Sony CDX-GT400 Car CD / MP3 Player

I bought this to replace a stock CD/MP3 unit which died. I know I'm fussy about FM quality. But heck, FM is a 60 year old technology, and there's no excuse for Sony not getting it right. The problem is a non-linearity in FM audio at low modulation levels. This translates to a roughness in quiet passages (a real problem if you are a classical listener), and an excessive sibilance and harshness in voices and loud passages. I actually bought a second identical unit, figuring it was a defect. My plan was to return the first one. The second one sounded exactly the same.

I must say, the CD/MP3 performance is fine. Unlike my old car MP3 player, it will remember where you are in a MP3 track if the car is shut off and restarted. My old, stock unit (which had great FM, sigh) would restart at the beginning of a MP3 track.