San Francisco is a modern metropolis with plenty to offer for every taste. In many ways, the San Francisco CD70 from Blaupunkt lives up to its namesake. Stylized curves of silver and black are offset by the trademark blue illumination to create a handsome deck that's easy to use while providing a sophisticated feature set.
The faceplate has a pleasant symmetry; two large silver circles on each side of the display provide the main controls, volume on the left and a four-way keypad on the right. The source select buttons are below the volume control, and the main menu function buttons are below the keypad. There are four "softkeys" in vertical lines on either side of the display that are used to select functions within the menu system. In the upper left is the faceplate release button, and the button labeled "DSA" (Digital Sound Adjustment) in the upper right brings up the EQ menus.
The display is very bright and nicely laid out. A large dot-matrix section at the top shows the main text, while a smaller blue matrix shows icons, band, volume level, track times, etc. In addition, there are six segmented character display fields that show what each of the softkeys will control or select. The display angle is adjustable for viewing from above or below, and the brightness can be set separately for day and night conditions. The clock has 12-hour and 24-hour modes, and it can be set to stay on when the deck is turned off. You can set the time manually, or synchronize it to an RDS (Radio Data System) station.
Security is handled with Blaupunkt's "KeyCard" system. This is a credit card-sized device with memory in it which must be inserted in the deck for it to function. It also stores the basic settings you have chosen, such as EQ, tuner presets and volume level. Each unit can have two (and only two) KeyCards trained for it, which is very handy when two people with different preferences use the same car.
Equipped with the DigiCeiver technology, the tuner offers very low distortion and great sensitivity. Radio signals are converted into digital at the input, allowing some amazing manipulation that just wasn't possible in conventional analog tuners. One part of this system, called SHARX technology, provides virtually instantaneous movements between stations when scanning, and incredible rejection of adjacent frequencies (selectivity). RDS is supported; if you are in a large city that has several RDS stations, you can scan them by program type (PTY), like "Rock", "Top 40", or "News". There are 36 presets in six bands (four FM, two AM) each of which can be programmed by the user with a four-character name. TravelStore scans and memorizes local stations, and the DX/LOCAL settings each have sensitivity adjustments. There is also an adjustment for the amount of time the deck pauses on each station when scanning.
Behind the faceplate is the CD slot, with a large red light that makes it easy to insert discs when it's dark. Most CD-R's will work if you like to "roll your own", although CD-RW is not. Programming of favorite tracks for up to 30 CDs, track scan, track/disc repeat, and audible forward/reverse searching are provided for both the built-in transport and the optional CD changers that the unit can control. Random play is available on each disc, but not across all at once. You can program eight-character names for 30 CDs.
Shelving equalizers in the low and high frequencies (otherwise known as bass and treble tone controls) provide nearly 15dB of boost or cut. A variable loudness function boosts the low frequencies with increasing gain as the volume is decreased.