Lanzar VBD1600MP Car CD / MP3 Player
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- MP3 / WMA Playback: MP3 Playback
- Player Type: CD
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Decent for the price, but definitely not for audiophiles
Pros
Stealth design, MP3 capability, price, ease of operation
Cons
Background noise, printing on stealth panel, bulky unit and cables.
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
Stay away unless you really want the stealth panel and MP3 capability and can't pay more. The CD sound quality leaves much to be desired.
I got this cd player off of eBay for around $100 shipped, so my expectations weren't too high. I'll try and organize this review to make it easier to read.
Design:
The motorized hiding keypad and the key layout are all great. Your friends will be impressed, if they are impressed by somewhat gimmicky technology. The unit looks decent when switched on, and is relatively inconspicuous when switched off, except that Lanzar for some reason insisted on printing their name on the lower front panel along with the model number, all of which is visible when the car is parked. I thought the point of a stealth receiver was to be blank when the car was off, so thieves wouldn't see it. Maybe they think the quasi-generic name "Lanzar" is enough to scare off thieves? I will be scraping this printing off eventually, so that the front panel will be completely black (and so that people won't immediately notice i bought an off-brand CD-player). Also the unit is fairly deep, with some box-type things attached to the back wires, so if you have a shallow dash (many VW's, for example) beware. I had to trim an offending piece of metal out of my VW dash to squeeze the unit in, and it was still a very tight fit. Also, the very back of the unit has a heat sink for the amp sticking out of it, which hopefully won't melt anything as it's really wedged in there.
The Operation:
The buttons all seem adequately solid and responsive. The motorized panel moves quickly, if it is somewhat noisy, and doesn't look like it will break soon. The CD load and eject mechanism also seems sturdy, which is a definite plus. The controls are pretty intuitive, although it's weird to me that you have to push two buttons to eject a CD (one to lower the faceplate, and the second to then eject the CD once the slot is exposed). Since it's all motorized, they probably could have designed it to eject the CD automatically once you lower the faceplate. But that's a minor issue. One other minor complaint is that when you shut off the unit or switch from CD to radio, and then later turn it back on or switch it back to CD, it goes to the beginning of whatever track you were last playing, rather than picking up exactly where you left off before in the middle of the song.
The Sound:
The sound on the CD leaves something to be desired. There are equalizer settings, which are nice, and Bass and Treble are adjustable. But there is just a lot of background noise. The literature says the signal-to-noise ratio for the CD-player is "more than 60 dB." I think nowadays most name-brand CD-players have ratings of 90 dB or above, so don't expect the highest quality sound. You'll definitely hear hissing during the quiet spots in the music, kind of like with an audio cassette. The FM sounds nice and seems to come in clearly, and has much less noise than the CD. I have yet to play an MP3 CD in it, although this is what I look forward to the most. I expect it will sound just like the normal format CD did (ie, okay but somewhat noisy).
Ultimately, I would say, if you, like me, aren't really an audiophile, but just want something simple to operate that will play MP3s and also will disguise itself when switched off, so as to discourage break-ins, and if you, like me, are also kinda stingy, this might be your product. But if you want high quality, this is not it. For not much more money at all you can get a name-brand MP3 CD player that will sound much better, but it probably won't have the stealth-motorized hiding face.
Design:
The motorized hiding keypad and the key layout are all great. Your friends will be impressed, if they are impressed by somewhat gimmicky technology. The unit looks decent when switched on, and is relatively inconspicuous when switched off, except that Lanzar for some reason insisted on printing their name on the lower front panel along with the model number, all of which is visible when the car is parked. I thought the point of a stealth receiver was to be blank when the car was off, so thieves wouldn't see it. Maybe they think the quasi-generic name "Lanzar" is enough to scare off thieves? I will be scraping this printing off eventually, so that the front panel will be completely black (and so that people won't immediately notice i bought an off-brand CD-player). Also the unit is fairly deep, with some box-type things attached to the back wires, so if you have a shallow dash (many VW's, for example) beware. I had to trim an offending piece of metal out of my VW dash to squeeze the unit in, and it was still a very tight fit. Also, the very back of the unit has a heat sink for the amp sticking out of it, which hopefully won't melt anything as it's really wedged in there.
The Operation:
The buttons all seem adequately solid and responsive. The motorized panel moves quickly, if it is somewhat noisy, and doesn't look like it will break soon. The CD load and eject mechanism also seems sturdy, which is a definite plus. The controls are pretty intuitive, although it's weird to me that you have to push two buttons to eject a CD (one to lower the faceplate, and the second to then eject the CD once the slot is exposed). Since it's all motorized, they probably could have designed it to eject the CD automatically once you lower the faceplate. But that's a minor issue. One other minor complaint is that when you shut off the unit or switch from CD to radio, and then later turn it back on or switch it back to CD, it goes to the beginning of whatever track you were last playing, rather than picking up exactly where you left off before in the middle of the song.
The Sound:
The sound on the CD leaves something to be desired. There are equalizer settings, which are nice, and Bass and Treble are adjustable. But there is just a lot of background noise. The literature says the signal-to-noise ratio for the CD-player is "more than 60 dB." I think nowadays most name-brand CD-players have ratings of 90 dB or above, so don't expect the highest quality sound. You'll definitely hear hissing during the quiet spots in the music, kind of like with an audio cassette. The FM sounds nice and seems to come in clearly, and has much less noise than the CD. I have yet to play an MP3 CD in it, although this is what I look forward to the most. I expect it will sound just like the normal format CD did (ie, okay but somewhat noisy).
Ultimately, I would say, if you, like me, aren't really an audiophile, but just want something simple to operate that will play MP3s and also will disguise itself when switched off, so as to discourage break-ins, and if you, like me, are also kinda stingy, this might be your product. But if you want high quality, this is not it. For not much more money at all you can get a name-brand MP3 CD player that will sound much better, but it probably won't have the stealth-motorized hiding face.
