20 Most Recent Cambridge Soundworks CD-740 Clock Radio Questions & Answers

I had 2(!!) CDs stuck in transport. The firmware reset will NOT work as this is a physical space issue. As the eject device was attempting to spit out the cd, there was hope. Grab a credit card or similar sized object and a length of packing tape sufficient to wrap both sides of the card. While pressing the eject button, attempt to catch the cd face with the tape and pull gently out. In my case i had twins as the first cd came out with the card, tape combo followed by the second cd ejected by the drive. Fixed and extremely happy...

change your batteries if it has any if that don't work your gears inside are getting slightly worn if clock meens lots to you . you can always buy cheap motors for it at Michels.good luck

To the left of the display are two buttons, engraved "1" and "2". (Note, I'm NOT referring to the buttons for radio presets, which are below.) Hold either of these buttons for a second or two to enter alarm set mode. The screen prompts will prompt you to set the time for the alarm to go off using the time set buttons to the right of the display. You can also press one of the radio preset buttons or the AUX or CD buttons to wake to one of those. Once you're done setting the alarm, quick presses of these alarm buttons turn the alarm on and off and choose between music and beeper. As a side note, if you've installed the backup battery and the power fails during the night, the alarm will still go off with the beeper so you're not late for work -- a thoughtful touch from Cambridge Soundworks.

My unit quit working when I moved it to another room after playing an hour or so. I read where replacing the power cord may fix that problem. where can I purchace a replacement cord?

ok - whats the question?

I believe the problem is either a faulty light sensor the unit has to dim the display when the lights dim since it was designed for bedroom use with alrms and snooze button. or it is simply a failure in the circuit that drives the LCDs. Mine has been dim for a long time but I can still see just enough to adjust the sound settings. I tune and set stations by sound. so the display has not been an issue since we do not use it for a clock or alarm. I doubt there is a fix for the dim display.

See my answer to cd740 sound cutting out. Fuse is inside near the transformer. You'll need to disassemble. There is a good write up for a question about getting to the faceplate. Briefly, there is a sub base that has screws hidden behind the rubber feet pads which peel off easily. The front speaker grills PPP off easily and it hides some screws. The rear plate also has to come off. Check those other questions, the answers will help.

I just had the same problem and called tech support (800) FOR HIFI at Cambridge Soundworks for help. All you have to do is unplug the radio for 30 minutes and then reconnect - kind of like rebooting a computer.

its been a yr since you asked so not sure you still care. Just in case, I had same problem so took the whole thing apart to see if I could find the problem since it was not dirt in the headphone jack as someone suggested. It happened no matter what was playing - radio or an aux device. After bitching to CSW about no longer supporting these, the tech said to unplug from AC power, press the "on" button 10 times slowly, let it stay off a minimum of 2 hrs, then plug in and press and hold the CD eject button next to the CD slot - release after the it displays "CD Reset" - I did this before disassembly and it did nothing - after 2 more tries, I took unit apart to inspect inards - it\'s a royal pain to get it all apart - screws every where - I found a tip that there are screws under the rubber feet pads, which removes a bottom plate, then there are 6 or more screws in the exposed bottom, and more behind the front speaker grills - finally the the top can be removed, gotta use care to note location of all the cable connections as the disassembly progresses. Finally open, it is somewhat disappointing to see only circuit boards will little notation and hard to view components - but I did not see any signs of shorts or damage, no burn marks - no raw wire from rubbing. All looked fine. I finally saw the fuse on the red wire going to the transformer - there is little space to access it and the wires are pulled so tight there is no slack to remove the transformer without cutting the wires. I was no ready to cut them so I followed the red wire and saw it was held tight by some hot glue. I carefully pried off the glue and peeled it from the wire. I was then able to pull the red wire up by the transformer just enough to use a needle nose plier to grab the fuse holder and unscrew it. After all this I checked the fuse continuity and it tested ok! I replaced it with a bit higher rated fuse just in case and I pulled on the spring to extend it just a bit so ensure it maintained good contact with the fuse - it does make reassembling the fuse holder a bit difficult since there is so little slack - probably easier to just cut the red wire someplace where it will be easy to splice in a short patch. I plugged in all the cables as I reassembled the unit - except for the snooze button since we do not use the alarms. when back together I did the rest again when I plugged in the power and to my dismay, after hours of tedious work, it behaved exactly the same - cutting out frequently. I unplugged it and left it as I searched for a mini-amp to convert it to a speaker dock for my iPhone. Today, 3 days later on a whim, I plugged it back in and did the reset and the darn thing is working perfectly again! Wish I knew exactly why - maybe just being unplugged for a few days was enough for the reset to work or maybe somehow fiddling with the wires and cables as I reassembled the final sections fixed something that was coming loose. I use the radio daily for my NPR fix so we\'ll see how long it works.

I spent $300 for the thing 10 yrs ago, then paid$125 for a display repair, now its crapping out repetitively and I refuse to pay ungodly sums to repair it again only to have the next thing fail in a few yrs. So, I plan to gut mine and convert to a speaker dock for my iPhone - small mini-amps are under $50 now. I plan to leave the speakers in the case since they are properly ported and sound great as is. I'll pull the speaker wires out the back and mount the amp on top - might not look pretty but it'll work just fine and some of these little amps have FM tuners, SD card readers and remotes. won't be as elegant but it'll sound good.