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Sony CDX-DAB6650 - In-Car DAB Head Unit Review
| Author | Benny Har-Even |
| Published | 26th Jan 2006 |
| Manufacturer | Sony |
| Supplier | Hendon Car Stereo |
| Price | £146.96 (Exc VAT) |
| as reviewed | £169.00 (Inc VAT) |
| Latest Price | Click here |
| Overall |  |
1 comment
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TrustedReviews NewslettersThe difficulty I found was that the indicators for these settings, located at the far left and right of the display, are very small and barely readable during the day. The same applied to the row of buttons running along the base. The one third from left controls the TA (Traffic Announcement) function to enable or disable traffic news cutting in but it was too hard to see the label. It was much clearer at night though thanks to the backlight. The buttons are also a little on the small side.
Overall though, these are niggles and I was generally very impressed by the performance of the unit. DAB reception proved very solid along the M4 corridor that I regularly traverse, Interestingly, I tend to temporarily lose the signal as I come off the M4 at the same point every day, but the DAB6650 handles this smoothly but switching automatically to FM and back to DAB when the signal returns. Of course, that’s not much use if you’re listening to a DAB only station.
The good news is that the unit has dropped in price since it releases so if you’re are looking for a DAB unit with good sound quality then this is a safe bet. However, it really could do with a higher res display, labels that you can read during daylight and larger buttons. And if you want to integrate an iPod too, you might be put off by the lack of CD changer support, whatever the Amazon spec list says.
Verdict
It has specific niggles and flaws but the fundamentals of the DAB6650 are right. DAB reception is great in areas of good coverage, sound quality is excellent and once you’ve set up your presets, it’s easy to use as well.
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BigJohnD said on 29th June 2008
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Hi, Benny,
I've had the Sony CDX-DAB6650 in my last three cars, and my experiences co-incide with your report.
I've not had any real difficu... more