Price Paid:  $135.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
I bought this cd changer as a demo model in 2000 and was planning on replacing it with something better (more pricey)(but i have yet to find one that exceeds this one's overall abilities) I compared it to an NAD 523 changer and can honestly say that this one sounded better (NAD sounded shallow, not quite as full of sound) also, Onkyo has a much better software system, things work quickly and intuitively (for example, you can put a cd into any one of the disc trays, and push that number disc and walk away....the disc player closes and plays the music in about 6 seconds)...I also compared it to a Harman Kardon 8380 (which has 20 bit Burr Brown convertors...and plays HDCDs)....Here, the Onkyo lost in sound quality...the Harman Kardon has slightly more detail and refined bass, but it also had problems finding discs (would fail at going from say, disc 1 to disc 4, about 1 out of 8 times....pretty annoying)...also with the HK, you had to wait every time you opened and closed the tray for it to cycle around all 5 discs before it would play the disc you wanted and it required you to push the "close tray " button, "disc number" button and the "play" button...(took about 12 seconds) if you want audiophile sound (and who doesn't?) i don't think you will find it in a cheap cd changer, i am now on the hunt for a single cd player for that purpose...for multidisc playback...this cd player is great, easy to use and sounds alright on my NAD t571 A/V amp and Paradigm monitor 7 v2 speakers

Strengths:
easy to use, durable(has made several apartment moves without original packaging (wraped in towels or blankets), great software operating system, stores 6 discs, drawer mechanism isn't incredibly noisy

Weaknesses:
stores 6 discs (makes the unit very large and cumbersome), not the greatest sound available on the market, i don't think it is available any longer

Similar Products Used:
NAD 523 (worse sound, less intuitive operating system) Harman Kardon 8380 (better sound, horrible operating system)

Price Paid:  $275.00 from local A/V store

Summary:
I love this thing! I have never had a problem with it and works as well as it did when i bought it about 3 years ago. You can probly find it for cheaper than i got it for and even for the price i paid i think it is worth it.

Strengths:
Well made Not too big Nice features

Weaknesses:
None i have noticed

Price Paid:  $75.00 from E-bay

Summary:
This is actually a review for the 2001 model, the DX-C380.

I narrowed my choice of CD player down to this one and the Yamaha CDC-685. Both have excellent reputations, and the Yamaha has an advantage of a nice telephone-style number pad to directly input the track number, whereas the Onkyo requires scrolling using forward/backward keys, although numbers can be directly entered in from the remote. The advantage of the Onkyo is that it has 6 disc capacity instead of 5, and has a very clever 'Next Selection' function which lets you tell the chanegr what to do next. So, if Disc 2 Track 3 is playing, you can tell it to play Disc 6 track 9 next, and enver have to have the music interrupted, or rush over when the song currently playing is done. This can be accessed by remote as well as on the unit. Prices between the 2 units are roughly identical, about $170 for the Onkyo, and about $200 for the Yamaha.

Playing around on E-bay, I found a factory refurbished unit from an Onkyo authorized dealer with full factory warranty. I jumped on it, and paid $75.00 for the CD player. The vendor was Best Price Audio Video (bestpriceaudiovideo.com) a Cleveland dealer who was very good on customer service, and shipped within 48 hours of reveicing my payment.

I was a little skeptical about the refurbished unit, until it arrived. The box said "refurbished Unit, Cosmetic Defects," and that made me feel great. Apparently the actual inner workings of the CD player were always perfect, there was just some cosmetic issue that required refurbishing. The CD Changer I got looked absolutely perfect, not a single blemish on it, and there was even a plastic sheet over the display to protect it from scratching.

All in all I feel I got an amazing steal. Had I paid full price, I probably would be writing the exact same review, but for under $100 this is a steal. And, the best part is, I have seen more of these on E-bay from best price audio video, so I think they routinely get these refurbished units to sell for amazing prices. Jump on this deal if you find it, this CD player is built like a tank and will last for years to come.

I hope this helps some people decide, and feel free to e-mail me with questions about this or any other piece of my system. Thanks!

My System:
Denon 3801
Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 front speakers
Ascend Acoustics HTM-200 center/rear speakers
Hsu VTF-2 Subwoofer
JVC XV-SA70BK DVD Player
Onkyo DC-X380 CD Changer
Toshiba CN36X81 TV

Strengths:
Solid build, great sound, digital optical out connection, next selection feature, very easy to use

Weaknesses:
absolutely none

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha CDC-685

Price Paid:  $190.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
This is actually for the DX-C380, the current model.

I was comparing the Onkyo and the JVC XLF-2258. I like some JVC products too and the XLF-2258 had similar features as the Onkyo DX-C380 but with only 5 disk capacity. It was also $50.00 less. But the disk capacity and lower price wasn't what convinced me to buy the Onkyo.

I had managed a stereo store "back in the day" and always liked Onkyo's products. We used Onkyo equipment for demostration purposes because they had good, clean sound and would tolerate being BEAT for 8-10 hours a day, 6 days a week for years without fail!

When I went into a couple Circuit City stores looking for a CD changer I noticed they were using an Onkyo DX-C380 and Onkyo receiver for demostrating speakers. The salesman in one store said that they had been using it, "for at least a year." Well, it was good to see that Onkyo hadn't sold out for the mass market like another once-excellent StereO equipmeNt companY and they maintained their high quality!

Understand that I would have been perfectly happy spending $50 less for the JVC. A buck is still a buck! But when I put one of the store's CD's into the "new" JVC unit on the shelf, it started making a grinding sound as if the disk was rubbing on something inside! NOT GOOD! Was it the disk? I put it into the Onkyo. Silent. I tried another CD with the same result.

Now granted, this was not a scientific test, but quality is still quality. And if that was a demostration of what to expect from the JVC, well...

Are there better CD changers than the Onkyo? Maybe. But I happily spent that extra $50.00 knowing that I bought a CD changer that sounds great, performs great and will last me for many years to come. Good job Onkyo! An Onkyo A/V receiver is next!

Strengths:
Solid build quality, smooth function, a "real" on/off switch.

Weaknesses:
Sounds a little clunky when changing disks, but all changers do that. At least the Onkyo sounds good and solid and not cheap when it does it!

Similar Products Used:
Nothing worth mentioning.

Price Paid:  $149.00 from hh gregg

Summary:
This is a very impressive cd player for it's price!! The only cd player that had bass that was as tight and clean was the sony cx-53. I have listened to about everything upto $500 and this player is the best overall and the sony cx-53 would be 2nd. The denon did not seem to be as detailed and the sony es was grainy and harsh. Can't imagine finding a better cd player for this price or more!! cd player does require around 70 hours of burn-in to get full potential of sound quality. Again excellent for it's price and above. Definitely recommended!!!!

Strengths:
very good detail and strong,deep, detailed and controlled bass

Weaknesses:
non in this price range and up to $500

Similar Products Used:
denon-360 or 370?, sony ca50es, sony cx-53 and sony's newer 5cd changer priced at $129.00