From the “Shame on Crosley” files, December 8, 2009

My husband is an audiophile, and laughed at me when I said I wanted this CD/radio. Unlike him, I don’t really care that much about sound quality. Not that it doesn’t matter to me at all–it’s just that HE has the big, nice sound system already, so I was happy to get something that would look nice in the living room and could play in the background while I was reading. I don’t need or even like to play music very loud, so something small and pleasantly retro like this was just what I wanted.(We don’t all care for 15 shelves worth of audio equipment and a gigantic subwoofer.) I was so excited!

As other reviewers have stated, it’s a little difficult to tune in the radio. That was disappointing, but my CDs sounded nice enough, and the radio/CD player made me happy even to look at. It just seemed RIGHT to listed to Louis Armstrong through it, as if the beauty of the retro cathedral style cabinet made the sound more authentic. It was lovely! I was even considering getting another Crosley product for a different room, having fun paging through the catalog and anticipating what I would ask for for my birthday. I was SO happy.

… for about 7 months.

Then the right speaker blew. (Sound doesn’t come out of the front speaker-looking area, but is stereo from the sides.) That it would blow surprised me, seeing as how I never, never listen to it at top volume, nowhere near. The guarantee that comes with this item is limited, and wouldn’t cover the problem. Reasonable person that I am, I still wasn’t too upset–I was just disappointed a bit. After all, my husband is an audiophile, as I mentioned, and he could replace the speakers for me if we could get replacements.With that happy thought, he wrote Crosley to find out if they sold replacement speakers, or if they had recommendations for replacements. He never heard back. He wrote twice, responsibly checked his spam folder just in case, but NOTHING.

So… I wrote. This is the third time they had been contacted by us. Keep in mind we were both polite: simply explained what had happened, and asked if there were recommended speakers so we could take care of the problem ourselves. I don’t care about sound quality that much as I said, but it is unlistenable with all the static in the blown speaker.

Was the third time the charm? No. I got no response, either. Even if Crosley had no recommendations, it seems to me it would be polite to write back. Is this an indication of the quality of their customer service, or the quality of their product… or both? That is, after having looked for speakers ourselves, we don’t seem to be able to locate any that will fit. We can find the correct wattage and so forth; however, there is not much clearance inside the case. Every speaker we looked at–and we have spent considerable time looking–seemed to be too deep to fit. So far as we can tell, the speakers are a proprietary make and substitutions that will fit can’t be found elsewhere.

I loved this item while it worked. However, unless you are the type of person that can pay $80 or $100 every few months to get a new one ($80 if you get it on sale), don’t buy this product. The quality is apparently so poor, the manufacturer, Crosley, is embarrassed to respond even to polite inquiry. I was their perfect target customer–someone who didn’t care so much about perfect sound, but who preferred instead the vintage look with just acceptable sound quality–and I am terribly unhappy with them. I’m so unhappy, I’m wasting a lovely Saturday morning writing this review.

Shame on them. I certainly won’t be buying another Crosley product for a different room as I had once fondly planned, and I hope I have saved you the trouble and expense of buying ANY Crosley product.

For shame.

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A Classy Classic!, May 18, 2009

I love this “Cathedral”-style Crosley AM/FM Radio/CD Player. The paprika color is so rich and warm, beautifully finished, and complements just about any other shade of wood finish. My style is eclectic, but leans to the Victorian and oriental with medium and dark cherry, mahogany, black lacquer, and jewel-tone fabrics, so the finish and style of this Crosley piece fit right in. The sound is great — maybe not like a $3,000 sound system, but it does justice to my classical radio station and CDs. The antique-style, bronze-colored hardware is gorgeous and really completes the look. Everyone who sees it wants to know where I found it, especially when I tell them how reasonably priced it is (they all should know by now that I find my “deals” on Amazon). It arrived ahead of schedule and in excellent condition (good packing), and I highly recommend this product and vendor.

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Nice unit, January 17, 2011

Gave this to my wife as a Christmas gift and have used it daily since. The sound is good for what it is. The radio reception is not digital but receives signals quite well. The finish and design were very important to the selection of this unit. Overall very satisfied. Price was a little high for what you get as far as technology but choices in this style are very limited.

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