Product: Oakcastle Hifi400 Home Stereo with CD Player, Bluetooth & Radio
Model: HIFI400
Condition: New
The HiFi400 combines Bluetooth connectivity with CD playback and FM radio (30 presets), allowing seamless streaming from your devices alongside classic audio options
Delivering powerful 40W sound through a built-in amplifier, it also features versatile USB/aux inputs and a personalized alarm for a convenient daily start
Designed to save space, this sleek stereo system offers clear audio through integrated speakers with simple, user-friendly controls
Crafted with a premium solid wood finish, it supports multiple CD formats and includes EQ control to customize your listening experience
Dimensions
8.6 x 8.7 x 5.3 inches
Output Power
40W
Audio Sources
CD Player (MP3, CD, CD-R, HDCD), FM Radio (30 presets), Bluetooth
Connectivity
Bluetooth, USB port, Auxiliary input
Speakers
Built-in stereo speakers
Materials
Solid wood
What’s Included?
1x Home Stereo System with CD Player Bluetooth & Radio
However, I would guess that perhaps although it may have an internal clock (and a way to set an alarm), it does not display the time constantly, so would be of little use as a clock.
I woulda bought this 10-15 years ago, but this is 2026¼!! That & it’s less than 9" high, so the speaker is probably 2 to 3 inches,…this is a minature boom box, at best!!
@superpope I wouldn’t call this pointlessly huge though – 8x8x5 is pretty compact! I reckon a CD player, radio & bluetooth speaker stacked on top of each other would be as big (or bigger)
This does not appear to be a true STEREO device to me. With the 2 top mounted speakers (looks like a full-range and a woofer to me) you’ll only get MONO sound from the device. The lack of a Left / Right knob (or button / switch) also adds to the possibility it’s MONO only. It’s possible that you might get true stereo from the headphone out jack though. Just my observation.
@chienfou I found the user manual and looked through it before I made my post. The headphone jack is located on the back of the device. I was looking to see if the device had more than just the 2 top-mounted speakers but didn’t see any others.
Make it a dual cassette and CD boombox that could fit 12 D batteries (but is rechargeable now) and you got a deal.
/giphy breakdancing with a giant boombox
@brainmist Don’t stream, still can d/l unencrypted hi fidelity tracks. Dumped the CD’s and haven’t looked back. Probably 20-30G of music that I put on my devices how I want to.
@brainmist@MrJazz Sadly, because of the transition to streaming and digital music played in shuffle mode, the idea of “an album” as a coherent assemblage of music, instead of just a collection of tracks with a title, is apparently fading.
This is the kind of thing I’d love to find in an IRK. I would genuinely use this and it’s the kind of thing that’s right up my alley…good find, Meh! A shame I cannot afford impulse purchases right now, and my birthday isn’t until September. C’est la vie…
@PooltoyWolf if it shows up, I’d probably use it… But it’s a bit much for a Bluetooth speaker that happens to play CDs. An SD card reader would be a lot handier.
… Reading the Amazon description, it does have USB connectivity. That helps! But still a pretty pricey speaker.
/showme sony walkman print ad in readable correct cuneiform from circa 2000 bce showing mesopotamian scribe enjoying music at work. all text is cuneiform.
I don’t know if there’s a good reason to have this CD player, but people should still buy physical media so the various streaming services and digital music stores can’t decide for you what music you’re allowed to hear.
It’s just so much cheaper to buy the album digitally (direct, Bandcamp, even iTunes in a pinch), grab the files, and upload somewhere I can access (aka “not lose”) them.
This “stereo system” does not appear to be stereo at all, as it has no output beyond its onboard speaker that I can see. Bluetooth in, but not out? No aux (line level) out? Not so much as a headphone jack?? The use of the word STEREO is blatantly false advertising. Hard pass.
@richrauch To be fair, it doesn’t say that the audio output is in stereo. They’re using the term “stereo”, I forget the term for it, to refer to what it is, not the output. The sound is said to be “dynamic”. Whatever that means.
I’d say if one is looking for a CD player with internal speakers, $50 ain’t too bad. Especially considering all the other functions. No headphone jack? This is meant to have one. Nor aux or BT out. This is a GenX product for sure. ha.
Very sneaky of them to stick a “Cambridge technology company” label on these images, so that someone might think they’re in any way related to actual hifi company Cambridge Audio
I don’t really want to buy this, but I did turn my entire house upside down last night looking for the front panel closeout for my PC case. Amongst many other things I’ve held onto for far too long, I did indeed find my entire collection of old CDs. How does meh do this? Are you watching me inside my house?
@richseibert Actually, 3-star reviews tend to be the most reliable. Lots of 5-star reviews are of the “this changed my life!” variety, and lots of 1-star reviews are of the “this didn’t set itself up the moment I opened the box” variety. 3-star reviews generally talk about the actual features and functionality without all the hyperbole.
Pretty tough to get behind the value of this one. I am seeing options that are similar to the sale price that include Cassette playing, I would imagine consumers going back to older physical formats would prefer those over this option.
@sportchase I like records, but I do not - and never really did - like tapes. As soon as CDs came out (and to a lesser extend the awesome minidisc) I splurged for years. Mixtapes were cool, but mix CDs were way better. I still collect records, but not CDs that much any more.
I’m sure there is still a market for tapes though; I see newer releases all the time.
I don’t know though, I might be too out of the scene. I never took to reel-to-reel, never liked 8 tracks, never liked cassettes (nor the DAC that came later), watched tons of VHS, but preferred the solid media (but not the laserdisc, nor whatever they tried pulling with DIVX?).
Something about something that can just break - though it was rare.
Everything has their issues though…mine was the time it took to search on tapes.
OK, well I read the manual such as it was, but the one question that I couldn’t find any answer to was whether it could be used to play a music CD [or USB stick with MP3 files] on infinite repeat?
We use a [less and less reliable] MP3 player to play Gregorian chants on repeat overnight as background noises for sleep maintenance.
This was something I grew used [read habituated] to when I worked nights and slept during the [frequently noisy] daytime hours.
If this were able to play my “Chant” CD on infinite repeat, I’d really consider buying one of these.
Thank you in advance for any useful [or humorous] answers.
@PhysAssist Helpful would be a high bar for me.
The obligatory pun when I can’t find an answer is my natural fallback.
(I wish I actually knew. Listening to the Chants CD (or an MP3 of it) for sleep sounds amazing!)
We’ve found that the droning voices with varying tones played at a low level really help to drown out extraneous house noises without causing us to wake up vs. the radio or other music, or even ambient sounds like rainfall or distant thunder.
It’s also a good sleep cue [along with a regular bedtime routine] to get our body and mindset into sleep mode.
I ended buying this-
“Udreamer-CD-Players-Home-Portable-Boombox-Digital-Portable-Player-Bluetooth-Hi-Fi-Stereo-Sound-Remote-Control-Support-AUX-USB-Headphone-Jack”…
…from Wally World after researching them on the Amazon site @sportchase posted above where “Rufus” confirmed that there is an infinite CD repeat function.
I had left both the Amazon and Wally World sites up on their respective product pages and this AM the WW site had decreased to $41 and change, while the Amazon site hadn’t changed [after having gone up about $8 when I put it into my cart].
If it had digital HD radio capability so that I could listen to all of the NPR channels, I’d have jumped on it. The lack of HDR makes it just another noisebox, do not need.
Specs
Product: Oakcastle Hifi400 Home Stereo with CD Player, Bluetooth & Radio
Model: HIFI400
Condition: New
What’s Included?
Price Comparison
$109.95 at Amazon
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Apr 27 - Thursday, Apr 30
No AM, no deal
How is this not a clock radio?
@jandrese Perhaps because it lacks a clock?
@jandrese @mike808 So how does the “personalized alarm” work w/o a clock? Gremlins jump out at a time you concentrate on to chew on your toes?
@jandrese @mike808 @revjimignatowsk I know little about this device and perusing the manual didn’t answer the question.
However, I would guess that perhaps although it may have an internal clock (and a way to set an alarm), it does not display the time constantly, so would be of little use as a clock.
@jandrese @mike808 @revjimignatowsk but wait, I want it to flash 12:00 forever after the power goes out.
What is CD? Currently Decrepit?
@bfg9000 I used to have CDs, back when they paid decent interest.
@bfg9000 @phendrick CDs
@mike808 got 'em!
@bfg9000 @phendrick Now they offer no advantage over a HYSA.
@bfg9000 @craigthom @phendrick depends , but…
I can’t believe no part of this says “you’re the meh now, dog” after seeing that last image.
Strange looking pizza maker.
@cfg83 no vinyl spinner here
Does that include the power cord and the remote?
Speaker cones also?
@phendrick JVC actually marketed a number of mini systems that had wooden speaker cones. They sounded quite good!
https://uk.jvc.com/microsite/uk/woodcone/story/index.html
@phendrick @PooltoyWolf I had one of these, it was indeed fantastic for its size.
@PooltoyWolf Hunh, interesting.
@phendrick Solid wood is significantly less volatile than gaseous wood.
@phendrick @PooltoyWolf Those are pretty!
@Kyeh @phendrick I really want a pair!
@Kyeh @PooltoyWolf I had never considered needing to wax and polish speakers! (And the cones also?)
Oof. Meh may have found the ultimate dud with this limited technology.
I look forward to my pallet.
@brainmist physical media is popular again, though.
@djslack yeah, but I already have players designed around that media (including a century-old Victrola). And so does anyone collecting.
@brainmist These are the perfect size for the typical IRK box.
I woulda bought this 10-15 years ago, but this is 2026¼!! That & it’s less than 9" high, so the speaker is probably 2 to 3 inches,…this is a minature boom box, at best!!
@1DisabledWarVet I would have used fractions to express a quarter of something a century ago, but this is 2026.25.
This is perfect for replacing the Bluetooth speaker, CD player, and radio you definitely already have that just aren’t pointlessly huge enough.
@superpope
8.6 x 8.7 x 5.3 inches
@troy yes, I can see how big it is in the photo. There’s a nice CD for a size comparison.
@superpope @troy
@superpope I wouldn’t call this pointlessly huge though – 8x8x5 is pretty compact! I reckon a CD player, radio & bluetooth speaker stacked on top of each other would be as big (or bigger)
This does not appear to be a true STEREO device to me. With the 2 top mounted speakers (looks like a full-range and a woofer to me) you’ll only get MONO sound from the device. The lack of a Left / Right knob (or button / switch) also adds to the possibility it’s MONO only. It’s possible that you might get true stereo from the headphone out jack though. Just my observation.
@MrGoodGuy I do believe you’re technically correct
/giphy the best kind of correct
@MrGoodGuy
If it HAS one. I don’t see any mention of a headphone jack anywhere.
@chienfou I found the user manual and looked through it before I made my post. The headphone jack is located on the back of the device. I was looking to see if the device had more than just the 2 top-mounted speakers but didn’t see any others.
@MrGoodGuy It just says Music System.
@MrJazz
Here, try these glasses
and look again!
@MrGoodGuy @MrJazz
Thanks. It was conspicuously absent from the specs!
@MrGoodGuy @MrJazz
…and pics
Make it a dual cassette and CD boombox that could fit 12 D batteries (but is rechargeable now) and you got a deal.
/giphy breakdancing with a giant boombox
@djslack I found what I was looking for… But did not anticipate the price tag
https://bumpboxx.com/pages/bb777
Okay yes, I do still have The Binder.
“But why? Why do you keep me around?”
Because physical copies aren’t subject to arbitrary streaming changes.
@brainmist And liner notes. Or listening to a whole album!
Kids these daze…
@brainmist Don’t stream, still can d/l unencrypted hi fidelity tracks. Dumped the CD’s and haven’t looked back. Probably 20-30G of music that I put on my devices how I want to.
@brainmist @MrJazz Sadly, because of the transition to streaming and digital music played in shuffle mode, the idea of “an album” as a coherent assemblage of music, instead of just a collection of tracks with a title, is apparently fading.
This is the kind of thing I’d love to find in an IRK. I would genuinely use this and it’s the kind of thing that’s right up my alley…good find, Meh! A shame I cannot afford impulse purchases right now, and my birthday isn’t until September. C’est la vie…
@PooltoyWolf if it shows up, I’d probably use it… But it’s a bit much for a Bluetooth speaker that happens to play CDs. An SD card reader would be a lot handier.
… Reading the Amazon description, it does have USB connectivity. That helps! But still a pretty pricey speaker.
Ope, the meh description also notes USB. Apparently I do not read.
@PooltoyWolf “La vie…”
@brainmist I have loads of great music on CDs I still listen to all the time, and I greatly prefer physical media, so this is a good fit for me.
/showme 1940 sony walkman print ad
@zippyus Here’s the image you requested for “1940 sony walkman print ad”
@mediocrebot @zippyus This image is better than it has any right to be.
/showme 1840 sony walkman print ad
/showme 1740 sony walkman print ad
/showme 1640 sony walkman print ad
@zippyus Here’s the image you requested for “1840 sony walkman print ad”
@zippyus Here’s the image you requested for “1740 sony walkman print ad”
@zippyus Here’s the image you requested for “1640 sony walkman print ad”
ok, let’s try that again.
/showme sony walkman print ad from the 1840s
@zippyus Here’s the image you requested for “sony walkman print ad from the 1840s”
@zippyus Here’s the image you requested for “sony walkman print ad from”
/showme sony walkman print ad from the 1740s era appropriate technology
@zippyus Here’s the image you requested for “sony walkman print ad from the 1740s era appropriate technology”
/showme sony walkman print ad from the 1640s windup music box on top of stylish woman’s head connected to two brass tubes that lead to her ears
@zippyus Here’s the image you requested for “sony walkman print ad from”
@zippyus Here’s the image you requested for “sony walkman print ad from the 1640s windup music box on top of stylish woman’s head connected to…”
/showme sony walkman print ad from the era of genghis khan horse mounted mongolian warrior enjoying music as he fires his bow
@zippyus Here’s the image you requested for “sony walkman print ad from the era of genghis khan horse mounted mongolian warrior enjoying music…”
/showme sony walkman print ad in cuneiform from circa 2000 bce showing mesopotamian scribe enjoying music at work
@zippyus Here’s the image you requested for “sony walkman print ad in cuneiform from circa 2000 bce showing mesopotamian scribe enjoying music…”
/showme sony walkman print ad in readable correct cuneiform from circa 2000 bce showing mesopotamian scribe enjoying music at work. all text is cuneiform.
@zippyus Here’s the image you requested for “sony walkman print ad in readable correct cuneiform from circa 2000 bce showing mesopotamian scri…”
@mediocrebot @zippyus I think Henry David Thoreau used the 1740s version at the Walden Pond.
No 8-track, no sale.
@iggy71 Came hear to say this - and cassettes!
Anyone else read the writeup in the voice of Alie Ward from Ologies?
@highonpez
Yes!
Who put the CD in the Laser Printer again?
I don’t know if there’s a good reason to have this CD player, but people should still buy physical media so the various streaming services and digital music stores can’t decide for you what music you’re allowed to hear.
@MntlWard Or at least the files, right?
It’s just so much cheaper to buy the album digitally (direct, Bandcamp, even iTunes in a pinch), grab the files, and upload somewhere I can access (aka “not lose”) them.
@stinks Yeah, just so long as you have them in a place that amazon or whoever can’t take them away.
User Manual found here:
https://oakcastle.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/HIFI400-User-Manual-EN.pdf
This “stereo system” does not appear to be stereo at all, as it has no output beyond its onboard speaker that I can see. Bluetooth in, but not out? No aux (line level) out? Not so much as a headphone jack?? The use of the word STEREO is blatantly false advertising. Hard pass.
@richrauch To be fair, it doesn’t say that the audio output is in stereo. They’re using the term “stereo”, I forget the term for it, to refer to what it is, not the output. The sound is said to be “dynamic”. Whatever that means.
I’d say if one is looking for a CD player with internal speakers, $50 ain’t too bad. Especially considering all the other functions. No headphone jack? This is meant to have one. Nor aux or BT out. This is a GenX product for sure. ha.
@richrauch It does have a headphone jack.
This would be good on a desk or kitchen where there’s no critical listening going on.
@richrauch ???
It has
Aux IN
Headphone OUT (this is stereo OUT)
USB IN
Radio Antenna
Bluetooth IN
Very sneaky of them to stick a “Cambridge technology company” label on these images, so that someone might think they’re in any way related to actual hifi company Cambridge Audio
I was wondering about the “stereo” thing myself when a single speaker cluster is depicted. This is my sole reason for a pass.
I’ll just wait for the “quadraphonic” version that’s actually only stereo. Maybe it’ll also be able to record on reel-to-reel!
@harborvu
or 5.1 or 7.1 really equalling bi-channel stereophonic???
I don’t really want to buy this, but I did turn my entire house upside down last night looking for the front panel closeout for my PC case. Amongst many other things I’ve held onto for far too long, I did indeed find my entire collection of old CDs. How does meh do this? Are you watching me inside my house?
@hyperionfang
/giphy twilight zone
@chienfou @hyperionfang Well, all that ranting about being captain of a “federation starship” kind of sealed the deal.
@chienfou @hyperionfang You are not insane, because meh includes a sprinkling of nanobots in every delivery. Get one thing and meh owns you forever.
/showme Microscopic nanobots labelled “meh” are crawling all over house filled with products sold by meh.com .
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “Microscopic nanobots labelled “meh” are crawling all over house filled with products sold by meh…”
Anyone else notice that reel-to-reel tape recorder on the shelf, next to the typewriter (?), has only one reel…
@rjquillin that’s because it’s a reel-to-typewriter
@rjquillin @xLSxGaia He’s keeping it reel.
@rjquillin I was howling with laughter at that.
@ojohn
FIFY
Always read the one star reviews, before buying. Much more reliable…
@richseibert Actually, 3-star reviews tend to be the most reliable. Lots of 5-star reviews are of the “this changed my life!” variety, and lots of 1-star reviews are of the “this didn’t set itself up the moment I opened the box” variety. 3-star reviews generally talk about the actual features and functionality without all the hyperbole.
@lisagd22 @richseibert reading that one star reviews, instead of just counting them, makes it easy to separate the actual issues from the stupidity.
Hmmm… Other brands- No Radio and Limited Radio Presets:
I think it’s pretty impressive that other brands have ANY presets if they don’t have a radio to begin with. That’s some magic voodoo there.
@OnionSoup Good to know!
So why are there no pictures of the rear/back of the unit?
web home:
https://oakcastle.co.uk/music-systems/hifi400/
The manual has a line drawing.
Picture of the back on ebay UK:
Pretty tough to get behind the value of this one. I am seeing options that are similar to the sale price that include Cassette playing, I would imagine consumers going back to older physical formats would prefer those over this option.
Example on Amazon with the same form factor: https://www.amazon.com/Greadio-Rechargeable-Cassette-Bluetooth-Transmit/dp/B0DCZYG73H/
@sportchase I like records, but I do not - and never really did - like tapes. As soon as CDs came out (and to a lesser extend the awesome minidisc) I splurged for years. Mixtapes were cool, but mix CDs were way better. I still collect records, but not CDs that much any more.
I’m sure there is still a market for tapes though; I see newer releases all the time.
I don’t know though, I might be too out of the scene. I never took to reel-to-reel, never liked 8 tracks, never liked cassettes (nor the DAC that came later), watched tons of VHS, but preferred the solid media (but not the laserdisc, nor whatever they tried pulling with DIVX?).
Something about something that can just break - though it was rare.
Everything has their issues though…mine was the time it took to search on tapes.
POPSOCKETS! SPROCKETS! DAVY CROCKETT! AWESOME!
@sportchase
Thanks for the link!
The Greadios do seem to be pretty good.
I think I like that they’re rechargeable.
I’m kind of eyeing them, but Wally World has them about $7 cheaper- although my Prime shipping may make up the price difference.
Somehow I really wish I needed this. But I don’t.
OK, well I read the manual such as it was, but the one question that I couldn’t find any answer to was whether it could be used to play a music CD [or USB stick with MP3 files] on infinite repeat?
We use a [less and less reliable] MP3 player to play Gregorian chants on repeat overnight as background noises for sleep maintenance.
This was something I grew used [read habituated] to when I worked nights and slept during the [frequently noisy] daytime hours.
If this were able to play my “Chant” CD on infinite repeat, I’d really consider buying one of these.
Thank you in advance for any useful [or humorous] answers.
PA
@PhysAssist Either way you’d be taking a chants.
(I’ll leave now)
@mehcuda67
Hehehehehehe…
So, you had nothing actually helpful to add then?
@PhysAssist Helpful would be a high bar for me.
The obligatory pun when I can’t find an answer is my natural fallback.
(I wish I actually knew. Listening to the Chants CD (or an MP3 of it) for sleep sounds amazing!)
@mehcuda67
No worries!
I love puns when they’re punny [funny].
We’ve found that the droning voices with varying tones played at a low level really help to drown out extraneous house noises without causing us to wake up vs. the radio or other music, or even ambient sounds like rainfall or distant thunder.
It’s also a good sleep cue [along with a regular bedtime routine] to get our body and mindset into sleep mode.
I ended buying this-
“Udreamer-CD-Players-Home-Portable-Boombox-Digital-Portable-Player-Bluetooth-Hi-Fi-Stereo-Sound-Remote-Control-Support-AUX-USB-Headphone-Jack”…
…from Wally World after researching them on the Amazon site @sportchase posted above where “Rufus” confirmed that there is an infinite CD repeat function.
I had left both the Amazon and Wally World sites up on their respective product pages and this AM the WW site had decreased to $41 and change, while the Amazon site hadn’t changed [after having gone up about $8 when I put it into my cart].
SOLD!
[Well, I mean I bought one!]
@PhysAssist @sportchase Excellent! It looks like a tiny record player to boot.
@mehcuda67 @sportchase
If it had digital HD radio capability so that I could listen to all of the NPR channels, I’d have jumped on it. The lack of HDR makes it just another noisebox, do not need.
Man I still have 2 Sony’s from the late 80s as my main players but this one looks really slick.
Eh… in for two,
/giphy exuberant-myopic-ramen
@baqui63
Choking on it??
Frequency response is bad. No bass to speak of. I’m returning mine.