Philips SAA2050H/17 Cassette Adapter (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

I recently inherited an older vehicle that has a great stereo. One problem, I couldn't listen to my iPod. Not wanting to replace the existing JBL system, I looked into adding a unit that allowed me to listen to my music collection without sacrificing fidelity. All add on units had complaints of poor sound or unreliable performance. I decided to look into a cassette adapter for the short term while I contemplated whether to just go ahead and install a new stereo with USB connectivity. Most offerings from other manufacturers had several bad reviews. This was the only one without a single bad one. I figured for ten bucks, how could I lose.At first blush, this unit is AWESOME! All the bass, mids and treble are there. After a little eq adjusting, I was enjoying the sweet sounds of my favorite tunes again! There was no installation required, just plug and play. The instuctions do point out a few pitfalls: there are special instructions for those with auto-reverse tape players, and they don't recommend this unit for AC Delco systems.Cassette adapters have come a loooong way since their first inception. Philips has put out a fantastic piece that is more than worth its pricetag!UPDATE 3/17/2013:I've had this item for a couple months now and want to point out two observances.I have an iPod Classic. All was going well until I synced my iPod with my PC. Afterwards, the sound quality wasn't as good. I checked all my settings and realized that the sound on my iPod was set very low. I guess this is a function of the syncing. I played around with volume and found the best fidelity at about 80% of max.I had been storing my adapter with my iPod's other accessories, earbuds and usb cable. It was a tight fit but I didn't think it would cause any issues. My adapter stopped working, that is, my player kept flipping back and forth before ejecting. I was pretty disappointed thinking that the adapter had broken. I decided to move the metal contact that engages the heads, using the mini-plug that is supposed to plug into my iPod, to pull the contact out and up. I thought maybe the way I stored it pushed the contact back so it didn't engage the heads properly. This worked. It took a couple of tries to get it in the right position but I was back in business, listening to my favorite music again!

i bought this to replace an older cassette adapter that had started to get a little noisy when it was running for a long time on car trips....this new philips adapter didn't work at all out of the box... i jiggled the cable on the phone end and then i would only get sound out of 1 speaker... then i let go of the wire and the sound went out. i put back in the old adapter and everything worked fine, and i've had no other sound issues with the phone.this adapter is total garbage.

Don't give up - the sound quality is excellent and it is worth the tries.It took me about 10 attempts to get the cassette adapter to sit properly in my cassette player. I have a 2000 Toyota Camry and the cassette mechanism has not been right in many years. In fact I had forgotten that I had not been able to use it when I purchased this adapter because of the years of inactivity. So on first insertion, I got a lot of bad sounds from the cassette player, the adapter would be switching back and forth, and/or the sound was compromised (Sound would be garbled or missing a side of the audio or just missing certain frequency ranges). This was all very frustrating - but like I said it was my fault for buying an adapter that was doomed to fail. I didn't give up because each time I tried the symptom would switch - so I figured the mechanism was capable of greatness if I sat the adapter in the cassette player just right. I found it on the 10th or 11th attempt. It sounded great and the warbling sound was at a minimum.Being from a scientific background - I had to take it out and try again. The second time, I got it right on the third attempt.Bottom line: If I could get it to work on my previously unworkable cassette player, anyone should be able to get it to work on a normal operating one. It's worth the attempt in an older car that does not have an audio-in for mp3 players or cell phones. I love having the ability to play my streaming music in the car now.Kind request: Please do not search for music while driving!!! Start and drive instead!

I have bought this, the arsvita, and the monster.The arsvita is crisp enough, but has basically no bass. I believe arsvita and the other popular amazon brand have the same manufacturer.The monster arrived broken, but I've submitted for a replacement. Hopefully it works at all, but maybe my standards are too high (just want accuracy 😭).This has bass, but muffled highs (to the extent that podcasts are basically unlistenable). I feel like some songs I'd rather use this, but many (most?) Id prefer the arsvita. If you want something crispy clean, go with that amazon brand. If you want bass (but muddy), this is great.I'm a bit of an audiophile, but is a full frequency range REALLY too much to ask for?

The product works fine in a 2005 Hyundai XG350, and it plays music from an external media device just fine. However, there is a constant light hissing present whenever it's in the cassette deck, and it makes clicking sounds regularly, as well. If you put the music to a moderate sound level, you can't even hear these background noises, though, which is good, but if you intend to play music low in the background, you'll hear them for sure. It's a bit annoying, but with the engine running, it is also less noticeable.Overall, it produces a good quality of sound, though, and it does work as intended, so I can't really say it's a bad product at all. I just wish there were better alternatives than cassette adapters and FM transmitters for playing music from external media devices in older cars without aux inputs available.