Sony ICFCDK50 Under Cabinet Kitchen CD Clock Radio
by Sony
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Our Price: $162.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Speakers See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony ICFCDK50 Under Cabinet Kitchen CD Clock Radio
Customer Review: Rated for performance and looks
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had my Sony Under-Cabinet Kitchen CD/Clock Radio (Silver) for five weeks now. I love everything about it except one thing--but that will go in the last paragraph.
The instructions initially caused me pause. Do not place near a refrigerator, microwave, or other appliance. So, yes, my plan was to secure it under the cabinet between my refrigerator and microwave. There is no other place in the kitchen for it. OK then, we'll test it. I set it on a CD crate storage unit--between the noise behemoths and went through all the set-up instructions. Note: all instructions are simple and easy to follow. The technical writers get an A from me. I didn't have to read and reread the instructions just to interpret them.
There are five preset dials on the Sony, one more than my favorite four stations. Guess what I added? Yep, a rap/hip-hop station. Yo, ol' white lady, you stylin' now (or whatever the current vernacular). Only the public radio station has a problem, not with sound quality, but with volume. For some reason it is about two clicks below the volume of the other stations. Adjusting the volume is simple and not worthy of complaint.
News flash! Those noise behemoths make not one iota of effect on the Sony. (Iota: a tiny or scarcely noticeable amount. In that case, less than an iota.) This is not a high-priced, top quality sound machine. It is an under-cabinet model intended for a rather limited space. For that consideration the unit earns five stars. I love the sound. It fills the kitchen! That's what I wanted. Previously I used a small boom box which sounds terrible and no matter what volume I set, it still sounded like a tiny bug in a giant room--lost. The Sony--the boom box's antithesis--sounds as it were made for my kitchen!
Last paragraph: the Problem. The instructions show how to use the template to drill four holes. I cleared out the cabinet, got out my drill, found the right bit, and was eager and ready to begin. I could not get the drill inside the cabinet to drill. Oh, I could slant drill, but I foresaw that problem immediately. I tried using a screwdriver to punch in the hole. I had barely made a dent when I saw how LONG it would take me to make FOUR holes. I have the patience for maybe one hole--but not four.
My Sony Under-Cabinet Kitchen CD/Clock Radio (Silver) is now perched atop that CD crate holder with a little mantle wreath atop for decoration (to hide those four cylinder things for screws), what? taking up counter space. However, I do not blame the Sony unit! Everything about it is juuuust right!
Customer Review: Really a great little device!
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, the reason I checked reception quality as only 3 stars has to do with my area.. my last device (an expensive radio/cd player) didn't have the terrific reception as this piece of electronics. It totally outweighs my earlier piece of equipment.. but I do believe I'm in a mediocre reception area. I took the advice of the instructions included (as well as the reviews here on Amazon) to install it away from the fridge. I am happy with the reception considering how poor my last piece of equipment performed. I am able to receive AM/FM NPR well.
The CD player is perfect, with a choice of "repeat" the single play, shuffle, or the complete run of the music disc itself. Easy to understand the programming (I'm not the brightest crayon in the box) .. good, VERY good sound quality.
The MP3 player ditto.. great sound!
For the price this guy is a great bargain. I didn't have a power drill so ended up having to order one from Amazon to install it.. but I needed that little guy anyhow, so I don't mind the expense.. the schematic included (paper layout) for installation worked perfect for a 71 year old female intimidated by anything of this nature.. smooth as glass.
I'm in a 549 sq ft loft.. space at a premium here.. installed under a kitchen cabinet it takes up NO room at all.. may be the best purchase of my LIFETIME!! I'll post a picture to the web page on Amazon.
Hurrah!
Customer Review: Great product! Love the slim factor and the great sound!
Summary: 5 Stars
I installed this in my kitchen underneath a cabinet and it looks great. It's only about 4 inches in height or seemingly less, and was easy to install with the paper hole alignment guide provided. You put the paper guide into the cabinet and then you use a drill to make the holes through the bottom of the cabinet. I countersunk the screws into the wood by using a slightly larger drill bit to make small areas for the screw head. I didn't use the provided spacers, and instead just mounted the unit flush against the cabinet, and it looks great!
Now about the unit, the sound is great for our kitchen. I always leave the megabass setting on, without it it does not fill them room as well. I can crank this unit way up and hear it in all the rooms of my house, and it does not sound bad or like the speakers are going to break. So that's great, you can crank this baby!!!
The CD player works great, just like you would expect. Clock is fine. Timer is fine. Also hooked up to my ipod through the audio-in cord provided and that worked great as well.
Five presets buttons (actually 10 FM and 5 AM) make it really easy to switch around. The remote controller is neat, but don't really need to use it as I can reach the unit just as easily. Controller does not reflect off walls or anything like that, so you need a clear line-of-sight to make it work.
Overall, this is a great product and my wife and I love it!
Customer Review: I LOVE this!
Summary: 5 Stars
This stereo is wonderful! I was going to get a cheaper one that was half the price of this one, but after reading reviews, I chose to buy this one. It was easy to install, my husband did it by himself. You don't need to use the spacers, but we had to because of the way our cabinet is.
The radio is GREAT. I read that the reception wasn't so good because of the antenna being in the power cord, but I haven't unraveled it and the sound is clear.
The clock is automatically set when you plug it in, all you need to do is switch the time zone.
The remote is a cool feature, but I never use it. I love that I can leave it on my fridge, though.
I have yet to use the CD player since I always listen to my iPod. It comes up great. The only improvement I wish it had was making the jack for the mp3 player longer. The mp3 holder could go on both sides, but if you put it on the left, the cord won't reach the mp3 player. It isn't a hassle to keep it on the other side, though.
I didn't think I was going to use the timer since I always use my microwave, but I love this one! It's super easy, just turn the knob and press it.
As for the sound, this thing is pretty loud. I can have the washer, dryer and faucet run at the same time and I can still listen to my music just fine without the volume being cranked up.
I would recommend this to anyone any day!
Customer Review: Great kitchen music player!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this newer version to replace an older Sony under cabinet clock radio and could not be more satisfied.
The older version was a bit bigger and had a TV band, which no longer worked due to new digital standards, and had no mp3 hookup. Was pretty happy with the older version, but since more and more of my music is in a compressed format, I didn't use the CD player as much and found myself just using it for the radio. I also loved the fact that it didn't take up a lot of space as it easily mounted under the cabinet. Still it was kind of a space waster just for a fm/am radio.
I then found this newer version which solved all my needs. Yes it has it's own mp3 cable permanently attached and also has a handy mp3 player holder that attaches inconspicuously on the side. It was very easy again to install with the included hole template and as an added bonus seems to get better radio reception than my previous older version! I have it installed in the same exact place as the other one and receives all the stations that I listen to, go figure....
Placement is critical if you want to receive your stations static free, as stated it should not be mounted right next to a microwave, refrigerator or some other motorized appliance. Ours is mounted about 3 feet from an appliance and it picks up stations crystal clear, better than I expected with this model.
I recommend it highly.