CD-BH950 Sharp 240W 5-Disc Mini Shelf Speaker System with Cassette and Bluetooth

For quite some time, I have been looking for a little stereo shelf system for listening to in my garage to replace the old one from the 1990's. Everything that I could find looked ridiculous, it seemed as though the manufacturers spend more time and money trying to make the things look futuristic and "cool" than trying to make a decent sounding sound system (I'm talking about all brands, but mostly Sony). I just wanted a little stereo that sounded good, and looked like what they used to look like, not something from a cheesy sci-fi movie. I stumbled upon this one from Sharp, it seemed to have pretty good reviews, so I took a leap and ordered it. Well, it arrived, I set it up in the kitchen just to hear it, and the wife (not so secretly) wanted to keep it there, so...... happy, happy life....... So I ordered another one for my garage. It actually sounds really good for a small stereo system, I was surprised. The bass and treble are separately adjustable, which is much nicer than the usual 4 or 5 EQ presets that usually seem to come on these things. It is slightly larger than I expected, which isn't a bad thing at all, I was pleasantly surprised after seeing all of the modern tiny ones, it was nice to see something that looked as though it could actually put out some sound. I am absolutely happy with my purchase, if there is one downside, I would say that it is: Those stations that are weak, but still come in, just kind of quietly, it does not pick them up at all, it seems to only pick up the strongest stations, in order to cut back on static, but I wish it would give me the weak ones as well. One more thing, it actually has both AM and FM, when did all of the manufactures decide that nobody wants AM any longer??? Sometimes it's nice to listen to a baseball game in the garage. I highly recommend this stereo to anyone looking for a good little stereo that doesn't try to hide a cheap sounding piece of junk behind a flashy package.

OK - here goes: I received this system today. Being old fashioned, it was VERY difficult to find a decent "stereo component system" with a multi-player CD built in, with AM/FM, that even plays cassette tapes (I think I have one or two laying around somewhere). Doesn't play 8 tracks (I think) and no turntable, but I have that somewhere else (yes, I still have vinyl). Only "con" so far - the speaker wires are exactly 46" long - so if you want your speakers more than three feet away from the main unit, get some bell wire, electrical tape, and wire strippers. It took me about 30 minutes to set the thing up where I wanted it. Today's normal teenager would not be able to set this thing up (just kidding). The AM and FM reception is good - no fading out, etc. And you can set stations. There are separate external antennas for both AM and FM. Everything I wanted to do so far I found (eventually) in the instruction manual. The print is VERY small. It's another device where you will probably not use 50% of the functionality. I know I won't. The sound, however, is surprisingly good - better than the old "component system" it replaced. I've had Sharp products before and liked them. Playing five CDs right now on "ALL REPEAT" mode - ya gotta read the manual to figure out how. Sinatra sounds good. The "x-bass" mode works well, sounds good. Using the remote you can adjust the bass/treble settings. Took me awhile to find the CD "open/close" button - NOT on the remote - only on the unit itself. But that almost makes sense since you will be inserting/removing CDs and you can't do that remotely. The black cases look good. It has a USB port so you can play your music from a flash drive. I'll close with "so far, so good." If I run into problems I'll update this review. BTW - it's NOT made in the USA as another review stated.

I recently purchased the Sharp CD-BH950 for my 91-year-old grandmother, and after setting it up and testing its features, I have a solid impression of the product. Here’s what stood out—both good and bad. 🔹 Setup & First Impressions Ease of Setup: Pretty straightforward—I was able to wire up the speakers and get everything running without needing the instructions. Instructions: The included manual was folded like a cumbersome map rather than a booklet, making it annoying to reference (not a dealbreaker, but inconvenient). Design & Display: The digital standby display is cluttered and not very aesthetically pleasing, especially compared to older stereos I’ve owned. 🔊 Sound Quality & Features Extra Bass Feature: I was pleasantly surprised—for a two-speaker system, the sound quality was solid. The bass boost helped, but… Subwoofer Input? Nope. Even my grandma, who is legally deaf, noticed the absence of her subwoofer. This wasn’t a factor in my purchase decision, but I wish there was an option to connect one. Controller & Button Layout: Functional but awkward. The button flow isn’t as intuitive as it could be. Disc Play Mode Confusion: I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to make discs play sequentially and never found an obvious solution. 🛑 Build Quality Concern: Flimsy Disc Tray The disc tray feels flimsy and is not designed for push-to-close. Grandma instinctively tried to push it shut, but it doesn’t auto-close like some older systems. If you’re used to older CD players where you nudge the tray to close, be careful—this one requires the button. 🔗 Modern Features: Bluetooth & Alexa Connectivity Bluetooth worked great! I was able to easily pair it with an Alexa Dot and stream Prime Music for my grandma, which she thought was "way cool." Pro-tip: Alexa has to be within 3 feet to pair but afterwards can move your smart device farther. Mine, once paired, is about 10 to 15ft from the player and connects fine. Multi-Format Playback: I mainly bought it for the 5-disc changer, but it also supports Bluetooth, cassettes, and CDs, making it a versatile choice for someone transitioning from older tech. ⚖️ Final Verdict: Solid System with Minor Annoyances For $273 on Amazon (cheaper than Best Buy by $50), it was worth it for the features included. ✔ Great sound for a compact system ✔ Good bass (even without a subwoofer input) ✔ Bluetooth connectivity is a huge plus ✖ Bad instructions, busy display, awkward controller layout ✖ No subwoofer input, despite decent bass boost ✖ Unclear disc playback order (should be easier to control) Overall: If you want a compact shelf system with multiple playback options and decent sound, it’s a solid buy. Just be ready for a few quirks and some old-school tech limitations.

The sound is absolutely amazing, my son is very happy. He didn't want the subwoofer, and it turns out, you really don't need one. We were impressed by how full and rich the music was. Even radio stations came in crystal clear with rich sound. You'll have to play around with the wire antenna that came with it, my son decided to purchase another one that is longer, as this one is very touchy. The front of the unit is easy to use, I was able to teach my son how to load and unload his CDs and cassettes. He is blind, so that should say something. The remote was difficult for him, a work in process. After I programmed the radio stations using the remote, I taped over the buttons he shouldn't touch, as there are buttons that will kick him out and he won't realize it, like the Bluetooth button. Just by touch, the tape helps him to know what buttons to avoid. I had to tape over quite a bit, as he is only interested in the cassette/CD/radio functions. It isn't the most intuitive remote control we've come across, but it's more workable than others. There is a bright blue light that stays on and scrolls things when the unit is off, that will light up a room at night. No way to turn that off or down. You can dim the LED light for when it is on, but not for when it is off. That is the only downside I have found so far. What's important to know is we purchased this shelf system for my son as an early birthday present to replace a 7-year old boombox that recently died. He liked it so much, he had me order him a spare, for the day (hopefully many years from now) when this one dies. That's because boomboxes and shelf systems with cassette functions included are impossible to find (like VCRs.) Probably in the future finding CD players will be impossible to find too. This was such a nice system with better sound than what he had before, that buying a spare was a must for him. Now it's pretty large and the box it came in is huge, so I'll have to figure out where to put it.

I had an old Aiwa CX-NA555 since I was a teenager (I'm 33 now) that I used for TV audio, CD playing, and cassette playing. It was old and wasn't working quite right anymore, so I got rid of it in favor of this unit, which seemed like exactly what I needed: a stereo unit with CD, cassette, and TV connectivity capabilities. It sounded great, super fine audio quality...until I tried watching movies or shows with quiet scenes. This unit has a problem during TV audio playback. In quiet scenes where the unit doesn't detect enough sound from the TV for a few seconds (for example, a scene roughly 12 or 13 minutes into 1983's "The Dead Zone" where Christopher Walken is in the hospital bed looking at his hands and the only audio is the white noise of the room), the audio will cut out completely, and it won't come back on until a louder noise occurs, such as people talking or music playing, and once the audio does come back, the start of it is often cut off as the unit realizes "oh whoops we've got signal again, hurry up and turn the audio back on." Soft noises like someone walking across a carpet won't make the audio come back, so these kinds of soft noises are completely missing until the audio decides to come back on when triggered by something louder. Nothing I do seems to help when this happens. I tried turning up and down the volume, muting and unmuting, messing with the bass and treble settings, even messing with the volume on my TV itself...nothing makes the audio come back until a louder noise tells the unit "uh, hello, we have signal." I called Sharp's customer service about this and they couldn't figure out the problem, made me do a factory reset, claimed the unit is working as intended, and told me there must be a problem with my TV or cable (a Sharp TV I've never had problems with and a brand new JSAUX dual-shielded, gold-plated, nylon braided 3.55mm male to 2 RCA male stereo audio adapter coaxial cable). When I assured them I never had this problem until setting up their unit, they said all they could do would be to have me PAY to send the unit in to them for assessment and possible repair. This is totally ridiculous, because not only could this take weeks (during which time I would have no audio for my TV/blu-ray player/video games), but I should not have to pay to have them assess and fix a unit that came out the box with this problem. Basically I'm looking for any other possible three-piece stereo unit with CD and cassette players and TV audio in so I can rid myself of this utter disappointment in favor of something that actually works the way it should. Terribly disappointing product for TV audio use, and even worse customer service from Sharp. Do not buy this unit for TV audio, you will not be happy.

I brought this system because the one I had was about, 29 years old!! I brought it when my ( now Grown children) were 4 and 5 years. When it started to only play , a minute or the CD’s … I knew it was time to get a new one. It Really broke my heart to replace it because I’ve had it throughout my kids childhood. They are now 30. If we could have, buried it and have a funeral for it. We would have done it. But we Did have a little ceremony for it and give it our last words and told him how much it meant to us. As silly as it may seem the stereo we had, was a part of the family, and it was not going to be easy to replace it!!! So, it took Months and Months to find something that we would all Love and Enjoy. And , That’s when I found this system. It has more features and instead of a 3 CD player, this is a 5 CD player, which is a Plus!! The sound is about the same as the system We had before, Which is Still a Good thing for My Family!! I also hooked up the speakers from the old system because they worked Great, I wasn’t going to get rid of the speakers!! Even without the old speakers, the system sounds Great. Thank you So Much!! And the Price was Very Reasonable!! I hope we have this system for Many Years!! We are Enjoying it Already!!! Thank you.

Out of the box, it is simple to set up speakers. I’m still learning how to use the different components but am excited to have a Bluetooth option as well. I really missed having a 5 cd changer and this one is easy to use. The sound is great! I love the options to adjust bass and treble. One of the things I was initially frustrated about was that it never turned “off”; it only went on standby mode and then the display would continuously scroll “Bluetooth Standby”. I googled the issue and found that if you hit the dimmer button on remote to “off” and then hit the eco button, the display turns off completely during standby mode. Only thing I wish it would have is the option to display the clock during standby mode.

Replaced my old Aiwa Shelf top system that fried during a power surge... Aiwa was a branch of Sony years ago... The quality of the Sharp system is not nearly as good... The tape deck is on the weak side, and would not work on some of my old commercial cassette tapes... But it works good enough on recordings I did on tapes with high quality mechanisms like TDK and Maxwell tapes... The 5 CD changer works great! The FM works good once you figure the best angle/placement for the wire antenna... The Bluetooth input works great.... I use Spotify on my iphone and it plays great! The 240 Watts of Sound Power is pretty impressive and will Sound good all the way up... So the only downside is the cheapie cassette player... If you are buying it mainly for the cassette player, I suggest looking elsewhere...