The CDX-727, Precision in Motion
Written: May 02 '00 (Updated Jun 25 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Sound, Size, Shock Resistance, Changer Speed, Simplicity, Synergy with Sony Head Units
Cons: I honestly can't think of one yet.......
The Bottom Line: A good cd changer at an excellent value!
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| AVaddict's Full Review: Sony CDX-727 10-Disc CD Changer |
Brief History
I have had only one other changer, it was a Pioneer and it performed quite well, but did have a tendency to jam when sliding out the cartridge trays during an in-play disc change.I purchased this unit, the SONY CDX-727, from Crutchfield as a "closeout". Previous to this time I was running a "car kit" from my portable CD player, also a SONY. The portable has good sound, but by the time the sound went thru the conversion to play against the magnetic head of my head unit (SONY XR-C5120, to be replaced by my XR-C900ES, look for a review on both) it didn't sound much like a CD anymore. So with all the ability of the 5120 to run the changer, and Crutchfield having a sale on the 727, it seemed like a good time to buy. I have mentioned their name twice, but I make this disclaimer about them; I have never been satisfied with their service (but occasionally their prices do rock), and the vast majority of the time their reps NEVER know what they are talking about, so know what you want BEFORE you call. With that out of the way, let's review!
Sound
There was a time in the past (10+ years) when you could breathe the wrong way and your player would skip. In the early days CD players varied a lot in quality and ultimately sound. These days that is really not true except for possibly ultra elite home transports. Accepting this, I probably couldn't tell the difference between a Pioneer, SONY, Kenwood, etc. if I had my eyes closed. CD is CD, I think its really that simple. How much headroom it loses because of DSP is a different thing, and since I don't use one in my car, I won't discuss it. Simply put, the sound this unit is able to produce is astounding. Excellent detail, great low end end and bright highs, but w/o being too bright. Overall the sound is real and warm, whether its The Grateful Dead, Tchaikovsky, or Tool. I still believe this to be true; your cd player is only as good as your speakers. If you get this unit, you are doing yourself a disservice by not upgrading your factory speakers. Speakers are cheap, just do it.
Construction Quality
When I first pulled this out of the box, I was surprised to find that it was VERY light. My first thought was that there must be a lot of light plastic parts, oh no... When I did some poking around and looked at the inside w/o the cartridge in it, I was not so worried. The springs(?) that isolated the play mechanism seem to be quite strong, but with enough give so as not to be rigid. The mounting brackets are just that, brackets. They are plastic and appear somewhat flimsy, but a good friend of mine with the same unit and vehicle ('95 4-door Accord), has had his mounted for over a year and never had a problem, so I am relatively sure I won't have a problem either. Right now the changer is just sitting in the trunk on top of a towel to keep it from moving, it NEVER skips. It doesn't seem to have a problem reading anything, and I am the horribly-scratched-CD KING!! I now know for a fact that this unit plays CD-Rs and CD-RWs just fine, there has been a lot of press to the contrary, but I've never had a problem.
I did some research before I bought this changer into other brands, but more specifically SONY ES, SONYs high line. The ES unit was twice the price with no appreciable difference in features. I have found that this unit changes trays as fast or even FASTER than the ES unit, and it plays just as beautifully. The lesson here, you don't have to spend a lot to get a good CD changer.
Ease of use
I wanted to set this aside from the rest because the ease of use of this product (or any changer) is really dependant on the ergonomics of the head unit you are running it through. The SONY XR-C5120 that I have now (scheduled for replacement) is very easy to use. It (5120) does not have the CD text functions available, it is relatively low end. This is not a big deal to me only because the vast majority of the time I already know what I have in the magazine, so it was not a feature I based my purchase on. This in addition to the fact that I still have and listen to a lot of tapes; indexing bells and whistles aren't that important to me. The long and short is this, this unit was easy to install, is easy to use, has outstanding clarity of sound, and for now, appears to be quite well manufactured. I have a good feeling that if you are in the market for a good CD changer you will be quite pleased with the CDX-727s performance. From what I have seen, this unit is still popularly available.
Recommended:
Yes
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Location: Texas
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