Hamilton CD/Cassette/USB/MP3 Component Stereo System Review

I'm a recording musician so I can usually size up a piece of audio gear pretty quickly.These are out-of-the-box first impressions based on three days of use with additional reviews after 2 months.I don't know yet how the unit will hold up over time.It arrived *very* quickly by UPS and in perfect condition.But when I opened the box, took out the Hamilton CD563 and examined it, I almost panicked.It has NO separate tone controls.Not even one knob labeled "Tone", let alone separate bass and treble.Just a button marked "Bass" (boost).*Gulp*So I took it in my bedroom, hooked up the speakers and the power cord, plugged it in and put a CD in it.To my utter astonishment, that barely modifiable tone was nearly *perfect*.Very well-balanced.In the past, I've spent hours with my Sonys fiddling with the graphic equalizers (which invariably have all the wrong bands) and never got a sound this good.The frequency response is much wider than most units of this type.Deeper bass and extended treble.The bass is punchy and tight, never muddy.At first the treble seemed a little shrill but I was three feet from it and listening directly on-axis (right at it).I sat farther away with the unit on a shelf a little below head level and the tone evened out, revealing nice crisp, clear treble.There are just enough mids, which are amazingly detailed.This thing sounds better than my stereo, almost like compact studio monitors.The bass boost supplies just enough punchy kick for rock; turn it off for classical or jazz.Brainlessly simple.

At a modest 15 watts/channel though, this is NOT a loud unit - unsuitable as a "boom box".Comfort level for me with a CD was with the volume control at about 2:30.On the radio setting, about 10:00 (as is common, the radio's much louder).However the biggest difference in volume for playing CD's occurs between 2:00 and 3:00, where it kicks out pretty good.I don't listen to music at ear-bleeding levels, anyway.I also noticed that after five hours of continuous play, the tone seemed to improve even more.I *thought* the speaker cones needed to break in before they moved enough air to balance with the tweeters.Turns out I was only half right.

Despite the speakers having ports where the high-frequency drivers would normally be, they contain NO tweeters.This unit only has two full-range speakers, which is pretty amazing considering the sound quality.Apparently, the designers sacrificed output for clarity.

And then the CD player abruptly stopped working and there were weird patterns on the display (a nice, bright backlit blue LCD) that looked rather like the cover of "Ghost In The Machine" by The Police.I thought, "That's not good."Stopped it, restarted it - nothing.Turned the unit off then back on - nothing.Switched to radio (and predictably got my ears blown out by the difference in volume), then back to CD.Inspected the CD for scratches and there were none.Started it over from the top - worked perfectly.Four songs in, it did it again.The same solution worked.Tried a *different* CD - it paused once but then continued from the same point by itself.Tried half a dozen more.No problems.I figured the unit liked Genesis and Yes but wasn't a Boston fan.BTW, I do get around to reading the manual eventually.The manufacturer knows all about the CD problem, including the weird display.They recommend unplugging the power cord, removing the batteries, waiting 5 minutes, putting it back together and start playing.My solution is simpler and works just as well, but it soon became unnecessary.

I was just thinking about how sturdy the top-mounted CD tray on the CD563 looked when that problem cropped up.It's an odd arrangement.The CD just sits on the spindle without any support from the bottom at all.It's stabilized from above by a rotating disk mounted on the inside of the *door*.It only went HAL9000 on the Boston album.That it paused then restarted itself on the 2nd CD means it was still reading it.The only reasonable explanation is that the stabilizing disk was "breaking in" and was initially a little stiff.It stopped the CD from turning.Appendum: It's now been 2 months and the problem has not recurred.

I was disappointed in three things that are a direct result of merchant false advertising (not by Amazon).I emailed the merchant "School's In" to specifically inquire about the "mic input".Since that's an unusual feature for this type of unit, I asked if that input might in fact be a stereo mini-1/8" LINE INPUT.They told me it was.Well it's not.It's a mono 1/4" input - for a high-impedance microphone.There is no line-in on this unit, which is very unusual.But I suppose the CD, Cassette AND USB do make up for it.You won't find that combination of features on anything else in this price range and I spent a few days looking.BTW... You like the gold color of the unit pictured?Forget it.They only come in blue now.Gold was discontinued but that really didn't bother me.But the biggest inaccuracy in the "School's Out" advertised specs was the "3-band digital tuner".WRONG!It's an AM/FM stereo ANALOG tuner, no better than those found on any other inexpensive boom box or compact stereo and works about as well as any of them.That is a *serious* naughty that needs to be corrected.I ended up buying it here from the Amazon Marketplace merchant instead.I dislike being lied to.

This is a bookshelf system even though it's easily portable and very lightweight.Do NOT take this thing to the beach; you'll never get the sand out of it.It's solid enough for home use but isn't designed to be beaten around.

I'm obsessively picky about sound, but I like the CD563 and I'm keeping it, especially after I listened to the CD of J.S. Bach music for pipe organ my friend made for me."Fantasia in G":)No problem playing home-burned disks in regular or MP3 format.You can program up to 20 songs to play in any order OR the unit will use the Track #'s in the song info and play them all.It will automatically look for song files in folders.The manual recommends using a hard disk USB device rather than a flash drive as it may not perform properly with some flash drives.However, it worked fine with mine.

Overall, this is a no-frills system but it's good at what it does.The CD player works fine after a few hours of break-in time and handles regular CD (CDA I think), CD-R/RWS and MP3 formats.The USB port, as far as I can tell, will work with any USB player AND accept USB input directly from your computer.The cassette player will record from all sources including simultaneous input from a CD/USB and the microphone, which is only active with the cassette player in "Record" mode.The microphone input can only handle a low input level but it comes through loud and clear with the music anyway.

Could have been built sturdier.Also needs a digital tuner and a LINE input.Otherwise, no regrets at two months.


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Product Description:
Hamilton Trifecta CD-563 Stereo System

- 3 Piece Component System with Detachable Speakers
- Speakers have Woofer, Tweeter and Tuned Bass Port
- Amplifier Power Output 15 Watts/Channel
- CD Player Reads CD/CD-RW and 20 Track Programmable
- USB Port for MP3 and WAV File Use

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