Home > Consumer Reviews > Boss Audio 745BA Bluetooth Enabled CD/MP3 Receiver

I bought the 745BA for my 2003 Civic. Some audio guys installed it for 40 bucks including a dash kit to make it fit perfectly. It is really a nice product. Do not expect the reliability of a Sony or Panasonic car stereo, it is still a stereo from a developing company.

I have not had any problems with it. Gave it a 4 stars because the low brightness and no clock all the time really bugs me. Try adjusting to a low light stereo in a city where there is sun 98% of the time.

Pros
Bluetooth handsfree connectivity for a cellphone.
MP3's, USB's, Aux's are all supported.
Nice sound quality, especially with CD's.
Text with MP3's.
Great price.

Cons
Low brightness on screen.
Need to click a button for 5 second clock display.
Plastic feel.
No AM (really no big deal, but still)
Tricky stereo controls.

For a little over a hundred dollars I bought this stereo and my son and I installed it in his beater 1978 Mercedes grease car. It was quick and easy. The bluetooth phone feature is the reason I picked this model and it works perfect..... loud and clear. I have bought 3 BOSS AUDIO car stereos and they all have fun features that work great... you won't be sorry about buying this one.

Bought this and it works good. USB is great. I connect an 8GB flash drive and works perfectly. MP3 CD's work well too. Only thing is that I never got the Blutooth to work on it. Tried different phones and none seemed to connect but I didn't buy it for that.

So far this unit has been everything that i expected, you can even stream music from some cellphones to the unit. Good equalizer. Nice sound output.
Comes with the usb adapter(it doesn't say it in the description).

In Usb mode, it doesn't read the folders in alphabetic order, i think it takes the modification date, but i can live with that, it has 4 search modes, and you can scan the folders quickly.

i highly recommend it.

The 745BA is a good bang for your buck in terms of BASIC features. It has bluetooth connectivity for your phone with a built-in microphone, has a USB port for thumbdrives, plays audio and data disks! However, I have some issues with it -- every feature it has is flawed in some way. If you want something that has ADVANCED features, spend the extra $100-150!


FEATURES & FLAWS:

BLUETOOTH PROS: Apart from dialing, the stereo provides you with the ability to drive "hands free". When you get an incoming call, the phone number is displayed on the stereo's screen. You can also re-dial the last person you called using a button on the stereo. Callers can you hear you clearly without you having to raise your voice -- you can talk as if they were sitting right next to you.
BLUETOOTH CONS: To hear the person you are talking to well, you need to turn your stereo up to nearly max volume. When the call is ended, you then have to quickly turn the volume down or else you might be unexpectedly blasted with noise. Do this to soon after the call ends, and it still resumes your music at the volume you had your stereo at for the call. When you have your cellphone connected to the stereo, a blue LED light continuously flashes. This isn't a problem during the day, but at night it is very distracting (and annoying!).

USB PORT PROS: Allows you to play music directly from your thumbdrive with virtually no fuss in regards to connectivity. Stereo recognizes typical music file types. Plays songs in the order you put them on the thumbdrive.
USB PORT CONS: It's a mini USB port, so a conversion cable is required (provided). Does not recognize separate folders - so if you have your music organized by genre on your thumbdrive, forget it. The stereo will only play them in the order they are in on the thumbdrive. As innovative as the feature is, it's abilities are very primative/limited.

DISPLAY PROS: In my case, the display is very pleasing at night. It matches my Honda Civic's red/orange instrument panel very well. (I hated having a red/orange instrument panel and a blue stereo display.)
DISPLAY CONS: Another reviewer stated that he could not get the clock to display continuously. I initially had the same problem. Upon installing the stereo, I had the song information flashing and no consistent clock -- which was SUPER annoying! (It is much like the blinking Bluetooth LED!) However, my problem now is that the clock displays continuously and that I cannot figure out how to view the song information. In addition, the display can be impossible to read during the day! In fact, at certain angles it looks as though NOTHING is on the screen at all!

SOUND PROS: The stereo does have independent controls for bass and treble.
SOUND CONS: It only comes with ONE preout! You are likely going to need a y-spliter if you go with this deck. It has presets, but they suck. You are better off adjusting the bass and treble to your tastes as needed. Another problem is volume. I agree with the other reviews that it should have a much higher "max volume". Compared to my old deck, this one is wimpy.

If you're looking for something inexpensive with a lot of features, this is a good buy. People used to stock/base stereo decks will likely be fairly happy with this deck. But if you are used to moderate-to-high-end stereo decks, then you will likely be somewhat disappointed. Yes, it has bluetooth connectivity and a USB port, but if you are used to Alpine, STAY with Alpine! Get an Alpine deck that has the features you want! The Alpine will give you more control options and better meet your expectations for the bluetooth and USB port features! And you'll be able to rock it as loud as you want!