I am the reviewer of 7/5/99.

I have since sent it back to Nakamichi for repairs.

It has not come back yet. It's been gone for about a month now.

I will keep you posted on how it comes back.

The mechanical whine that I reported got progressively worse to the point I switched back to my JVC 200 CD carousel.
(The carousels are hard to use unless you don't mind listening in series)

I got hold of customer service by phone and was instructed to send the unit back, so I did.

I have rerated my unit to 1 and 1.

I will rerate when it comes back and I will either lower the average again or make it higher.

Similar Products Used:

SONY 5CD, NAKAMICHI 1CD, PHILIPS 5CD, JVC 200CD.