Denon DCM-390 5-Disc CD Player

I've gone through TWO Denon DCM-390's, both of which were garbage not worthy of shelf-space at Walmart.

Features:

Deceptive "Denon" Name. I mention this because I bought a Denon CD player in 1987 that still works today. That was one quality piece of electronic equipment! With new technology (.wmv, .mp3, etc) I figured I'd treat myself to a new CD changer. I thought I could count on Denon again. WRONG. Denon's name should be synonymous with "pricey junk."

Weight. The DCM-390 is very light. In fact, even though it is a *changer*, it is still lighter than my 15 year old Denon single CD player. The DCM-390 is the lightest possible CD changer you can imagine, with tiny little motors and flimsy internal mechanisms.

Remote Control. The remote does not light up when used and does not have a power on/off button. Backlighted buttons is not critical to me, but a power button would be nice so you don't have to plug it in to a switched power outlet on the back of your receiver to turn it off from a distance.

5-CD carousel, reads multiple formats, digital output. Well, those are features Denon claims that the DCM-390 has, and I suppose it's true. But none of it matters if it doesn't work, which brings me to....

Operation (or, more accurately, INoperation):

My FIRST Denon DCM-390 came factory sealed, with power cord, remote control, a short RCA connector cable (despite having digital output), and instructions. The unit had two red-topped screws in the underside to stop the carousel from moving during shipping. I removed the screws with a Philips screw driver prior to connecting it to my receiver using a digital connector cable.

The DCM-390 would not read my CD's. (Note that throughout this review I used only ACTUAL music CD's purchased from music stores, not mp3 or wmv format discs or even .wav music discs that were burned on a computer.)

The DCM-390 began a perpetual motion thing were it would simply cycle through the discs in the carousel indefinitely, making it impossible to even open the carousel to get my CD's out! I finally managed to open it by trying a combination of repeatedly pressing the power on/off button while simultaneously pushing the stop and open buttons. It was driving me mad, but the door finally opened.

Now, not being one to rush to judgment, I changed out all five of the CD's, making sure that all of new ones were clean and unscratched, and tried it again. SAME PROBLEM, same hassle to open the drawer. And I did it YET AGAIN. Glutton for punishment, I know, but I just wanted to be sure.

So, finally, I returned the unit and got another one.

It arrived just as the first -- factory sealed, same stuff inside, same screws underneath.

The good news lasted only a short while. This one would read my CD's just fine. As long as I was okay listening to those five CD's for the rest of my life, I would have no problem with this, my second DCM-390.

But try to change or remove your CD's? HAH! Fool!!! The first two times I opened the carousel drawer I found one CD stacked on top of another (instead of one CD in each of the carousel's five indentations). Bad, bad news...scratched CD's, though still readable.

Again, ever the optimistic fool, I thought the problem might resolve itself with use...just some sticking parts that need to wear in, or something like that, I figured.

I purchase a few new CD's and popped them in the player. I listened to the five CD's over the course of a few hours. Then...start the "uh-oh, here comes the shark" music...I stopped the player and pressed "open." FOUR CD's. Not four-with-the-fifth-sitting-on-top-of-another-one, as in the past. FOUR.

What's a person to do? Send the unit to the Denon factory to retrieve the fourth CD? Unplug the unit and open the case (instantly invalidating the warranty)? Well, here's what I did: I thought that the missing CD might be somehow held above the carousel, so if I closed it and maybe gave it a little jiggle or tap, it would fall down into it's indentation of the tray. Silly, maybe, but I never got that far.

I pushed the "open" button again, this time to close the carousel tray, and CRUNCH! (EEEEE-AAAARGH!!!!!!!!!!!) -- it closed on my new CD and kept trying to close harder. I pulled on the drawer, to no avail. I killed the power and pulled on the drawer, again with no movement. I turned the power back on -- it instantly continued trying to close against my new CD! -- and pressed the open button. It opened. I disconnected the changer from the receiver and turned it upside down to get the CD out of the path of the closing carousel. I tried to close the carousel again. CRUNCH! [MASSIVE AND VERY, VERY LOUD SERIES OF EXPLETIVES OMITTED HERE]

You know how the rest of the story goes. The consumer is completely screwed. It's not about making phone calls and paying shipping and waiting and waiting and waiting some more to try to get a *third* DCM-390PIECEOFKRAP player. (Hell, I wouldn't trust one even with YOUR CD's.) And receiving compensation for the CD's that Denon's shoddy CDM-390 had scratched and destroyed? Ha!

CONCLUSION: Let this be a lesson and serve as a warning to anyone thinking about buying Denon: The company is no longer what it once was. The DCM-390 is a complete pile of junk, shoddily built of light-weight, flimsy parts. I wouldn't recommend buying this product for any price -- I wouldn't even accept one for free, considering the damage it did to my CD's.