Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony CDP-CE275 5-Disc CD Player

I had to get a new CD player for my stereo system and purchased this one because it was a Sony. Despite the fact that I was concerned (and didn't really need) the 5 CD carousel, multi-CD changers seemed to be my only option. Three months into owning this thing the carousel doesn't work property - it picks and chooses what CD's to play (one try a CD will play, the next try the same CD won't play). It's completely frustrating. It even skips while playing brand new CD's. Of course it can't go back to the store and spending money shipping it back to Sony ends up being as much as buying a new player. Save your money on this product.

Pros: Easy to set up, easy to use, good sound quality, great price.
Cons: optical digital output cable not included, no MP3 playback, no remote (though Sony receiver remote works fine).

The conflict of interest inherent in Sony's decision to buy a US record label is clear in products like this. The lack of MP3 playback capability is an obvious shortcoming in the product driven by the record label's attempts to squash music piracy. Sony as a company needs to understand that MP3 is just a music format, a format Sony should support because their customers want it. People violate copyright law; MP3 is just a technology standard.

I bought this cd changer to complement a new Sony home theater system. I was replacing a 6 year old JVC shelf system that was superb. Right out of the box this changer had a bad habit of stopping play for no apparent reason during multi-disc shuffle play. I changed discs, using a variety of pre-recorded discs and CD-R's, and wasn't able to pinpoint a reason for the stoppages. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes the player played for a couple hours, and sometimes it would stop after only a song or two. It seemed to stop only while it was between tracks. After two weeks of playing with it, I exchanged it for another player (same model), which did the exact same thing. Finally, I took the unit back today for a refund and bought a higher-priced Onkyo changer.

I like the player, it has great sound quality and is really solid.

Cons:
1. No support for mp3 playback
2. No standby mode? I buy all Sony products and my tv, dvd player, vcr, and receiver have a standby mode, why doesn't this cd changer? strange... Nothing like turning on your whole system, then having to get up to turn on the cd player.
3. ...You'd be better off buying the 300-disc jukebox for a little more and never changing a disc again. Or, buy a 5 disc dvd player and sell your single disc dvd player. Why take up double the rack space for something that just plays audio cd's?

That's my review in a nutshell...I'm not impressed.

I have owned this model for about five months, now, and it has performed perfectly for me under rather high use. The sound quality it produces is excellent. It plays CD-Rs perfectly (I haven't tried any CD-RWs in it yet, but can't imagine any problems). This model also has a digital optical output, which is nice if you haven't already used up the digital input on your receiver with a DVD player or gaming system. It also has lots of nice options if you want to record to a tape (time edit, peak search, fader, etc.), and the jog dial track changer is pretty nice.

While it does not have a remote or headphone jack, which the otherwise identical 375 model does, they aren't really necessary. First, most receivers have a headphone jack, so you don't really need another one on the CD player. Secondly, this unit, despite not having a remote, is still remote-compatible. This means that if you have a Sony receiver, you can control the CD player with the remote control from the receiver (most Sony receivers have controls for other devices on their remotes), and I will testify to its compatibility. Basically, by not getting this unit over the 375 model, you're saving $30, and you'll have one less remote to worry about losing. My only complaint about the the unit is that the tray mechanism is a little noisy, but you only really notice it when you open/close the unit. It's a pretty small negative in a sea of positives, though.

Overall, it's a great player, and I'd recommend it to anyone. Like the last reviewer said, it's especially great if you do not need all of the fancy options of the higher priced models. To me, the price and quality are unbeatable!