Massive lumpy unit, but it works great! (Kenwood DPF-J3030)

Member Name: andy conda

Product:	Kenwood DPF-J3030
Date:	23/09/03 (475 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent value, Good build quality, QWERTY keyboard remote

Disadvantages: Weighs a ton, Delay between changing discs, Looks a bit old fashioned

First things first. This is a monster! It has to be, in order to hold 200 discs. It weighs about 9kg when empty, so it's probably best to put it at the bottom if you're stacking a few hi-fi separates on top of each other. It would probably crash right through my flimsy Traxdata CD recorder if I put it on top of that!

As might be expected, there is a short delay when changing discs, but you get used to it. The added convenience is more than worth it!

The player comes with an infra-red QWERTY keyboard remote as well as a small remote. The keyboard makes entering CD titles very straightforward.

Sound quality is OK, if lacking a little clarity. More than acceptable for the price, in my view. It works well with the rest of my budget hi-fi system (Marantz PM4000 amp, Eltax Symphony 7 speakers, Cambridge Audio interconnects).

There is an optical output, allowing high quality data transfer with MD and CD recorders. There's also an RS232 connection if you want to connect it to a PC.

I got my 3030 from Empire Direct about 3 years ago for about £170. No idea if this model is still on sale, but it's great value in my view.

Summary: