ccwpeter

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $120.00 from USA

Summary:
I bought my sony CDP 491 new in 1991. It is still working great and never get me any troubles after 15 years service. No jumping tracks. I listen to it almost every day when working at home. I use a dry-clean CD to clean up the laser lens once a while. Although it is not as great as my another Sony XA20ES CD player. It is still much better than many similar CD players. Reliable, clear soundstage, warm comparing to many similar products. I have to say Sony CDP491 is a good choice if you don't want to pay a little money for a second.

Strengths:
Clear sound, easy to use.

Weaknesses:
Drawer is too noisy when open and close. But it is OK.

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer

Price Paid:  $25.00 from Value Village

Summary:
I bought this player at a used goods store and have loved it. The sound is good, and it has proved problem free, especially considering that I bought it used. I like the easy to use controls, and its brainless operation. Like I said, it sounds good, especially for a budget deck. I would have been happy with it even if I had paid full price for it. The sound is crystal clear, and it plays all types of music with precision, though not always with the warmest tones. It's hard to believe that this unit is ten years old!

Strengths:
Easy to use, decent sound, cheap (even when new).

Weaknesses:
Sound can be somewhat cold.

Similar Products Used:
Panasonic, Hitachi (not the greatest)

Price Paid:  $180.00

Summary:
Bought new in ''91/ 92, still working perfectly. Had the same problem mentioned by previous posts, jumping tracks, skipping the begening track(s), taking long time to recognize track/ time when loaded (if it does at all), etc. Fixed simply by cleaning the lense with Q-tip and a drop of windex. Sure it takes a little loving care after almost a decade of service! Excellent value, no questions. I lost an owner''s manual afetr 6 moves, so if anyone has one I would very much appreciate a copy of the specifications via email.

Strengths:
Clean sound, very reliable, I find 12+ direct track selection buttons very convenient. Old but amazingly no problems playing CDR''s I burned.

Weaknesses:
Lasting too long so can''t justify to buy new one just yet!!!

Similar Products Used:
Sony 5 disc changer

Summary:
I have had this player for about 18 monthes, and after noticing that the transport mechanism was extremely sensitive to vibrations from other equipment or slight knock, i started to have problems with the player skipping on the earlier tracks on the cds played in it. The problem normally went away after swapping the cd or turning the player on or off. Gradually the problem got to a stage where it was impossible to listen to a cd without it skipping. eventually i replaced it with an arcam alpha 7se.

Strengths:
Excellent clarity, providing great depth and detail, makes most poor recordings sound reasonable

Weaknesses:
Poor build quality

Similar Products Used:
arcam alpha 7 (bought as a replacement

Price Paid:  $40.00

Summary:
this was the best looking deck they had and the lowest price, so I bought it for 2nd player. great features. model year is 1991, it wasn't available in this review format

Strengths:
direct access to tracks 1-12 w/ a single click. has an excellent soundstage, superb clarity.if a disk is loaded when you power it on, it plays automatically.

Weaknesses:
i have had this for years, it will no longer play a complete disk, it skips thru tracks 1-5 but will play the rest of the tracks. speed control bad ? if i start at track 1,it will play the entire disk in 1 minute, skipping thru most songs.
if i start on a middle or end track, it plays ok. it did not like being plugged into a switched outlet.

Similar Products Used:
earlier sony s