CD Player Review - Sony CDX-F50M
June
28, 2005
By Paul Sonoda
MSRP: $199.95 USD
Summer is a time for boating. Aside from good company and cool refreshments, nothing makes a day on the water better than some good tunes. Designing audio equipment to survive in the harsh marine environment can be challenging. Aside from dealing with the vibrations caused by boating on the water, CD players must also stand up to Mother Nature. The Sony CDX-F50M is designed to withstand the elements and deliver great sound. How well does it perform? Let’s find out.
First Look
The Sony CDX-F50M is a single ISO-DIN chassis CD/MP3 powered marine head unit. The removable faceplate flips down to reveal the slot load CD player. The CDX-F50M has 18 FM presets and 12 AM presets to keep tabs on your favorite station. With the optional controller, the Sony CDX-F50M can tune in to over a 100 digital satellite radio channels. (XM service is required for this feature) The CDX-F50M is rated to deliver 17 watts per channel into 4 ohms.
Marine head units have to be able to handle exposure to the elements. To accomplish this, the circuit board incorporates a conformal circuit board coating. On the outside top of the CDX-F50M chassis, there is a plastic sheet that prevents any water from entering the unit though any top mounted holes. to deal with the harsh effects of the sun, the Sony CDX-F50M uses ultra-violet resistant paint to minimize an discoloration. The cosmetic of the CDX-F50M is a pleasant combination of muted grays with an off white back-lit display.
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topCloser Look
There are two sets of RCA outputs that can be configured for Front & Rear/Sub Selectable with low-pass crossover. To control the sound, the Sony CDX-F50M has three tone controls centered at 60Hz, 1 kHz and 10 kHz respectively. Each tone control has 10dB of boost of cut. There are six preset tone control settings and one user controlled setting. The Sony CDX-F50M is able to control a changer or an auxiliary audio device. You can have both a changer and an auxiliary device is you us the optional Aux-In selector.
The Sony CDX-F50M will not only play CD, CD-R/CDRW and MP3, it will also decode Sony’s ATRAC3 music CODEC. The Sony ATRAC3 is a version compressed audio files that are available on Sony Walkman, CD and portable music storage devices. According to Sony, one CD can hold up to 400 songs. Way cool.
Ease of use
On of the challenges of designing a head unit slated for marine us is to make it easy to see and easy to use. Here the Sony CDX-F50M does well. The main buttons are large enough for easy access. The color and display of the CDX-F50M is “WYSIWYG” (What you see is what you get). This is ok since the display is readable in direct sunlight.
Installation
The installation of the Sony CDX-F50M is very straight forward. There are no additional boxes needed for CDX-F50M. While the CDX-F50M does not include a remote, a very practically designed optional marine wired remote connects to the unit via a mini-jack port on the back of the unit. This remote also access the basic functions of the CDX-F50M as well as providing an additional display that allows for complete control without having to look at the player. For optimal performance, it is recommended to have your authorized Sony dealer perform the installation.
Manuals/Web Support
The manual for the Sony CDX-F50M was broken into two parts. The installation manual is a nice fold out that is easy-to-read and use. The owner’s / operation manual contained all the information necessary to access and control all the features of the unit. Quickly running through the owner’s manual, I was able to learn all the basic functions of the Sony CDX-F50M. The Sony car audio website, http://www.sony.com/xplod, is a cool and zoomy flash presentation. Unlike many flash generated site that put hype above substance, the Sony site was well constructed and easy to navigate. I was able to quickly locate the marine section and information of the CDX-F50M. There is even animated section that highlighted the special features of the Sony unit. Both manuals were available for download.
Sound Q & Performance
The performance of the Sony CDX-F50M exceeded my expectations. The RCA outputs measured a very adequate 2.08 Vrms at a volume setting of 31on the volume control. The internal amplifier power easily exceeded the rated 17 watts delivering 21.1 watts per channel into 4 ohms. The speaker level output signal-to-noise ratio also exceeded the rated level with a 82.5 dBA. While this is a little on the low side, the ambient noise present on a boat or a convertible will make this imperceptible. The only negative I could give the CDX-F50M is that the RCA and speaker level output reached maximum output before the highest setting on the volume control While this situation is quite typical with the speaker level outputs, it is not desirable in the low-level RCA outputs. The sound quality of the unit is quite good given the modest cost. The Sony CDX-F50M easily powered my test speaker delivering good midbass and tonal balance.
Summary
The Sony CDX-F50M is a purpose built piece that gets the job done. Given the price point of the unit, the performance is impressive. Not only does it deliver solid performance, the Sony CDX-F50M has design elements to ensure long lasting performance. If you are looking for tunes in your jeep, convertible or boat, the Sony CDX-F50M would be a fine choice.
4
out of 5
3
out of 5
