Onkyo CS-255 Dock and CD Mini System for iPhone 5

Bought this system for my sister who had limited space in a small apartment. She is a music professor with a discerning ear and I wanted something that sounded great and was compact. I only got to hear it a couple times but was impressed with its balance and clarity. It was easy to set up and a perfect size for her bookshelf. I would recommend this product for compact size, good sound and perfect for small spaces.

In the course of operating and managing a Luxury-level, Vacation Beach Villa in Kona (FallingWatersKonaDOTcom), with 3 stories of Pure Hospitality indulgence for the discerning, well-seasoned Travelers, who love vacationing in Hawaii, we have thru the course of vetting, remodeling, updating, with Repairs and Replacements of everything from: A variety of Home/Personal Electronics to major or commercial Kitchen appliances, to Bed covers to Lighting appointments, to Patio furniture to Scuba-Snorkel gear to Hot Tubs ... on a grand scale and expense.That said, this review will focus on our Villa's Electronics that we seem to be replacing quite frequently, as A/V gear & equipment needs Upgraded replacements, for filling the needs of our clients.Some of the most replaced pieces of Home Electronics is and has always been the Tri-fecta of: BluRay/DVD players + TV's + Mini Stereo FM/CD/DVD/iPod/iPhone Players, for the pleasure and enjoyment of our esteemed guests. Yes, we do Spoil them!About the 'Onkyo CS-255 CD Mini System & Dock for iPhone 5 - despite having only an overall 3.8 Star review, due to a couple of "not-so-great" review postings. Despite that, I am familiar with the Onkyo brand, and have always been very pleased with most, if not all of their electronic sound systems and equipment.One very useful SUGGESTION that I would like to share with anyone perusing this Review is the following recommendations forboth Hi-Fi, conventional CD Stereo Systems, and also for DVD/BluRay Players, I developed a collection of Music, Movie Soundtracks & Classical CD's that I use to "Test" the Audio, and/or, Video Quality on any A/V -TV system.:a. For CD playing Systems - One CD that I will share is a soundtrack from the old movie, 'BulWorth', Track 2 - Ghetto SupaStar, for the AUDIO component. The Voice + Bass & Sound Spectrum is very good.b. For DVD & BluRay Players - I use BlackHawk Down or Avatar, for Testing both the 5.1 THX AUDIO + VIDEO components, of not ONLY the Players, but, the Display + Sound on whatever TV Monitor I may be also "Testing", as well, via HDMI.PRO's - One Caveat is set this up First using the included Remote, as it will Save you a lot of time:* Box Packaging - 1st thing to notice is just how well-packaged this Mini System arrives in, as in the same manner that most really high-end, Hi-Fi systems are shipped in. From this standpoint, "if" your unit arrives trashed or damaged, then, it was more likely due to pure carelessness on the Shipment Carrier's part. But, this time it was perfect condition, all the way to Hawaii.* EZ Set-up. No brainer. Look over the Quick setup instructions brochure.* SOUND Quality - HiFi, Rich, Crisp Sound Quality & Textures (Treble/Bass), with 2 Options for Bass! Caveat #2 - there is a huge difference in Sound Quality between CD's & coming thru the iPod or iPhone! It is much LOUDER on iPod's & iPhone's.* POWER Level - 25 Watt built-in amp that powers the Perfectly-Matched Speakers, thereby, creating an Acoustic Impression of a more powerful stereo mini system. Powerful enough for the Living room + Piano Den & Front & Back Lanai's, w/o disturbing our neighborhood.* SPEAKERS - the speakers are in a Plastic housing, although the Sound Quality was 100% notably better than the previous more expensive SONY iPhone/iPod Docking Stereo Mini-System, with "wooden" speakers! I'll be hooking up some desktop BOSE speakers later and check out their sound.* FM Radio - Setup with Remote/ Menu/Chose AUTOMATIC Station Location Set-up. Flawless! FM Radio sounds great!* CD Player - MP3** everything and you should not have any problems, which is EZ on iTunes, or All2MP3, MediaHuman MP3 Converter or Other Free or Paid 3rd-party convertor app. I cut a CD for my Biz partner's mom, who loves Mo-Town, about as much as I do and she was Blown Away by the difference in Sound Quality of Crispness & Textures. NOTE that the MP3 music tracks do NOT sound as good as on iPhone or iPod. Of course, very few people use CD's anymore, and I'm sure that you could Write your music tracks, at the Highest or Loss-less Settings.* DOCKING 1 - sits on Top as depicted, just slide dust cover back to open, has Flexible, Lightening-style Connector for iPhone 5 and any iPods that have the female Lightening connector.* DOCKING 2 - USB Connector - located on the front, works for iPhone 4, all other iPods, Android devices with a USB cable connector. SEE PHOTOS ...** ➤ From FORMATS - Audio formats like WMA, WAV, AAC, OGG, FLAC, AIFF, Apple Lossless, MP3, Real Audio, etc. ➤ To - MP3 audio format (VBR / CBR)CON's - Not many at this time, but more attributed to the sub-$200 dollar Price Point, IMO:* BlueTooth - I would NOT expect having a BT feature at this Price range. The next Onkyo system with BT technology and More ... that I previewed was near a cool 1K, just in comparison.* Black finish - I could possibly understand that some people might have a little difficulty in seeing or noting the Control lettering, and is why I recommend using the remote from the start. Also, it's a Dust Magnet, fyi.* Possible Gremlin? - Better to connect the AC cord into it's own outlet, rather than into a power strip, or a GFI multiple outlet, as I did note some slight FM Radio 'interference' when operating along with adjustable-type of table lamps on the same outlet.BUY IT Again - Yes, definitely for a unit below a $200 price point and w/o hesitation. Probably, this unit is a well-kept Secret on AMZ, and I can definitely HEAR the reason why!Update - Check back in 6 months, or so.

It makes noise when there is a audio CD put inside; the noise is loud and unbearable. I could play music in the iphone 4s by connecting to the USB slot in the front of the CS-255. The phone is not mine. I bought the CS-255 to play my CDs!

We already have Bluetooth speakers paired to our phones. But we needed something that can play music for the baby to put her to sleep (without the phone ringing and waking her up). We don't need the iPhone feature on this stereo, we just needed the USB connection. So far, the Mini System works great. It has good sound quality, and is easy to use. I just wish it could display metadata from the MP3 media, such as artist and song title. One minor problem we had was that it does not recognize some USB sticks.

The sound is really good on this Mini System. I've used the CD player, AM and FM receiver & iPhone dock and they all work fantastic. No problems or complaints about them. The reception seems to be really good when using the radio. I love that I can dock my iPhone 5 on it and it charges while I listen to music or audio books over the speaker. Great system. Works with my phone cover on.

I bought this unit because my 25 year old boom box finally quit and I couldn't find a replacement that didn't have poor reviews. The only reason I didn't give this one a five star is really Apple's fault for changing the plug on the iphone5. To use my ipod, I have to use the USB cable. The sound is wonderful and I love the remote. If you have a small space and want big sound this is a nice unit.

Wonderful system! Doesn't take up a lot of space, nice simple remote. Plenty of sound volume, works well with IPhones and IPods. I upgraded the sound with some Pioneer Andrew Jones bookshelf speakers, and the sound.is wonderful.

set this up for a senior and found it easy to set up and easy to use; the receiver did not get a radio station that previously came in on an older model Pioneer receiver -we had to add an amplified VHF antenna to get good reception

This is a a small sytem, but of high quality. I am very picky about getting the full range of sound, from bass to treble. This unit satisfies that need quite nicely, but shouldn't be compared to a $1,000 system. Doesn't have the "muddy bass" like so many of the small all-in-one units with so-called "full-range" speakers. Bass isn't over-amplified (like Bose) and the treble comes in clearly.Very good value for the money.