About a year and a half ago I had a professional car audio shop install new speakers and an amplifier in my car. I wanted better sound and a bit more volume. At the time my stock CD player was working fine so that went unchanged. I knew that an aftermarket head unit would improve quality but none of the units available really caught my attention.

Nearly 3 years of constant use, my stock CD player started deteriorating, FAST. Small bumps would make CD’s skip and even G forces from cornering caused my stock CD player to skip. Very annoying! I tried a CD cleaning disk with no long term luck.

So the search began. I visited every major audio place in town for a replacement head unit in the $200 - $350 price range. Each visit concluded with me being extremely frustrated with the products on display. With the issue of sound quality aside – every head unit had multicolor flashing lights, too many pointless features, small flimsy buttons, and cheapo detachable face plates. Who really wants to see low resolution displays of dolphins swimming in circles?

My quest finally ended a couple weeks ago while searching eBay. A couple auctions appeared for the Nakamichi CD400. Some people say it looks bland and boring but I call it beautiful. Several reputable online stores were selling these head units for just under $300 (they still are). I purchased mine from http://www.cbrstereo.com because of their low price and great feedback rating. I believe the retail value for this unit is around $550.

This head unit is excellent, period. Sound quality/clarity has been improved significantly. Keep in mind that I already have aftermarket speakers and an amplifier installed. This is why the sound quality improvement has been so dramatic.

I am particularly impressed by the quality of the tuner on the CD400. The clarity of radio stations is shocking. Not surprisingly, this head unit allows the volume level to be raised without distortion, well beyond the capabilities of the stock unit. For example, in comparison to the stock head unit, the CD400 can extract more detailed midrange and more bass. This is much appreciated since I do not have a subwoofer.

The display is very clean and simple - reminiscent of the stock configuration. The buttons have a great feel - solid yet cushioned. You would never know that it has a detachable face plate from the solid construction. The volume knob is slightly larger than stock making volume changes quick and comfortable. The most important cosmetic feature is the user-selectable color scheme. You can choose a green or AMBER color scheme. The amber blends well with the Type R interior lighting. A couple cool features include a blackout mode button, a mute button, and a handy remote control. It even has a clock which is great for me since I removed mine in place of the Valentine concealed display.

During my research I discovered that Nakamichi filed for chapter 11 last year. I guess the company was having problems making a profit. In addition they had a few previous head units that were having reliability problems (not the CD400). Ug! This made me think twice about buying the CD400. A week passed (still had not purchased the head unit) and during this time I made a few new contacts. I discovered that Nakamichi went under new management and that their products were doing much better in terms of quality control. In addition, the CD 400 won the “Design & Engineering Showcase Honors” by Innovations International. This news gave me enough confidence to make the purchase.

$300 is a great deal for this quality product (if it proves to be dependable). Most mid-level CD players will run you at least $300. Keep in mind the CD400 does not play MP3’s nor is it XM compatible. These two issues are probably the only shortcoming of the CD400. The reason I wrote this review is to let you guys know there are conservative alternatives to the era of disco-ball-style CD head units.