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04 Mar 09 - 03:57 PM (#2581294) Subject: so we tried the Crosley stereo thing From: GUEST,leeneia Just thought I'd share an experience. Recently our tape deck died, and yes we have a large collection of tapes. I replaced it with one that seemed identical,but nothing seemed to work very well when we put the new unit in. Different generations and all... So we decided to try one of the Crosley phono-CD-tape units which are being marketed in quite a few places. Went down to Target and bought one the day before yesterday. It didn't work. Function control usually did nothing. CD tray didn't open at all. Other things to note: 1. Manual did not give a phone number or headquarters address for the company. This is a bad sign. 2. Had only 90-day warranty 3. Found their web page (URL not given in manual). It said 'for technical help click HERE.' So I did. I carefully filled out a lot of boxes, detailed the problems, submitted, and got a page that said SERVICE UNAVAILABLE 4. The manual did say what to do if it doesn't work. If it doesn't work, I'm supposed to ship this heavy item to Kentucky, pay them $20, and pray. 5. I'm not that dumb. We packed it up, and it's going back to Target today. Just thought I'd describe this experience in case anybody was thinking of dealing with Crosley Radio. |
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04 Mar 09 - 04:00 PM (#2581297) Subject: RE: so we tried the Crosley stereo thing From: GUEST,leeneia Chapter 2 - I took the owner's manuals for my stereo equipment down to my local Radio Shack. He-Who-Knows-Everything was on duty, and he showed me how to set it up. It actually seems to be working! |
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04 Mar 09 - 07:14 PM (#2581434) Subject: RE: so we tried the Crosley stereo thing From: Nick I'm stunned you managed to do all that in 3 minutes! |
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04 Mar 09 - 07:43 PM (#2581452) Subject: RE: so we tried the Crosley stereo thing From: GUEST,Green The first one I got wouldn't release the cd. I hadn't taken it out of the box for at least a month after buying it, but I tried taking it back to Target anyway. It was the most pleasant return/exchange I have ever had! |
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05 Mar 09 - 01:46 PM (#2581910) Subject: RE: so we tried the Crosley stereo thing From: GUEST,leeneia Yes, taking it back to Target was no problem. My husband said they didn't even want to know what was wrong. What does that tell us about their quality control? I think it's sad that these units are being marketed to the very elderly and to those unfamiliar with digital equipment, yet they lack normal customer service. If you try one, buy it on a credit card so you can cancel the charge if it doesn't work. |
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05 Mar 09 - 10:21 PM (#2582295) Subject: RE: so we tried the Crosley stereo thing From: GUEST,leeneia 'I'm stunned you managed to do all that in 3 minutes!' Yes, Nick, it's one of the things that makes my local Radio Shack manager such a popular person. He uses science-fiction techniques to get things done fast. A few years ago, I was talking to the nephew of a friend. Nephew was about 30 years old. Turned out, he was a DJ on the side, and he used only vinyl when on the job. To me, this was like hearing that he drove a Model A Ford. However, I have been listening to my vinyl and to the CD's made from it, and I believe that the sound of the vinyl is superior. But I don't believe it's superior enough for me to keep those albums for the rest of my life... |
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05 Mar 09 - 10:35 PM (#2582300) Subject: RE: so we tried the Crosley stereo thing From: Joe Offer Leeneia, where was your Crosley radio made? Back in history, Crosley radios were renowned. The company even had its own radio station, WLW in Cincinnati, and its frequency was marked on the dial of my old Crosley tube-style radio. The Crosley Website is http://www.crosleyradio.com. Here's what they say about their history:
Today the Crosley name lives on with superbly detailed replicas that truly transcend time. Reintroductions of original vintage radios and turntables feature the newest technologies graced by unforgettable Crosley stylings. The Crosley Collection includes AM/FM radios, portable suitcase - styled record players and turntables, record changers, multi- functional audio cassette/compact disc players, jukeboxes, music boxes, telephones and more. Rich lines, retro designs and authentic crafting have made Crosley today's premier vintage electronics manufacturer. True to the Crosley tradition, these replicas are as fabulous as they are functional, providing a delightful dose of nostalgia. >In 1920 Powel Crosley founded the company that pioneered radio broadcasting and mass market manufacturing around the world. Dismayed with the $130 price tag for the radio receiver he promised to buy for his son's birthday, Crosley decided to make his own. Upon successfully building a working set for only $35, Crosley was quick to spot the mass market potential. It was a simple idea - design a fully functioning radio, meticulously craft each unit with obsessive detail and precise accuracy, and of course add a measure of consideration for the wallet. Today the Crosley name lives on with superbly detailed replicas that truly transcend time. Reintroductions of original vintage radios and turntables feature the newest technologies graced by unforgettable Crosley stylings. The Crosley Collection includes AM/FM radios, portable suitcase - styled record players and turntables, record changers, multi- functional audio cassette/compact disc players, jukeboxes, music boxes, telephones and more. Rich lines, retro designs and authentic crafting have made Crosley today's premier vintage electronics manufacturer. True to the Crosley tradition, these replicas are as fabulous as they are functional, providing a delightful dose of nostalgia. -Joe, who actually knew most of this stuff before there were computers- |
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06 Mar 09 - 09:51 AM (#2582570) Subject: RE: so we tried the Crosley stereo thing From: GUEST,leeneia I don't know where it was made. The only address in the owner's manual was the address to which to ship the unit in case it was defective. That was in Kentucky, (Lexington, I believe.) The PR quoted above says 'Reintroductions of original vintage radios and turntables feature the newest technologies graced by unforgettable Crosley stylings.' Well...there was a cassette player in the unit I bought. It didn't have the ability to play both sides of a tape. If you want to hear or record both sides of a tape, you have to play one side, then go over, pop the tape out, turn it over, pop it back in and push play. This is not what I would call the newest technology. The unit was nice-looking, and it would have replaced three pieces of stereo equipment, each with dangling black cords. That idea appealed to us. I can't tell you how the sound compared, because I never got the unit to work. It seems clear to me that somebody is capitalizing on the Crosley name to take advantage of old people. (Whoever heard of a $400 item with a 90-day warranty?) |
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15 Jun 16 - 02:38 PM (#3795957) Subject: Tech: the Crosley stereo thing From: keberoxu A very brief comment: My expectations were as low as possible when I went to the local Barnes and Noble branch, which now sells not only vinyl LP's but different brands of turntables, and bought a Crosley unit. I didn't pay very much for it. I had a choice of two different models. I bought the one that was turntable only: no compact disc player, no cassette tape player, no radio receiver. It also had no USB. Just the basics. The sound is not all that wonderful. But I now have something on which to listen to the Máire Ní Scolaí vinyl LP from 1971, acquired second-hand, from which only a handful of titles have been re-released on compact disc or uploaded to YouTube as a "video." And I can plug in my set of headphones, so that the neighbors in my apartment building have no clue what I'm up to. And that, for the moment, is all I need. |
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15 Jun 16 - 07:33 PM (#3795990) Subject: RE: so we tried the Crosley stereo thing From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch "You pay for this, but they give you that." The contemporary Crosley line has no connection whatsoever to the vintage gear. It's the product of Modern Marketing Concepts ('... a global sales optimization company...') which bought the trademark, and nothing else, some decades ago. Not coincidentally, MMC-Crosley has been a major player in mass marketing the third Saturday of April as Record Store Day. Last I dealt with them the modern Crosley was engineered, designed and manufactured in the usual Pacific Rim countries; sea-trained to a centralized warehouse in Simpsonville, KY and from there over to Amazon-kydc order fulfillment in Lexington. There was not a quality assurance or control engineer on the payroll anywhere. Customer service/support was what one would expect to follow along that line of reasoning. The turntables eat vinyl even when they're working as intended. Caveat emptor |
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16 Jun 16 - 03:49 AM (#3796026) Subject: RE: so we tried the Crosley stereo thing From: BobL At the risk of thread creep, I mention a test that I apply to restaurants: count the descriptive phrases in the menu that tell you nothing about the product but are only there to sell it. More than one per A4 page and I go elsewhere. This approach can be applied to other businesses: essentially, the more the product is bigged up, the more disappointing it's likely to be. Remember, "a generous helping of tender oven-baked haricots smothered in a delicious sauce made with sun-ripened tomatoes and exotic spices, served on a doorstep of locally-baked bread toasted to perfection" is still only Beans On Toast. |