Realistic CD-2000 CD-player Review

Radio Shack’s Realistic CD-2000 is an inexpensive CD player with most of the operating features of more expensive models. The light, compact CD-2000 measures about 12-5/8 inches wide, 12 inches deep, and 3-1/4 inches high, and it weighs only 8.6 pounds. Its front-loading, motor-operated disc drawer opens and closes at the touch of a button. Operating controls are conventional positive-action pushbuttons.

When a disc is loaded, the bright white status display can be switched to show its total number of tracks or total playing time. Once the play/pause button is pressed, the display shows either the current track number (and index number, if any) or elapsed playing time of the track. In the pause mode, two red rectangles appear in the display.

Any part of a disc can be reached in a few seconds by pressing the track and index buttons until the desired numbers appear in the display window. Up to fifteen tracks can be programmed for playback in any order, but there is no index programming. The repeat button can be used to replay an entire disc, a programmed sequence, or a defined segment. The CD-2000 can be operated by an external timer. Price: $259.95.

Lab Tests

The audio output from the 0-dB (maximum-level) 1,000-Hz bands of our test records was 2.12 volts, with the channel levels matched within 0.1 dB. The frequency response was slightly different in each channel. In the left it dipped 0.4 dB in the 8,000- to 10,000-Hz range and rose 0.4 dB at 17,000 Hz. The right-channel response dropped to a plateau of —0.7 dB between 8,000 and 14,000 Hz and fell to —1.8 dB at 20,000 Hz. Although these figures do not represent as flat a response as from most CD players we have used, the worst overall variation was a mere +0.4, —1.8 dB from 20 to 20,000 Hz.

The channel separation ranged from 94.5 dB at 100 Hz to 72.5 dB at 20,000 Hz. The phase shift between channels was 5 degrees at low frequencies and rose to 90 degrees at 20,000 Hz, indicating the use of a multiplexed D/A converter shared between the channels. The ringing on a square-wave output showed that the low-pass filters were of analog form. The small differences between the left- and right-channel filters were evidently responsible for our measured frequency-response differences between the channels. The A-weighted noise level from the CD-2000 was'a low —98.8 dB relative to a 0-dB output, and its harmonic distortion was a constant 0.0032 percent at levels from 0 to -20 dB.

Our calibrated Philips error-tracking test disc showed that the CD-2000 could play the largest (800-micrometer) black dots on the surface layer of the disc without audible mistracking, and, like every other player we know of, it had no problems with the simulated fingerprint. However, the information-layer defect section, consisting of wedge-shaped damaged areas, could only be played up to the 700-micrometer level. At 800 micrometers there were a few brief drop-outs, and at the maximum level (900 micrometers) the machine stuttered and hung up.

The slew time of the laser tracking system was very fast: the 2 seconds it required to travel from Track 1 to Track 15 of the Philips TS3 sampler disc was very close to the fastest we have measured. The transition from Track 17 to Track 18 of the same disc, which have no interval between them, was handled perfectly. The CD-2000 did not do quite so well in its resistance to physical impacts. Moderate taps with the fingertips were sufficient to cause skipping or loss of tracking by the laser pickup. Since casual contact with the unit during its operation had no ill effect on it, we gave it a C grade in this respect.

Comments

Even though some of the measured characteristics of the Realistic CD-2000 do not quite match those of the best, and considerably more expensive, CD players we have tested, they must be interpreted with an appreciation of their significance. In all of the most important respects—noise, distortion, crosstalk, and flutter—this player is the audible equivalent of others whose measurements appear to surpass it.

The CD-2000 is not a “stripped-down” model. It has just about all the operating features most people will ever want, and the information display tells you all you need to know about a disc and what the player is doing, although you won’t get it all simultaneously. The absence of a wireless remote control is another difference between the CD-2000 and many more expensive players, though it’s a nicety that many of us are capable of living without. The Realistic CD-2000 is a very practical CD player at a most attractive price.

Read all

Realistic reviews

Read all