I purchased 120 Watt Philips Sound Machine DR920 (I will check the exact number and tell you tomorrow! Ya I got it from one of my friends comments it is DR928 thanks muni, these Philips people have not put the number on this model, I wasted full morning today in searching the documents you know) looong back in 1994 April in INR Rs. 5600/- and I will not thank god that it is still running well. So good systems have come in the market now but the reason for purchasing them is not arising. The prime reason why I selected this product at that time was a bit funny. I was very particular about the system having auto reverse. Even the Philips Power House (it had a lot of craze that time and costed Rs. 6000/-) did not had this auto-reverse facility then and summarily got rejected by me. Some friends told me that whether your system plays or not is not important to you but it must have this bloody auto reverse thing. And it might be interesting to know that Philips had launched a single CD 100 Watt audio CD System in 1994 and can you guess its cost.... it was Rs. 19000/- (Not joking it is a fact). So on the basis of 9 years experience, let me explain you a few things about this:
Sound quality Initially it was good. I appreciated the sound quality at that time. but now when I compare it with my neighbours Sharp system, Philips own new system and Specially Sony, it is nowhere. Though with HMV’s Sheer Magic cassettes this system has given me some real good musical experiences. When I interface it with my Panasonic VCD player then the sound quality is satisfactorily good. It is a 5 speaker system with the bass speakers inbuilt in the system and two sets of two speakers (one for surround sound) detachable from the main system. The performance of surround sound facility is quite good. Sometimes I used it for party and with my TV also and it is OK. But the beats are not heard very clear and distinct as that in Sharp system.
Durability Yes that is where Philips is much much ahead of others. The way, I have used my system only I know (and off course my neighbours). I used to put Alisha’s ’’Babydoll’’ then and ’’Made in India’’ later (Oh I love this lady’s voice and face like anything) in the auto reverse mode and used to sleep with music ON whole night. Morning usually power was not there and so I used to forget to switch it off. In the office, I remembered oh system is ON and then in the afternoon when I will go home Alisha’s voice used to welcome me. And it happened several times but see the god’s grace rather Philips technology, the system is still running. The auto reverse thing does not work properly now. I have got it checked and repaired 2-3 times but they could not do it. The speakers are also long lasting as I have never taken any new speaker in these 9 years. Previously, I had a Videocone system also (small one) but its sound got distorted in one year.
Recording I was not happy with the recording feature of this system as a lot of hissing comes in but once a sweet girl nearby came and recorded her song on it, I came to know that voice also matters in recording. Casette to casette (deck to deck) recording is well. Still I will say that check other systems also if your main purpose is to record. Karaoke facility works OK.
Radio Radio transmission and reception is poor in our area (hilly one) and so radio part was never satisfactory in my system.
And so if you are needing a cheap, durable system which fulfills most of your requirements you may straightway go for Philips but if you are looking for sheer quality of music (you may check Bose, Sony, AIWA, Sharp etc.) and if you would like to change your system every 3-4 years, sorry Philips will not allow you to do that.