Akai CSV2001 Car CD / MP3 Player

I was initially very pleased with my Akai CSV2001. I thought I had finally found an affordable MP3 capable stereo that matched my dash illumination. The only minor gripes I had were the display being a little bright at night & the buttons were hard to read at night as well. That was until the display illumination gave out just as the 6 month warranty expired (and I've only actually been using it for 4 months).

I have observed that there are many strikingly similar budget car stereos out there. There appears to be one OEM making all of them under various names. The displays, accessories, illumination, and documentation are very similar if not identical. I had purchased a very similar Xtreme Sound unit at Walmart, but it's display gave out the day I installed it. It had a few other flaws like distortion in the right channel audio. After trying 2 other units, I gave up on that model. Then I tried a very similar Insignia model at Best Buy- same right channel noise. This newer Akai model seemed to fix all the flaws I had observed in those older models. The display lasted longer as well, just long enough to invalidate the warranty.