Panasonic SL-CT800

The SL-CT800 was a portable CD player manufactured in 2003 by the Panasonic Corporation in Osaka, Japan. It was one in a series of similar looking models, with virtually the same model name and different suffix letters. This unit is capable of playing MP3 and WMA files, and has an optical output socket. Here are some of its features and specifications.

• CD-DA (ordinary CD tracks)
• CD-R and CD-RW (finalized discs)
• WMA: 32 kbps to 192 kbps supported (96 kbps recommended)
• MP3: 32 kbps to 320 kbps supported (128 kbps recommended)
• In-line remote control
• Version 1.0 and 1.1 ID3 track title display
• S-XBS bass
• Auto power OFF (after 10-minutes in STOP mode)
• Dimensions: 134.4 mm × 13.9 mm × 133.8 mm
• Mass: 136 g (without batteries)

Review

It’s a lovely little CD player with many advantages going for it. I loved the build quality, together with the metal lid, and thickness of just 13.9 mm. However, it all comes at a cost because in order to make it this thin, it employs special thin rechargeable batteries within the CD compartment. Consequently, if you wish to use it with standard AA size batteries, then you will need the AA battery holder accessory which connects externally. In order to keep the lid as thin as possible there is also no LCD panel display, however there is one in the in-line remote control. In addition, the control buttons on the side have LED illumination which is very impressive, and provides useful information to the user. One very good feature is the optical digital output, which could be fed to a compatible amplifier for high quality sound.

When I opened this unit to have a look at the electronic engineering, I was very impressed with the chipset quality. The Matsushita Electric Industrial Corporation has managed to use a huge plethora of integrated circuits onto one of the smallest printed circuit boards I have ever seen. Even more impressive was the three channel disc motor that they use for the CD spindle drive. I used my favourite Sony pair of headphones with this unit and the sound quality was excellent.

Value/eBay

These units sometimes come up for sale in the pre-used markets and a unit in mint condition and good working order with the box, remote control, charger, (working) batteries, and AA battery holder, would be highly collectable. A special feature of this unit is the spindle motor, which I would anticipate to continue operating if the unit was not worn out. You can see photographs of the inside electronic engineering including the motor in the following pages of this multi-page article.

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