Sleek design, good sound quality, ease of use

None.

I purchased this unit from Ubid (refurbished) for $169 (paid add'l $55.00 for one year warranty, beyond 90 days from Nakamichi). This unit certainly looks new - everything in the box was factory sealed and no evidence of refurbishing (no "B" stamped anywhere in the box or on the unit). Easy set-up, small footprint, wonderful to look at and delivers a clear, crisp and natural sound. I was going to bring the unit to my office, but it is simply too nice; it's going in the bedroom. I listened to the radio and had no trouble pulling in most stations. The sound on the cd player was very good. Is it audiophile quality? No, but for the size and price paid, what is? I considered the Bose wave radio, because of the sound and size, but at $500 for music at my office, I thought it was a bit over the top. Now that the Nakamichi is in my home, I may have to reconsider the Wave radio. Because of the price paid, combined with the sound quality and ease of use: 5 stars.

Similar Products Used:

None

Look, convenience of 2 alarms

cables, subwoofer wall mounting, subwoofer settings

This is my first Nakamichi product and I am a little disappointed. It seems that most of the research went into the cosmetic appearance of this great looking CD/Clock-radio. But, that is all it is good for. A CD/Clock-radio. Not a replacement of even the cheapest of 'Awia' compact systems for ~$100.

The setup was easy, even though I can't for the life of me figure out why there is so much cabling when it 'could' be bundled together and reduce the number of connections. IF you want to mount the subwoofer on the wall above your bed, be ready for the ridiculous position of the subwoofer wire.
I cant believe it is on top... (you'll see another comment on this down the review list). I dont think that this unit can go under the bed either, the sound is just too muffled (especially since most of the sound seems to get sucked into this unit).

The radio reception is great (and I too live near Wash. D.C, like the reviewer down the list somewhere...who couldnt get a good reception.) I can even just lay the antennas under the bed and no problems. I agree with one other reviwer that the CD mechanism is noisy... too noisy if you want to listen at low volumes... my old portable from 10 years ago is quiter! Where did they get this mechanism from??? It destroys half of the use of this thing. You can only listen to the radio when going to sleep.

I dont advise listening to talk radio though. I put on a show where 2 guys were talking and couldnt here anything other than bass, since the supposed subwoofer (they really cant be serious about calling the extra unit that! IT takes everything from midrange down... completely destroys any speech!) Even on some music i noticed that it was taking most of the sound and just leaving a tinny echo inside the other unit... extremely poor design on that.

Apart from the look and the convenience of having 2 alarms and 2 head units, I am glad I got this at such a low price otherwise it would be back in the store.

Do not buy this for anything more than you would a normal clock radio. You may be let down

Similar Products Used:

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Great sound for such a compact unit. solid sound, good base and space saver

expensive for a radio/CD alarm clock

It is a toss up. I believe it is one of the best compact, alarm clock CD players and radio.
However it is a bit expensive

Beautiful Design, Build Quality
Digital Audio Out
Nice Useful Remote

Severe Sonic Flaw
Weak Tuner Reception

I wonder if I am the first person to notice this, but there is a serious sonic problem with the SoundSpace 3! Because the speakers in the L and R modules are so small, Nakamichi sends all the mid-range and bass to the "subwoofer". Problem is that with some recordings, the vocal in the phantom center gets cancelled out. The result is a missing vocal! All I hear is the reverb. This flaw is too obvious in some (but not all) recordings that I just cannot tolerate it, despite its elegant design.

I would also comment on its FM reception. In my opinion, it is no better than most A/V receiver on the market, which many will consider okay. However, it is really no comparison with the ridiculously expensive Bose Wave, which can pull in WGBH from Boston 50 miles away without using an antennae. Even with the FM wire loop, I can get not much more than static with the Nakamichi at the same frequency, which is too bad.

At the end, even though I love the design and its utility, I just cannot stand the sound of the SoundSpace 3. I returned it.

Similar Products Used:

Bose Wave Radio

Nice looking, wonderful sound, each side of your bed will have a snooze or alarm off button.

Volume increments are to large and teh CD player makes to much noise when playing.

I bought this system to replace a four unit stereo system and a fake wood trim annoying alarm clock that were on the table next to my bed. I surprised my girlfriend by replacing all of the crap that was sitting bedside with this nifty little audio system from Nakamichi. Okay, so it doesn't rock the neighbors like my full rack system does but it does have some pretty nice features that are really paying off. You can set two different alarms and it can be turned off from either side of the bed. Duel displayes, great reception and 1,000,000 times better quality than most clock radios. In fact, I blast this Nakamicha and can hear it loudd and clear accross the entire house. The bass is respectible and it sounds just incredible when your laying down. The clock automatically dims when the lights go down and, over all, it is very stylish looking. My only two complaints is that the volume between off and "1" is a huge jump. Also, I can hear the cd actually spinning at lower volumes. Other than that, you will find it hard to switch back to a normal alarm clock when traveling after you get used to this bad boy. I recommend it.

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Fake wood trim alarm clocks and huge stereo systems. ;o)

Great sound for the package size. Good features and looks.

Controls are somewhat difficult to use, too many wires to connect

This is a great sounding product for the price. I like the dual alarms and the fact that it has snooze/alarm reset buttons for each side of the bed.

Unique two alarm design, visual impact, audio hookups (MD, Aux, Digital out, etc..)

Cables, sound from speakers, sound from rotating CD drive!

First, I thought I knew the down sides to this guy when I bought it, ie, an amazing number of large cables to hide and weak/distorted sound at higher volumes. Both of which are realities now that I own one.

What I didn't notice when I demo'd one at the store, and what I find most annoying, is the loud sound of the CD drive. For a unit with a sleep timer function built in (a great plus) designed to operate bedside, the thing is really loud. I mean, if I put the volume at 5 to 10 setting (out of 50), a setting that's nice to fall asleep to, I can't hear the music well for all the grinding coming out of the CD drive. If you're considering this product, listen to it at low volume too! Not always easy in a noisy stereo shop but...

I'm of course keeping mine just because I haven't seen a product out there that offers the nice dual alarm clock features. And the packaging is really slick. Form over function, in this case.

But forget about putting the bass unit anywhere BUT in the middle between the two clock speakers. The sound "stage" goes where that midrange speaker goes, it's as simple as that. I first tried standing one of the clocks on top of the midrange box, but couldn't even tell if the other clocks speaker was on! Don't kid yourself into thinking this midrange driver is a subwoofer. I wonder if Nak gives the cutoff frequency spec's for the thing?

To pic a design nit, the hookup cable for the bass unit is on the TOP of the unit if you hang it on the wall. That's REALLY annoying. I've been left to hanging it below and behind my bed- I don't want to look at the unit with a cable hanging out of it's top and draped down it's front to the floor.

In summary, it's a neat product, but not designed for really high volume, or low volume. And it can only be arranged in one fashion. And you better have a plan on how to hide all those cables!

Good Looking

Too many Cable and wire, Sound.

Well, I get to admit that SS3 looks really good when every friend visit me. But there is only one know the secret - I hide a lot of cable under my bed - I do not connect FM and AM to this unit snice I never listen to radio and I still feel the cable is as much as my A/V system that included a receiver, Ditigal Preamp, DVD, CD, EQ, Turntable and a computer system. It is not a good problem for me, though, it does make me somehow feel not so good. The sound is another problem, vbecause the send some of the Low-mid range to sub-unit, that make the sound feel not as good as I expect. Well at least, the detail of the sound seems much clear then others I have listened before, eve Bose CD wave, This is the reason I don't buy that one - too many bass and echo. Be carful for the edge of SS3, because it cut my finger.
After I replace the sub-unit behind my bed - right behid my habd, the sound does improve than place sub-unit in other place.
I find it is hard to rate this unit because it get almost equal advantage and disadvantage to my personal teast.
Well, Snice I think it is better than Sony CMT-EX1 and I did rate that one for 2.5 - I don't like the sound very much - It always fight to my Callas. But it seems the most friendly unit for my Callas I could find right now for this price.

Excellent Design

Tweeking of levels.

While it is true that the unit took some tweeking to get the sound just right, this would be true of any new stereo. I think it is the best thing since sliced bread. I have wanted it for some time and finally got up the courage to pay for it. I am a very satisfied customer. I have not had the noisy CD player that others have mentioned. The only thing that I find hard to deal with is minor at best. Don't really need to have such a huge PM in the display. Going to probably switch to 24 hour clock to compensate.

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Tiny crappy alarm clock

Can be used as a clock radio. Has automatic display dimmer.

Very poor radio reception. Tinny sound.

I was looking for a clock radio that could hold a station, sounded decent, and had a remote control (I didn't want it next to the bed). Well, it does have a remote. The dual clock feature is interesting but suggests you put one unit on each side of your bed. The limiting factor is the cord length to connect the pieces together. It will go about the width of a king size bed. With units on both sides of a bed you'd have to mount the 3rd speaker on the wall somewhere behind your headboard. Now having everything at your fingertips, the remote seems unnecessary.

The sound quality is poorer than I expected. The right and left speakers are extremely small and sound tinny at times. The 3rd speaker handles production of all the midrange and makes an attempt at base, but simply isn't large, or heavy enough to do much there.

The biggest problem is the weak FM reception. I live between Washington DC and Baltimore and have a multitude of stations to select from. The tuner has an external FM loop, but it just isn't effective: Even in my 2nd floor bedroom it can only pull in one station clearly. It has 20 presets, but I can't imagine how you'd fill all those with stations at this rate!

Unfortunately, this unit really didn't do much better that the $59 York clock radio it was trying to replace. Its going back today and may be replaced by the Bose Wave Radio. I'm suprised how few quality home radios there are on the market, especially with alarm clock features.