Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony ICF-CD543RM Kitchen CD Clock Radio (Silver)

I tried other radios in the kitchen, but none could compare to the sound of this unit. FM reception's pretty good too. The "kitchen friendly" controls are easy to clean. Mounting is done by drilling three holes, for which it has a paper template, and it has adjustable spacers to accommodate cabinets with recessed bottoms. It's about 11-1/2 inches deep and just an inch or two wider.

I don't seem to get any weather band channels, and the TV channels I get are very quiet so I have to remember to turn the sound down before switching to FM or CD. The timer's a nice feature for the kitchen but seconds can't be set and it takes a lot of turning to get to longer bake times, like an hour or more. The magnetic remote's also nice but you have to be able to see the sensor and stay within about 45 degrees for it to work.

Overall I'm very happy with it. The sound is great and makes spending all day around the kitchen less lonely, plus it doesn't take up any counter space. I do feel like I paid a small premium for the name Sony though.

We went through 5 (yes, five) of these within a year. The CD mechanism was very poor and would eventually stop playing CDs. Luckily Target exchanged it every time for us. I kept exchanging it out of spite until Target got an updated model, the Sony ICF-CD553RM Under Cabinet Kitchen CD Clock Radio (Silver), which I paid 20 bucks more for and have not had a problem with it at all.

Maybe it was just a bad run, but it seems from other reviews that Sony quality control was sleeping when these went out the door.

Definitely spend the extra $ and find the upgraded Sony ICF-CD553RM - it's slightly bigger, but it works and the sound is better, too.

I live in an urban area with generally good radio signals. The radio reception for this system is very poor. The AM antenna is internal and the power cord acts as the FM antenna. The reception is horrible. The unit does not accept an external antenna, so options are limited. All other features of the system work well but the radio is unusable.

Like other reviewer's, the CD player stopped working after a couple of months of use. It took several months to get my unit fixed. It was very hard to deal with their uneducated customer service reps. Fortunately, it has been working since the repair.

AM/FM reception is poor. Most stations are unpleasant to listen to due to the high level of noise. What Sony suggests for optimal reception is rotate the unit horizontally, stretch the power cord and reinstall the unit.

For the four months we've owned this cd player, we've loved it. Love that it's off the counter. Love the remote on the fridge. Love the sound and ease of use. Then, the cd player just stopped working. When we contacted Sony we were informed that our only option was to mail it to their repair center at our cost and have a refurbished model sent back. Shipping set us back about $25 (not including the cost of packing materials). It doesn't speak well for Sony that they wouldn't send a UPS label to cover the cost of shipping, particularly on a product that broke with only a few months of standard usage. We are very, very disappointed.