Bought in 1998-it's 2012, still works great. Other than that simple design, clear sound.

Only slight flaw is that it does not eject CD as far as it used to (only 1cm ejects out). So I need to use tips of my fingers to pull out CD, no big deal for a 14year old deck!!!

Amazing quality and sound, was well worth the price. If only Nakamichi makes current ones with digital input eg. ipod/ thumbdrive. Very sad I'll need to change brands for that.

I've owned this head unit now for almost 8-years.It has outlasted three vehicles and currently resides in my wife's Ford Explorer. The simplicity of form and function is what attracted my interest. I'd frankly not heard much about Nakamichi as far as mobile audio was concerned before I bought it. As a former Navy ET, I was not really one to be loyal to any particular brand. Once I read the specs on this unit, the $325.00 price tag was, to me at least, a steal. It hasn't disappointed me, even to this day, with the huge advances in technology since I purchased this unit, it's reproduction is still far more accurate than other units I've purchased since then. It even rivals the Clarion DRZ 9255 I have in my own vehicle. I'm looking forward to the demise of my wife's car, so I can use this head unit in a project car in my garage...a nice 70&1/2 Z/28 It's simple to operate, it looks clean and does not attract the attention of would-be thieves (who wouldn't know what the were stealing anyway)and, from my experience, seems to last forever.If I could find several of these out there, still in the box, I'd snap them up in a minute.

CD section is crystal clear and highly defined.

The radio tuning capabilty is sub-par.

This is the best CD head unit I've owned to date. However, the radio tuner is woefully inadequate for a supposedly high-end name like Nak. Next time I'm going with either Alpine or Kenwood, as I need xlnt CD reproduction and free FM radio. If you listen to a lot of radio, stay away from the Nak.

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Concord and Eclipse.

0.7 volts rms and 4volts at 10% thd wich is way after clipping

I forgot to add the unit state 4v preouts yeah righ more like 0.7 volts rms

relaxed laid back sound, simple elegant design

reliability issues especialy the transport mechanism. Quality control at Nakamichi. Made in Mylasia (what the f#*k)? tuner section is weak sauce! Even Nakamichi tech tell you to stay away because poor built and has many issues. Even the mb-100 and cd-700 have issues with mechanism, supposely made in Japan, doubt it because poorly built mechanism

pretty good cd player when it work properly. No bells and whistles, just good sq. This is a follow up review. I made back in 2001.

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clarion very good sound and reliable, sony sucks, jvc decent, panasonic decent, alping sucks overated, phillips old school very good sq, pioneer decent, eclipse pretty good kinda of bright though

versatility and sound quality looks and feel reads burned CDs (bonus) volume knob specs (yes, I'm a specs freak)

Not much, except remote is kind of goofy

SQ is pretty good. I bought the thing because I own a lot of Nakamichi equipment already (amps, Xovers, speakers) and like the sound quality each piece has to offer. The extra inputs of the CD45Z allows me to hook up a DVD/MP3 player and my Nakamichi TD1200 mkII. Nothing comes close to the sound quality of the TD 1200 mkII, of course, but good media is hard to find, and CDs are much more convenient. When my Nakamichi CD760 bit the dust, I had to find a replacement. I couldn't afford much at the time, so I settled for the CD45Z. I'm quite happy with my decision. As with all Nakamichi head units, the AM/FM reception sucks to the bone. The deck is simple and elegant. I have no idea why people are so impressed with the 20 bit DAConverter. Anyway... I've owned a lot of decks in the past and this one is definitely in the upper half. Although it's often true that you pay for what you get, the CD45Z gives pretty good bang for the buck. I wish I had the money for a Nakamichi CD 700. Now that's one heck of a CD player.

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Fujitsu Ten, Yamaha, Clarion, Sony, Denon, Eclipse, Nakamichi CD 760, a few others I can't recall or want to admit I had.

Sonic qualities. Ease of use. Large (relatively speaking) controls. REAL volume knob.

FM signal capture, undependable CD transport over time. Poor to very poor factory service (though likely influenced by the ownership changes going on at the time).

Had two in different cars (three if you count the one I returned after three weeks--skipping...what else?). Pre-amped unit in car #1: great CD sound, but horribly fragile mechanicals. Expensive to fix for the price of the unit (Nak-only service at the time of freeze up), and S-L-O-W turnarounds to be expected based on my experiences with sending my MB-70 changer in for service. Best SQ for the money at the time, clearly better than many 1-bit units I auditioned that were priced significantly higher. Neutral sound, little coloration. Excellent imaging; deck #1 worked very well with my a/d/s 335i front stage, and better w/ the Focal 165Ws that replaced them. Skipped very little when new; seemingly increased exponentially with age and use. Simple UI, but not complete; no sub control. Like all H/Us, needs external power to get the best sonic results. Lousy FM reception for both cars. Aesthetically simple; appeals to the audiophile in me and looks 'factory', but perhaps not flashy enough for others. Internal power used in car #2: average to slightly better-than-average SQ compared to other deck-powered installations; even 20-bit doesn't really help here. Prefer the amber detachable face (car #1) over the green (car #2). Easy to interface w/ Nak changers; deck #1 used w/ MB-70 in-dash unit w/ DAC-101 20-bit external D/A unit; only issues were with how much room the back panel 'stuff' took up in the dash (jammed up an already tight area). Deck #1 lasted just about 3 years before going terminal. Deck #2 is showing signs of following suit; increased skipping, hesitant disc eject. Despite the great SQ, would not buy another Nak H/U again; simply too many niggling problems with their transports, reliability and serviceability. From years of experience, Naks (mobile AND home) have never really been solid workhorses. But this CD-45z make my old TD-700 tape deck seem invincible (it wasn't really--it had it's bouts with shop downtime--but overall it lasted YEARS and outlived the life of the car it was installed in). Very disappointing, both in the deck and in the once-glorious company, which I have no idea who owns now. And to think I considered their CD-500 as a replacement before sanity finally set in and I went with an pre-amp Eclipse 8053 w/ balanced-line module instead; uglier, but rock solid transport and balanced-line inputs that even surpass the SQ of the CD-45z. And I've YET to get the Fujitsu product or its in-dash changer to skip, even once. Amazing the mechanical QC between the two manufacturers.

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Nakamichi (tape), Alpine, Kenwood, Eclipse.

digital analog converter, strong FM and AM reception. Many RCA pre-outs. Solid simple easy to use layout.

none

The cleanest head unit I have ever used in a car stereo. Have owned Alpine, Kenwood, Pioneer, JVC, Clarion and on. The simplicity of its layout combined with outstanding sonic performance and complete versatility make this unit a great choice.

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above

Great sound. Pretty face 'without dolphins'.Good price @ 250.

Switching from cd to fm I notice a disparity in both sound quality and volume. The cd plays more quiet so switching to fm 'blasts' me out.

I did some research before getting this Nakamichi 45. I originally wanted to get another Rockford Fosgate, but went for the Nak, partly based on reviews here. I wanted a great deck that didn't have all the stupid graphics. This deck really fills the bill. Great sound with a low key face. I am running JL Audio 5.25 coax with the 1" silk tweets. The sound is super clean. I kinda wish I could have got the 6.5 to fit in my door panels, as the 5" are down a little on oomph. But the impression is of full spectrum, so I guess it'll be ok. I am not running a power amp, and the Nak still has plenty for my needs.

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R Fosgate (similar sound-good) Clarion, Sony

high volt pre-amp outputs=quality sound!!!

of course Fm stations dont pick up too good.

I love this cd player.I could say this is the best I ever had.Works wonders if you have in car television setup(because of audio inputs on back of unit,there's no need to run you sound,vcr or dvd through a FM modulator)..does anyone have any idea where i can get a replacement laser beam to the cd 45z? somehow mine melted..ouch!

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I can say Alpine is comparable to this unit.