News

Last week's online poll indicates that many Stereophile readers have an ongoing affinity for the retro design style of older audio gear. Several respondents say they find the warm glow of tubes and backlit displays seductively attractive in a darkened room, while others pine for the days of analog dials and softly lit meters with gently bouncing needles.

Those days may be long gone for most home-audio electronics, but if the latest car-audio product from Matsushita Electric Industrial is any indication, there may be hope for the hopelessly nostalgic when it comes to their mobile sound system.

Matsushita, more commonly known as National/Panasonic to consumer electronics customers, has just offered the public its first glimpse of the new "B-flat Tube CQ-TX5500D". The in-dash head unit features what the company claims is the world's first CD/receiver with a tube, which is prominently displayed behind a glass window in the middle of the front panel.

But if a glowing tube on your dash isn't retro enough, the front panel of the player (which is sized to fit in a standard double-height car stereo slot) also features left and right power VU meters. Looking as though they were sourced straight from a power amp circa 1972, the meters glow a soft yellow and complement the tastefully backlit full-size analog volume knob. The sole nod to contemporary design is an integrated LCD panel for displaying the CD track number and elapsed time.

The CQ-TX5500D is offered in a very 70s gold/silver color scheme (naturally), and to date is only available in Japan, at ¥105,000 ($796). National/Panasonic points out that, despite the dated looks, the CD player is also compatible with MP3 files and sports the latest in digital processing technologies.