Home > Consumer Reviews > Philips FWC380 Compact Stereo System

When I bought this system I was looking for a great value, and I got one. I have had this stereo for about six months now. Setup was easy with the quick setup guide. Just plug the speakers and FM antenna into the receiver, plug it into the wall, and press play. Then, all FM stations are then preset into the system. It has an AM loop antenna too, but who listens to AM now days anyway? I have been a little surprised of how well this it has held up. The only physical damage to it is from me. The end of the FM antenna wire that snaps into the system has had to be restripped, mainly because I snapped it in and snapped it out so many times. The FM was very good at the start but then got worse because of me. It has a dual-logic tape deck on the bottom of the receiver. Dual logic means you can control the tapes by the remote control. I haven't used any tapes yet, but I'm sure it works fine. Then there is the quality 3 CD changer, oh it's just great. I put my CDs in the tray, sit back, and then press the number to the CD I want to play from my remote. There are some things that are only one that remote, or only on the receiver. The repeat, sleep, and shuffle buttons are only on the remote. The clock/timer, tape options, dim mode, and program buttons are only on the receiver. I don't know why this is. The sleep can be set for 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes to shut off automatically. The timer is like a really loud alarm clock except for this one you can pick what you wake up to; CD, tape, or AM/FM. You can even program what track on the CD you want to wake up to. I have also hooked my system up to our satellite system with a cheap RCA cable through my system's AUX IN jack. Wow, from one dinky speaker to two huge speakers was a great improvement. Using my stereo's Cinema feature with its Incredible Surround made it just like surround sound without the extra speakers, and the Cinema mode is just right for watching movies. As sound quality goes, this system can get pretty loud. I can play music and my room and then go around the house still listening to my music. It's not loud enough to bother the neighbors though, I can hear a little when I'm just outside our house. I am going to fix that problem by adding a powered subwoofer to my system. It has a subwoofer out jack and also a digital out jack for recording onto a CD using a CD recorder. I guess that about sums it all up, thanks for reading.