Pioneer DEH-1700 CD Receiver
What a disappointment
I mostly agree with the first reviewer of this item on some of it's good points. <br /> <br />However, I must add some negatives which I believe far outweigh  the positives and am thankful to be able to vent somewhere on this product. <br /> <br />This DEH-1700 has been one of the most aggravating electronic items I have ever owned. Wife and I bought it to replace the stock system in our Voyager mini-van. We bought it at Best Buy in about October of 2005 and it was professionally installed by them. <br /> <br />First: no matter how hard I try, it always sounds 'boomy' with 'bass'. I have set every setting I can find with as much 'Treble' and as little 'Bass' as possible. It still sounds like it has way too much 'bass' and it isn't a pleasant sounding 'bass'. <br /> <br />Second: It has an extremely annoying hesitation after just about any inputs are made to the system. Turn the unit on, it sits there (lit up), silent for about 3 seconds before it starts playing. Change the station on the tuner, it sits there silent for 3 seconds before it plays that station. Change a setting on the unit, it sits there silent for 3 seconds before any sound comes out. Park and turn the ignition key from 'On' to 'Accessory' you gotta wait 3 seconds. Frustrating. <br /> <br />Third: The volume control is weird. Most anything electronic that has a volume control allows you to go from quiet to full volume in one partial twist of the knob. Not this baby. If you're a fast twister, like me, you can twist it 10 or 20 full circles before the volume is where you want it. If you spin it S-L-O-W-L-Y you can go from quiet to loud or vice versa in maybe only 4 complete turns of the knob. Weird. <br /> <br />Fourth: it's AM/FM reception is spotty. Sometimes it receives distant stations well, sometimes close ones are fuzzy with static no matter whether Local or Distant is selected. Granted, this could be the purvey of the installer, Best Buy. <br /> <br />Fifth: There is no way to set the clock without checking your manual, if you can find it. It's completely un-intuitive and makes no sense whatsoever, except probably to the engineer who designed it. You'd think at some point you'd push the obvious 'Clock' button. No, no, no, no, that would be too easy and logical. Think I'm joking? Google this: 'DEH-1700 manual' and look at the .pdf to see how you set the clock. <br /> <br />This is the first non-computer item I've owned that I've sometimes wished I could take outside and blast it with something. Even my wife is fed up with it. <br /> <br />Otherwise, it's a beut!