Can read heavily scratch CDs, Cheap

Poor sound quality

Like all Kenwood products, this CD Player is reliable and is affordable. It have all the options you expect from a CD player of this category.

But like all Kenwood products, the sound is somewhat of poor quality. There's no detail and precision in the sound.

For the price, it's an average player though.

3 stars for the value, 2 stars for the sound you get from it. At this price, you can find better with JVC and Sony products. But at this price range, don't expect something to sound too good...

Similar Products Used:

Nakamichi MB8, Rotel Single CD player

I purchased the 204 last year at Circuit City (LOL) for about 150.00 and have had no problems with it (knock on wood) so far. This is my first cd changer and I would highly recommend this piece to a beginner. Solid construction and ease of use makes it a winner. My only complaint is that there needs to be a power button on the remote. But for 150.00, you can't have everything. There are alot of better cd players out there, but this is a great place to start your own system. Not much more to say. The Kenwood CD-204 is a pretty strait-forward CD player. I would give it four and a half speakers because of the no power button on the remote, so I guess I will round up!

Cheap

Starts playing automatically when turned on. No midrange. Remote is worthless.

I had this thing for less than two years of occasional use and it died on me. I recently went out and bought a Yamaha, I have to say the Yamaha sounds at least 10 times better. I'm listening to my CDs and hearing sounds I've never heard before. I'm not complaining, all I am saying is do your research, you really don't know what your missing.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, Yamaha

Great price, high value extreme performance, straight forward design.

No power button on remote, no digital out for dts or digital recording.

I have had this cd player for about 2 years. It has been a great product through its time in my home theater/stereo. This thing has some of the best imaging ive heard from budget cd player. It can hang with my 10 bit sony dvd player with digital output. Bass output is great. The design is very straight foward and could be used by practically anyone in the household. Has no trouble playing cd-r's either. It can also play minorly scratched cds with ease. The only problem i can find is that is there is no power button on the remote, which isnt really a problem for me since the power is switched through my receiver. Another problem is that there is no digital output for dts and direct digital recording. Other than that its it a great value. With this unit you get what you pay for and more. Great for people on a budget and entry level listeners.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, sony, rca, etc.