Entered CNET Catalog: 05/24/2003
SKU: C173RDNI
Manufacturer: Creative Labs
Manufacturer description
The SoundWorks Radio 730 is a tabletop radio that tops anything you've ever seen or heard. This small marvel of engineering packs a real subwoofer, large display and lots of features into a small, stylish package that will impress you with its rich, room-filling sound. Turn it on, turn it up and put your hand on the table. Feel the beat? There's no mistaking the pulse created by a real subwoofer. The engineers came up with an ingenious way to position the subwoofer and amplify the bass to produce deep, distortion-free sound at any volume. In initial demonstrations of the SoundWorks Radio, people kept looking under the table for a hidden subwoofer - they just couldn't believe the bass it produced! In combination with its wide-dispersion speakers, the SoundWorks Radio delivers awesome sound, not just better than most tabletop radios, but actually better than many component stereo systems. No more squinting to see tiny characters. You can see the SoundWorks Radio's display clear across the room, in your choice of five languages. And for FM stations that support Radio Data Service (RDS), you can see the name of the station - and even the song they're playing - scrolling across the display. The SoundWorks Radio has 16 presets for two bands of FM tuning and 8 presets for AM reception. Front inputs for your CD or MP3 player, and a headphone jack. Rear inputs and outputs for recording, mixing and outside signal reception. A single "Jog" dial makes multiple sound and display adjustments a breeze. A full-featured remote control that's easy to use. And oh yes, the SoundWorks is also an alarm clock - it has two alarms that wake to tone or music and variable snooze settings.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 06/04/2003
Editor's note: We have changed the rating in this review to reflect recent changes in our rating scale. Click here to find out more.
The Cambridge SoundWorks Radio 730 makes a wholly positive first impression, and our respect only grew as we became better acquainted with its intuitive design. The 730 measures 14 inches wide, 5 inches high, and 10 inches deep; it weighs 11 pounds and feels like a substantial piece of equipment. It's available in black or ivory.The 730 is a 2.1-stereo radio, meaning it features a pair of good-quality stereo speakers, a separate woofer (the .1), and three amplifier channels. Most of the 730's interior is reserved for the woofer and its associated vent system. That's how this little radio develops its room-filling sound. For just a radio, the 730 has an impressive feature set. Programming the stations and the dual wake-up settings was blessedly easy. You can opt to awaken to the radio or a beep, preselect the volume, and set the snooze interval from 5 to 55 minutes. The cute little credit-card-style remote isn't crowded with a lot of useless buttons.
We normally wouldn't have much to say about a table radio's connectivity, but the 730 is surprisingly well endowed. The AM and FM antenna inputs accept jacks instead of more difficult and fussy bare-wire leads. There are three 3.5mm stereo minijack inputs--a front-mounted one that's great for quick hookups, and two rear-mounted ones for more-permanent connections. One of the two rear inputs also serves as a "mixing" input: it can enable you to mix blips from your computer with the radio's sound, or it can output to a recording device, such as a CD burner. A headphone jack is also on the front panel.
The Stereo selector gives you a choice of Stereo, Mono, and Wide, which we really liked because it opened up the sound. Furthermore, the 730's bass, treble, and loudness controls let you fine-tune the tonal balance. We performed a brief comparison test with the 730 and a well-known table-radio competitor, and the 730's more full-bodied sound was superior. Additionally, we were able to crank up the 730's bass surprisingly far before we detected any buzzes or rattles.
For our listening sessions, we hooked up a new 15GB iPod to the 730's front input. We started with pianist Glenn Gould's Bach: The Goldberg Variations, worked a few Miles Davis sides, and topped it all off with Led Zeppelin II. The 730 took them all in stride.
The 730's FM reception was excellent even before we plugged in the supplied short-wire antenna, and adding it snagged low-power college stations. We also found AM reception to be above average.
Cambridge sells the 730 direct with an in-home, 45-day trial period, so you can check it out for yourself. It has a retail price of $249.
User opinions
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User Rating: 
3/10
Don't buy this radio for your bedroom unless you are used to sleeping with the lights on.
Pros: Rich sound.
Cons: Display is the brightest I have ever encountered, but, oddly can not be read from a reasonable distance.
User Rating: 
6/10
Lots Of Features In A Compact Radio
Pros: High-Quality Sound From Only 2 Speakers, Lots Of Features, Blue Display
Cons: No CD Player
User Rating: 6/10
What went wrong?
Pros: Has convienent panel layout. User friendly controls, and seperate bass and treble adjustments. Pleasant blue panel read out with scrolling text that gives music data from broadcasting station.
Cons: Boomy bass response regardless of setting. Poor AM tuner design which is hard to understand considering that basic tuner design is elementary these days.
What disappoints me most is the lack of deep bass response, and an annoying boomy sound that is difficult to tune out.
I have a KLH Model 21 table top radio made in 1978 that puts the Cambridge radio to shame in a side by side comparison.
The 730 owners manual is vague and has no technical specifications what so ever! Since when is this info left out of what is considered to be a high end product? Come on CAMBRIDGE! GET WITH IT!
User Rating: 6/10
YGWYPF (*)
Pros: Nice blue-ish display with Radio Data Service (RDS) with nice response to light changes in room. A PLUS :Front and back input AUX with separated ports great to connect it with a Bose second zone and an iPod, Internal/external FM antenna switch. 2 sets
Cons: Radio looks and feels like a cheap Made in China product (cloth-like cover on the speakers, plastic used for the body) if you were wondering, this Radio it is made in China! But compared with the previous models of this brand and the rest of the products
User Rating: 
9/10
A Step up from the CSW Model 88CD.
Pros: With much mention said, this radio promises it's word of performance. It packs the same features on the faceplate of the radio and the remote which is excellent, comparing to other competiturs making their stereo component buttonless as the years pass by
Cons: Title text on the radio and on the CDs and MP3 encoded cds can speed up just a little quicker. Keep in mind that the cd player does not accept the 2 inch pocket cds.
User Rating: 
7/10
Best stereo table radio
Pros: excellent base response excellent overall sound and depth full-function remote 24 presets
Cons: weak AM reception clock inaccurate
User Rating: 9/10
Wow, great radio, great sound
Pros: The sound and reception are outstanding. In between Vancouver and Seattle and able to receive stations clearly from both areas. Less money then Bose and equal or better sound quality.
Cons: None yet
User Rating: 
8/10
Great Smooth Bass Sounds - when not placed over hard surfaces. - Continuation
Pros: Here's a continuation to my earlier post from 05 Sept. <br> I did a further experiment by raising the 730 about 1-1.5" from the foam underneath it....This made it sound even better. Definitely no more boomy bass effects. I can tell you this time it
Cons: White decals on grey back ground are not the easiest to read.
User Rating: 8/10
great sound, intuitive operation
Pros: great sound, easy to operate, has RDS which is a nice feature, front and rear aux inputs, credit card remote works well. got mine on eBay at the Cambridge outlet refurbished for $130
Cons: none that I have found
User Rating: 8/10
Great Smooth Bass Sounds - when not placed over hard surfaces.
Pros: CS seems to be selling alot of 'refurbished' black units of the 730 on ebay. I'm not sure whether these are really customer returns or repaired units (why all black only?). Got mine spotless, working and sounding 100% ok. I think they could be selling bra
Cons: Boomy bass, but this can be overcome. Wide setting a little on the hollow side.
User Rating: 
10/10
Great radio...CD 740
Pros: Wonderful sound, great features, (CD 740) mp3 cd feature is awesome...Best bedside radio I've ever had...
Cons: Long distance AM reception not up to CC Radio Plus, if so would make this the radio of the millenium...
User Rating: 8/10
the photos are deceiving
Pros: Sounds great, the perfect companion to my Airport Express.
Cons: one minor thing: the display has white text, not blue. The photos are deceiving. You have to really aim the remote to change anything, not very powerful.
User Rating: 
2/10
Try again Cambridge
Pros: Slick marketing. Good attempt to compete with the Bose Wave radio.
Cons: Muddled sound that lacks the high and low frequencies. Confusing control layout.
User Rating: 
4/10
Bose wins hands down
Pros: none
Cons: muddled sound, poor AM reception, buzzing speakers at high volume, and control placement awkward
User Rating: 10/10
CD740 puts Bose to shame!
Pros: This is the biggest sound ever from such a small package. Great FM reciever and MP3 CD support.
Cons: Now that I've heard it, I want one in every room in the house!
User Rating: 8/10
Get the 740 with CD - Fill the Room
Pros: Great sound, simple display, easy remote. Use it as an alternative set of speakers for your TV.
Cons: In small spaces, you will need to turn down the bass, it can be overwhelming
User Rating: 4/10
CD740 - boomy bass, poor reception
Pros: CD740 is CD730 + CD/MP3 player. Attractive design, display easy to read.
Cons: Sound is very disappointing. Bass is boomy and the highs are muffled. FM reception is terrible even with the tiny external antenna. Most of the time it won't even stay on "Stereo" because of the weak reception. Other radios in the same room receive fi
User Rating: 8/10
Outstanding sound in a solid package
Pros: This table radio just plain sounds fantastic and at 1/2 the price of the Bose unit. I am just amazed at the great sound of the radio. Playing my iPod through the Cambrige is really nice too. Great clarity with clean highs and a nice midrange. Bass lev
Cons: None that I can think of.
User Rating: 9/10
GreaT sound for a great price
Pros: CS recently reduced the price of both the 730 & 740 making them a bargain. Better sound than the Bose and easy to use
Cons: Can not read the screen unless straight on.
User Rating: 8/10
Best of breed, highly recommended!
Pros: - Excellent CD features - plays MP3s, including random play - Good sound for a box this size, and I like the "wide setting"
Cons: - Reception of weaker stations is poor with the supplied antenna - Bass is a bit boomy, but reducing the bass tone control helped
User Rating: 4/10
Lacks real bass response
Pros: The 730 radio has a center jog control that allows the user to adjust bass & treble, and several other features from one main dial,unlike other radios in it's class. The main control panel is user friendly. The "wide" feature adds a sense of fullness
Cons: Contrary to the manufacturers claims, this radio lacks true deep bass response and sounds boomy. With certain music content,the sub woofer sounds like it's trying to bang it's way out of a cardboard box. Certain bass frequencies cause the cabinet to rattl
User Rating: 8/10
unbelievable sound!
Pros: Listening to the CD740 (identical to Radio 730 except for addition of CD player) is a pleasure. Exceptionally rich bass. Attractive unit. Much better than the Bose!
Cons: Buttons on front panel are small.
User Rating: 6/10
All Around Great Value
Pros: Great Sound, Reception, quality.
Cons: Awkward method of establishing preset stations with the remote, easy to reset when atttempting to change stations.
User Rating: 7/10
Awesome sound!
Pros: sound, sound sound! Much better than the muffled sounding Bose Wave Radio. The bass response is amazing. RDS for FM station and song information, adjustable snooze duration.
Cons: size, a bit large but the sound more than makes up for it.
User Rating: 6/10
Good sound quality with plenty of base
Pros: Overall good sound, plenty of features, great reception, plenty of bass. Does not sound like a table top radio.
Cons: Weak midrange and the bass can be overwhelming at low volume.
User Rating: 9/10
CD740 simply awesome
Pros: The CD740 is the same as the Radio 730 with the addition of a slot-loading MP3 capable CD Player. Sound is amazing for a tabletop. Screen is easy to read from a distance. MP3 playback is great. Will accept an external source. FM reception is great. Gets p
Cons: A tad slow on reading the MP3 information (song usually starts a couple seconds before the title shows up). A tad pricey but still much cheaper than the Bose equivalent (and it has better sound and more features). Screen remains lit up at all times, even
