Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Plugged it in right out of the box and product had a "Fatal Error" according to Onkyo tech support. Save your time and energy. I never even got to play a CD! I even spent hours researching this CD player and now have to pay to ship it back.

Weaknesses:
Never worked!

Price Paid:  $189.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
I am a fan of Onkyo gear in general, but this cd player didn't do it for me. The operation is quiet and smooth. Great looks. The treble sounded very nice. The bass sounded unrefined to me. The mid range was a tad on the harsh side. Compared to my Denon DCM-270 cd player (which I was trying to replace) the sound of the Onkyo was not as smooth or refined. I have no doubt about Onkyo's quality. I just didn't like the way the unit sounded.

Strengths:
Build. Great looks. Smooth operation. Nice treble.

Weaknesses:
Harsh mid-range.

Similar Products Used:
Denon, Fisher

Price Paid:  $170.00 from 6th Avenue Electroni

Summary:
My particular CD player worked for roughly a month before saying "NO DISC" every time I tried to use it. I can't quite remember how it sounded, but I remember that I liked it when I first had it. Onkyo's service dept. and 6th Ave's service dept. are incompetent. It took so long to get the player fixed that I can't remember how it sounded when I first got it. Now that I have gotten it fixed, it is a very obnoxious CD player because I can always hear the CDs changing or the CDs while they are playing. Maybe it was how it was fixed, but this CD player is not cutting it for me. The CD player should be the last thing to break in a system. It took over 9 months to get this CD player fixed. I am very dissapointed with the company for thelength of time that it took to fix it, but also the quality of the CD player. I will give this CD player 1 star because I remember liking it when I first had it. Otherwise, stay away from Onkyo and 6th Ave, both for quality and service. I paid 170 for the CD changer and then 30 for the extended warranty. I normally don't buy those extended warranties but I am glad I did for this CD player because 6th Ave has to keep me supplied with a CD player for the next 3 years now.

Strengths:
Can't quite remember, but I liked it when I first had it,

Weaknesses:
Very noisy CD player when changing CDs and while playing the CDs, as well.

Similar Products Used:
Aiwa "Walkman" from 1996 that is still better than this 6 CD changer.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Excellent sounding machine for a great price. A little slow to change discs or perform random selections but otherwise excellent.

Strengths:
Sound. Nice looking too.

Weaknesses:
Slow to change discs. Remote is cheap.

Similar Products Used:
NAD and Sony

Price Paid:  $180.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
Wow! This is the best cd sound I've had in my system for ages! The bass goes deep and bounces along joyously! The treble is delicate and non-fatiquing. And the detail... I'm hearing things on my cd's that I didn't know were there!

I've owned several high-end cd players including a Sony X77ES (retail $1700), a Rotel 970BX (retail $600), a Denon DCD-3000 (retail $1200) just to name a few. I can honestly say that overall this $200 Onkyo sounds as good as any of them. I'm not saying that the little Onkyo (referring to price not size...) betters those expensive players in all areas, the Sony for example had greater solidity and went deeper in the bass, the Denon had more treble detail, etc.., but for $200 you get a player that spreads its strenghts evenly across the board and has no obvious weakness! Remarkable for any cd player, much less one as inexpensive as this. That AccuPulse d/a converter Onkyo uses really must be something!

Anyway, I'm finished gushing. If you're an audiophile like me and care about cd sound quality, you owe it to yourself to check out the Onkyo DX-C390 cd player. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Strengths:
Superb audio DAC (for the money and then some!), cd changer, both toslink and coaxial digital outs (as if you'd need them), CHEAP!!!!!!!

Weaknesses:
Big size, a little clunky sounding when changing discs

Similar Products Used:
Cd players mentioned above, Paradigm Reference Studio 40 loudspeakers, various pre-amp/amplifier combinations