BOSS AUDIO SYSTEMS 648BI Car CD/ MP3 Player

This unit is great. I bought a 2009 Nissan Versa, which I hate. I put this stereo in and now I don't mind it so much. It is like listening to a live concert. I can even hear the wires on the snares. Each instrument is distinct. I bought it for the bluetooth, but the sound is great. It almost sounds as good as my Nakamichi that was stolen a few years back, and I paid 3 times more for that. I don't like booming bass, and this unit will do that if you want to tick off the neighbors. But the unit has a lot of controls, including bass, mid-range and upper frequencies. And you can adjust the crossover frequencies. Very nice, To my amazement, I has it set up perfect in just a few minutes.

The unit has a slot for an SD memory card, like you use in a camera. It will record sound onto the card from the radio or CD - nice feature I wasn't expecting. You can also plug in an IPod or an USB drive. It comes with a plug for the IPod, you will need an extension or cradle to set it up. The USB plug is a mini-USB, but they furnish an adapter. A genuine USB plug would have been nice.

The CD player is motorized and slides down and out so you can insert the CD. Looks nice, but I didn't need it. The CD player skips if there are scratches in the CD, but if they are in good shape it works fine.

The bluetooth works okay, but you can tell it is not the phone you are talking into. The voice comes across weak and I have to speak loudly, but I don't mind. Only my wife complains, because I call her so much. After setting it up the first time, it connects really fast. A couple of clicks and it is ready to call. When I get a call, the music mutes, and I answer the call. When I hang up, the music starts up again. The CDs continue to play in the background, so I miss part of the music when someone calls. I can live with that, at least I am not smashing into someone while I try to answer my phone.

If I had any complaints, it would be the controls. But the unit does so much you need them. You have to use the manual, they are not intuitive. I spent about an hour with them, now I am comfortable with it. The displays are nice, but nothing special. It is a good mid-range unit with a big sound.

I ordered a Boss 748 BI car stereo from BeachAudio.com. The sales people were very helpful. We located everything needed to make the installation easy. I asked what they would do if the product wasn't in stock, they assured me they would not substitute any other units than the one I ordered. I also checked the internet for problems and nothing came up.

I placed the order, picked it up three days later and have a great sounding car stereo now. Installed easy, and I had it jamming in no time. From now on, they get all my business. I am ordering another radio for my second car, along with new speakers (I will blow the stock speakers soon, I have only pushed the volume to 20, I have a lot more volume left).

I bought the same unit from HiFiSoundConnection.com, and they sent me a crappy Boss 745 instead, trying to tell me it was the replacement unit (it only costs half as much). When I sent it back, they never sent a refund. I will never do business with them again. I tried to save $10.00 and wound up losing $200. Not much of a bargain.