I've had my 740i for 7 years, and it's actually as good as reviewed on CNET. It sounds pretty darn good as a standalone stereo in a living room The built-in subwoofer is punchy, not boomy. The Bass, Treble, Loudness and Stereo options on the Jog button are also very useful.

The headphone output is fantastic. CSW did not skimp on the headphone stage of the 740. It drives my 300 ohm Sennheiser HD600 very well. Bass, Treble, and Loudness all work on the headphone out.

I also use the line-out on the back of the 740 to drive a Buttkicker Gamer transducer for full effect on my lounge chair.

The only cons for me are the inaccurate clock and the LED's brightness. The clock loses a minute or two after about a week. The LED display is too bright for a bed room. We just put a towel over it.

size.

See review.
Ergonomics are insanely poor.
Sound is muddy
AM receiver does not work!

I don't understand why no one makes a decent clock radio these days! I looked long and hard for a decent radio with two alarms and a CD player. I am sorry I bought this. The sound is not OK. Very muddy. I get better sound from my 10 year old Proton (no CD player). The clock looses time each month. The worst part is the ergonomics. This unit was designed by someone who never tried to actually use it!
The various function buttons are impossible to see in the dark. In daylight they all look identical and the labels are in micro-print white on silver! The headphone jack is recessed under the control panel in a way that you have to pick the unit up to put the phones in or take them out! Lastly the AM receiver gets only one station in a city with dozens???? This radio is terrible!!

Similar Products Used:

Proton

Nice looking package.

Either an uncompleted design, cheapened design for inexpensive manufacture or a bad QC system.

It's a nice package and unfortunately misses the mark with performance. I have 3 main issues with the unit.

First, the FM tuner is very poor. It is incapable of bringing in stations, without excessive hiss. No combination of antennae versions/configurations would really fix this.

Second, since the FM reception is so poor, the only way to listen to it is in the "mono" mode. Well, after you set it to that mode and turn it off and then back on, it defaults back to stereo...with the associated hiss. No way to keep it in the mono mode over time. So if you purchase this unit, get used to hiss.

The third thing that is annoying is that the digital clock loses about 1 minute a week, perhaps more. Every time I remember, I go in and adjust it up a few minutes. This flaw is unbelievable in the day and age of digital circuitry. VCR's have had clocks like this for what, 25 years, and they can keep accurate time.

Similar Products Used:

Not as nice as the Bose unit for functionality.

MP3 playback. RDS Large and clear graphic display Size Solid as a rock Sleek remote

Remote angle of operation Snooze and Sleep functions cover current time display

Excellent Sound, much better than the Bose equivalent. RDS Built in is really nice. It will take on ANY small stereo system anytime. Lots of bass specially on a larger room. The only problem i got with this is that when is on Sleep or Snooze modes, it does not display the current time. That is all!

Similar Products Used:

Sony Dream Machine Sony Boom Box MP3 player.

mp3 playback, good bass response for its size, nice dot matrix text display, connectivity options

same price as a shelf system

If size is your primary concern, this is a punchy little unit. It's slightly meatier in thickness than the Bose Wave Radio, but the overall footprint is about the same. It's not as sleek or elegant looking as the Bose. The dot matrix display is nice and clear, even 20 feet away. It also dims as the lights are turned down as not to be obnoxiously bright in the dark. The buttons are functional and nicely spaced, if not aesthetically pleasing. Nothing compares with this unit in sound clarity that is a similar size. I popped in the Rolling Stones 'Tattoo You' and was surprised that the bass thumped on the bluesy tracks without distortion as the volume was turned up. The mids and highs were also quite clear, meeting my expectations. The unit also fared well on classical music, as harps and other instruments came through with good clarity. Stereo imaging is not very good, even when set to 'wide', but seems to improve slightly the further you get from the unit. If size is not your primary concern, a shelf system or multi speaker system such as the Tivoli Audio Model 3 with the extra speaker and sub will give better sound imaging and similar clarity.