Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Shopping for a boombox has been quite the experience these days. After my 16-year-old Panasonic boombox stopped reading CD-Rs, I felt it was time to get with the times and look for a good portable boombox which offered great sound and could utilize the latest formats and features. Despite still having quite a few cassettes, I didn't feel it was necessary looking for a unit which could play tapes. Many of the boomboxes on the market today still offer a cassette player. This may be a great convenience for some, but I really wanted to purchase a unit that was "future-proof." Standards are always evolving but I felt this Sony, the ZSR60BT, would at least fit the bill in the meanwhile. I purchased the unit via Amazon and have been quite pleased so far. Unpacking the box revealed that the boombox is a bit smaller than what I originally thought it was. Build quality is reasonable for a product in this price range. It does feel a bit lightweight which may disappoint some, however, all buttons and knobs are well constructed. Like all things, if you take proper care of the unit you should have issues or problems with reliability. The unit is quite simple -- it offers CD, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3 playback (and via USB flash drive), AM-FM radio, and even a USB-to-CD recording feature. Features wise, I love the USB option. Instead of messing around with CD-Rs, I usually just attach a thumb drive to the unit and it plays all my MP3 and WAV files without issue. An added benefit, for some, is that this boombox also recognizes and plays .MP4 files should you have them. It doesn't accept FLAC or any of the high-resolution formats like DSD, etc. Although since Sony has been pushing "Hi-Res" audio, I expect later models to incorporate playback of these formats later on down the road. Still, its probably not a huge issue unless you're a diehard audiophile. As I listen to mainly talk programs and lectures (throw in the occasional music CD here and there), I find this unit to meet my needs perfectly. As far as the sound quality goes, I was pretty pleased. Granted, we're at the mercy of the law of physics here and there is only so much sound you can produce out of such a small speaker. The sound here is relatively warm; there isn't any grating or shrillness which is always a good sign. Depth and soundstage for music is quite decent; however, I feel the separation between instruments could be a bit better. Nonetheless, it's still a pleasing sound that can get quite loud. The MEGABASS feature does add a nice bit of oomph in the low end; when the feature was disabled, I could spot the difference immediately. I generally prefer the bass boost for both music and talk radio programs. If you don't have unreasonable expectations, I believe you'll find the Sony ZSR60BT to be a satisfying portable boombox. As I use the unit primarily for recorded talk programs and the occasional CDs, it has fit my needs perfectly. If you're a die-hard audiophile or want to really blast some music, I know Sony offers an elevated model (at around $200) which would probably be a better option than the 60BT. I expect it will be a very high step up above this, but for under $100 I don't think you can beat this unit in regards to playback, features, and convenience. 5 stars, highly recommended.