Back in August 2001, my girlfriend and I purchased a Saturn SL2 with virtually "the bare minimums". We figured we would just add our own options along the way, for a lot less money. Being were are both music lovers, the first thing we did was purchase a new CD player/receiver. After looking around in the China Town area of New York City (Canal Street is known for it's great prices on Jewelry and Audio Electronics), we got a good deal on the Aiwa CDC-X417 CD Receiver. We got a guy who works on the street installing audio/visual equipment on vehicles to install it for us for just $30.00. It's been 10 months, and I've got to tell you, this baby pumps.

The Good

This receiver sounds great at 45 watts per channel. I still have the factory speaker hooked up to this (I've been procrastinating with purchasing new speakers, but at this point we don't need them). We especially like the "pop-out" face on this unit. Once you take the face off, there is a little red light that flashes on and off, that gives the illusion of an editional anti-theft device for you car. You can also change the display color from a cool blue to fiery red. Looks really nice at night. The CD slot has a small light, so you can easily slip your CD's in, especially at night, without turning on your interior lights, thus, avoiding distractions. There is a big knob to adjust the volume, and the radio pre-set buttons take a little getting used to. There is also an aux socket on the front to plug in a mini disc, MP3 player or cassette player. Display is big and legible. There is also a mute button on the upper left corner that comes in handy when receiving a call while driving. It doesnt completely "mute" the music, but lowers it to a comfortable level. Once your done, just move the volume knob and it returns to the volume you previously had on. It has plenty of FM presets if your like me, and like to change stations as often as changing lanes on the freeway. I was also told that it is easily upgradable, meaning if you want to add an amp for a bass booster, etc.

The Bad

I hate the remote control. They had a good idea making it to fit the steering wheel, but for some reason, I had to have the wheel positioned a certain way in order to get it to work. Also, for those in big cities (like me) that use "The Club" anti-theft device will have trouble like I did. I kept knocking the thing off, and now it's broken. I did a patch job on it, and "velcroed it" to my gear shift. Works just fine now, and it's out of the way. The CD player does play CD-R and CDR-W, but does show error messages when the CD is almost at capacity (meaning, when I burned the CD, I didnt leave much empty space on the CD). So now I leave at least 5 minutes empty on my CD's and I have no problems. It does skip when you hit a pothole (understandable), but other than that...it's fine. Like a previous review I read, I too have problems with radio reception. For some reason, some stations come in with static, and the farther away from the city I am, the worse it gets (I used to be able to get stations clear for at least 60 miles or so). The extra bass button works, which I keep on with all my music, primarily because of the type of music I listen too. If you listen to anything other than Opera, you'll have to leave the bass boost on too. Without it on, it's disgusting. There is no bass. There might as well been 2 buttons saying: "Bass" or "No Bass", because thats what your getting. Other than that, no other problems.

The Ugly

One time, at band camp...uhmm never mind.