Sony CMT-NEZ7DAB

I've had this hi-fi for over 4 years now!

I like the fact that it keeps the radio presets in memory when it's switched off at the mains, and that it can play MP3 CDs. It also has an AUX input, which I use to connect my MP3 player and wi-fi radio to the system.

The main annoyances, however, are that it doesn't have any number buttons on the remote control (meaning you have to scroll through all the radio presets or CD tracks until you find the one you want), and that it doesn't have a mute button. 4 years of scrolling seem to have started to wear out one of the scroll buttons on the remote, and I now have to press this button harder than I used to!

The Sony CMT-NEZ7DAB is good value for money-like the timers, but when I buy anything for the bedroom it has to be silent running- maybe I'll fit a switch to the fan!

Bought this Sony CMTNEZ7DAB from Tesco Extra for £114.99 (p+p) free as a Christmas present for my wife. She had been complaining that she could no longer play some of her old cassettes since we ditched our old stereo in favour of a home cinema system.

The radio :-

Reception is good overall.

DAB is exceptional, FM very good, AM as you'd expect. It's nice to have a choice of more than 7 radio stations. BBC R1 - R4 and BBC Lincolnshire, plus Classic FM and one local station. With only the indoor antenna supplied with the unit, this doubled.

Reception is vastly improved with an external aerial. At the last count we had nearly 20 DAB stations to choose from.

The other features of this unit are also outstanding for the price.

The unit has an output of 30watts RMS (2 x 15 watts).

It plays CD, CD-r CD-rw, MP3 discs and of course cassette tapes.

The CD player is programmable and you can copy CD to tape (why?) with OTR.

A sleep timer is another feature, the LCD display is very clear and the Remote Control simple to use.

Sound quality is OK. The speakers are small and therefore lacking in good quality low frequency responce. The speaker cables are quite short and hard-wired to the speakers. I had to crimp longer cables to the exsisting ones to get the reach I needed.

Both of us were impressed simplicity and the features on this little unit.

Having owned my Sony CMTNEZ7DAB micro system for just over 6 months, I am still very pleased with it. It has very good sound quality, all the usual features (mp3 compatibility, clock on stand-by, repeat track, shuffle etc), and a useful remote control. However the FM radio quality is quite poor on mine, unless you elevate up the back end of the system. I have no idea why this is the case. Also the system can only be on stand-by or on, there is no off button as such, it has to be turned off at the mains. On the whole though it is quite good value for money, I picked it up for around £100 from Tesco.