I just got hold of a pretty clean boxed example locally for very little money, and in my limited experience of cassette decks it's pretty good.

My frame of reference is my old Yamaha KX-493 - a machine not devoid of charm - and from memory at least this is possibly the better deck. There is certainly less audible wow and flutter, and the sound is nice and clean with good bass and dynamic information with recordings.

I've had fun recording Bob Marley's Exodus onto a TDK SA90 this evening, and the results are excellent using Dolby S.

I've read numerous complaints about the build quality being sub-par on these, but quite honestly I think it's perfectly acceptable. My Yammie has a metal faceplate whereas this is plastic, but the loading mechanism here feels more precise. It does feel like it was built down to a price compared with previous Pioneers, but it is better in the flesh than you might imagine by looking at photos.

The only legitimate gripe I've seen elsewhere is screen fading - my example is suffering badly from this. I picked up a Pioneer CD player bought new the same year with it, and it's much brighter by comparison.

This is supposedly the electronics of higher range decks packaged into a budget case, so given it's apparent quality I would say it's a bargain at the right price - especially now the best decks are more scarce.

lots of features and low price

none so far

I have used this deck for only a few days now, but I'm impressed by the price/quality ratio. I had an old Aiwa deck before this one (don't know the model, just put it in the trash). I was looking for a cheap replacement, and this one (CT-S550S) was the cheapest around. When comparing recordings to CD, it sometimes sounds warmer and less 'clinical' than the CD. Unless there will be mechanical problems in the near future, it was a very good buy for only 299 guilders (~$135).

I have used this Pioneer for two years. I own over 300 tapes, so it works "under
high voltage". But till now I don't have any problems with it. I rate it as "a middle of the road". The sound is clean and sharp. Great results with old or/and normal tapes- because of FLEX sisitem. The level indicators are very accurate. The recordings made on it are not so great, but with "dolby S" they are verry good, without of hiss and noise.
My verdict is: for play sound- 5 stars, for recordings- 4 stars, the build quality- 4 stars, facilitis- 5.
...so because of the rivals at this price- 4+ stars.