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Review 2 of 2
Price Paid:
$350.00
from eBay and Cambridge Summary:
It seems reviewers of this item fall into two camps... love it or hate it. Maybe three... there are those who would like to love it. Maybee three camps... add those who would like to love it.
I love it. I've had two, one new from eBay, one direct from Creative. Both worked fine right out of the box. The sound quality is excellent, especially on the second unit. I use it mainly to receive NPR, play CDs and run the laptop MP3s into the aux input.
Until I spilled liquid into the CD drive (doh!) I had no problem playing factory CDs or homemade MP3 CDs. I emailed Creative to see if they would sell me a replacement CD drive but they refused saying it was a liability and I would have to send it back for repair. Instead I bought another and put the first on top of the DVD/VCR/TV stand. The 740 eliminated a mess of wire, a stereo amp and two floor speakers which I do not miss in the least.
The first unit actually produced TOO MUCH bass. I had to run the bass at -4 and the treble at +4. A 10 watt 5 ohm resistor in soldered series with the driver cured that. Creative seems to agree, as on the second unit they padded down the lows. I can run the bass on 0 now and even use the loudness setting.
I agree that the radio section could be much improved. There is a lot of self-induced interstation noise on FM. Nonetheless, I am in a fringe area (30 miles+) and STILL filled 9 FM presets with stations of very satisfactory reception. Putting the unit into mono improves noisy FM and if you aren't sitting directly in front of the unit you will never miss the stereo. People who complain that the unit will not remember mono and tone settings are not saving their changes into the memory presets. Personally, I would trade the ability to save presets for a nice analog receiver section with a tuning knob.
The clock loses time, but a tap or two on the + button once a week fixes that easily enough. I have to agree, though, that there is no reason for clocks to lose time nowadays, and this IS a clock radio... right, Creative?
Last night I played CDs of Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots and Alice in Chains and it really kicked butt with tight bass and very respectable volume. I just listened to Strawberry Wine on the FM and it sounded full and sweet. All the news people on NPR sound very natural. Being fairly portable, I can get quick sound with the laptop anywhere there is power. I definitely like having the controls on the unit and not having to use the remote exclusively.
Overall, I am quite impressed with the audio quality, features and sound-to-size ratio of the 740 and I would highly recommend it. Strengths:
size, sound, portability Weaknesses:
FM interstation noise, weak AM Similar Products Used:
none of the compact tabletop type
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