Onkyo Icon C-30 CD Player Review

Most of us like our music. It can make us smile, and help relieve stress. But as many car radios are now skipping the CD player, it can be harder to listen to some of your favorite tunes. Onkyo can still help. Up for review is their Icon C-30 CD player. MSRP is $399.00.

 

Features and specs:

FREQUENCY RESPONSE 4 Hz-20 kHz/+5 dB, -5 dB

THD  (TOTAL HARMONICDISTORTION) 0.0040%.

SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO 105dB

AUDIO DYNAMIC RANGE 100dB

AUDIO OUTPUT/IMPEDANCE

Optical -22dBm

COAX 0.5 Vp-p/ 75 ohms

Analog 2V (rms)/ 600 ohms.

POWER CONSUMPTION 12W

PRODUCT DIMENSIONS (W X HX D) 17.1” (435mm) x 3.9” (101mm) x 12” (306mm)

WEIGHT 5.3kg

CARTON DIMENTIONS (W X H X D) 21.9” (555mm) x 7.7” (195mm) x 16.3” (415mm)

CARTON WEIGHT 7.2kg

SUPPLIED ACCESSORIES Instruction manual, RCA audio cable,

Remote controller, AAA (R03) batteries x 2

 

The Onkyo Icon C-30 came in a standard but very solid cardboard box. Opening the box revealed a well-protected CD player held in place by custom molded Styrofoam. Materials used in the construction was mostly metal. Quality of materials used, as well as fit and finish, was excellent. Also included was the remote, RCA cable, and manual.

 

Times are changing. Streaming services for music has really gotten huge over the last decade. And it keeps growing even bigger. This turn to streaming has affected other formats like CD. This has created a shift away from CD and this shift away from CD has also caused a move away from CD’s in car audio. Manufacturers are moving away from them, and car mechless receivers are the new future.

 

The problem is there are still those that love their CD’s. After all, consumers still own millions of CD’s. Unfortunately it is getting harder to find a CD player.  Thankfully some CD players are still available. And Onkyo is to the rescue with their Onkyo Icon C-30 CD Player.

 

I love the design of the Onkyo Icon C-30 CD Player. They’re doing things right. Onkyo uses their proprietary VCSC technology with high precision + or – 10 PPM clock. The VLSC (Vector Linear Shaping Circuit) removes pulse noise from the signal. And the vibration resistant aluminum front panel reduces resonance. On the back are hi-fi grade RCA optical and digital coaxial outputs.

 

The build quality is also very good. The metal construction is solid. And the same is true for the rear connections. The elegant look of the brushed aluminum front panel is a nice touch. The remote is also really easy to hold, with buttons that are well laid out. The result is a remote that is well functional.

 

All of this translates to creating a clean, distortion free signal. It’s the kind of signal to reveal all of the details and resolution in your songs that you have enjoyed for years. Which makes sense why it’s part of their Icon Series. The Onkyo Icon C-30 CD Player is the type of product that you expect from Onkyo. Now, let’s see how it sounds.

 

Jackson 5 – I want You Back:  Electric Bass was nice and smooth with good funk. Piano sounded natural. Cymbals were really crisp and clean with great resolution of the stick and its decay. Snare drum had great dynamics as well as great definition. The Congo drums had excellent texture of the impact of the pad and tone. And Michael’s vocals were silky smooth with excellent texture of the timbre and harmonics. Tambourine was also really crisp and clean. Imaging was on a dime, with a soundstage was both with wide and deep with great forwardness as well.

Fresh Aire IV – Come Home to the Sea:  the waves breaking on the beach sounded extremely life-like. Piano sounded very natural with great harmonics and excellent resolution being able to hear the decay of the strings. The recorder was very smooth with excellent air. The violins were extremely smooth providing great resolution of the bows across the strings. The trombone was very rich with great tone without being too brassy. The triangle was incredible crisp and clean. Trumpets were also really rich with excellent tone and harmonics. Snare drum had excellent dynamics and texture of the pad. The harp also had excellent texture from the plucking of the strings. The imaging was excellent. So many instruments, yet they were resolved very well, including their location in the soundstage, which was so wide, deep, and forward, it boarderlined on holographic.

Neil Diamond – Sweet Caroline:  trumpet was nice and smooth with great harmonics. Trombone was rich with excellent tone without being too brassy. Snare drum was very dynamic with excellent resolution of the sticks tapping on the edge of the snare. Cymbals were really crisp with great resolution to hear the decay. Strings were also really smooth with nice texture of the bow across the strings. And they were all resolved extremely well across a massive soundstage that was both wide and deep. With excellent imaging for all of the instruments. And Neil’s vocals came out more crystal clear than I have ever heard them before. They were smooth as honey with excellent texture of the timbre.

 

With so many CD’s to pick from, I wanted to bring out some old classics from a few different genre. And the Onkyo Icon C-30 CD Player performed in spades. While I was expecting it to provide all of the details possible from the CD, it actually sounded better then I was expecting. It also didn’t have a problem playing an anime themed music CD from Japan that my daughter had. Also as expected, the remote worked great. I liked being able to use the dimmer for the display.

 

While there are those that may think that the CD is dead, there are still millions of CD’s that many still want to be able to play. It’s nice to know that Onkyo has a great CD player to take care of that need. It’s also a very well-made player that is built to not only last for many years, it will sound great doing it. Based on its design, features, quality, and performance, the Onkyo Icon C-30 CD Player has earned our Editor’s Choice Award. For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.onkyo.com.