JVC KD-G161

Well, as I work at Halfords, and get a lot of experience with fitting stereos, my friend bought a JVC KDG-161 for his Peugeot 205, and I fitted it for him.

It is a rather basic entry level CD player costing £59.99.

There are two types: the KDG-161, which is a black design and cover, and the KDG-162 which is silver - same features, just different colour.

It has a 4 x 45 watt amplifier, and it can power speakers ranging from 45 watts to around about 200 watts, with a load handling of 4 - 8 ohms.

It features Bass/Treble control to fine tune your speakers outputs, and a loudness adjuster; whether you want soft or hard loudness.

It has a 2v pre output for external amplifiers, but it doesn't feature a remote turn on lead, so the amplifier has to be wired to the ignition live wire instead.

It can store 18 FM radio station presets, or 6 LW and MW radio stations, and has RDS capability, for clarity of radio stations.

It can play CD-R and CD-RW, but it can't play MP3 discs, which is a shame.

And it also has a removable fascia for security.

My friend had also bought some Alpine Type E 13cm speakers, as his old ones were well and truly knackered.

I then wired up both his speakers and head unit, and he was more than pleased with the performance, and very good clarity.

I do feel it's got a rather plane and bland display, and at night time it's very well lit up, but you get what you pay for.

For a basic entry level CD player, the JVC KDG-161 is pretty good value for money.

If you don't want to break the bank for a no frills simple CD player, I suggest you get this one.

I hope my review was of some use.

ATB

Tom