Sony CMT-SE1 Micro System Pictorial-Review

[mercury_in_flames]

First off, I created the following review when the micro system arrived , I have simply edited with more recent thoughts. I posted the original review at another forum. This review was done before i purchased my md deck, the sony Mds-JB980/s.

Sound quality:

9/10, as i am sure there is better out there, i just havent experienced it yet.

i find that when using my md's (portable: mz-r909) line out, and using a mindisc that was recorded via analogue, you lose A LOT of sound volume. However, if you play a mindisc that was recorded optically, then the sound quality is excellent and the volume is no different to playing a cd. this hifi is one that sounds great at all volumes, which obviously makes you want to pump it up to the max. the speakers have "Soft dome tweeters and Glass fibre woofers".

*added to original review*

When playing cd's, the sound lacks the warmth i want with the DBDF feature off, although if i have the volume and bass set to the highest, on a very bassy track, the speakers do NOT cope well with the feature on, and are on bass overload.

I recently acquired the an md deck. Well, what can i say, the MDS-JB980 are a match made in heaven. I can hardly discern between minidisc's recorded via optical in LP2, with source played cd's.

Features:

Well , I'm sure its clear to you from the Thread description, that I didnt buy this micro for its 'amount' of features, I bought it because it plays cd's, radio, and for its power output (80 watts RMS per channel), line in/out, optical out, for my mindisc recording/playback, and the s-master amp.

It plays cd-r, cd-rw audio cd's. It is extremely intuitive to use, it is only radio and cd

The radio does fm/mw and has 30 presets, and is meant for use n europe (not world band).

During playback of cd's it can display: track time remaining, whole cd remaining, the usuals. It will also display CD-TEXT from burnt cd-r's and commercially avaiable cd's that feature cd -text.

The micro system has a slot loading cd player. Since i bought it, it has worked fine, although i do suspect someone having tampered with it , as their cd was on my desk and when i load a cd, it doesnt feed as well as i remembering it when i bought it. A cool feature though.

Finish and design:

As for design , it is very minimalist, (not cluttered at all, very well spaced out, aesthetically pleasing)and has a front panel that drops down, with a smooth action, to display the other functions, i.e. sonys sound enhancer thing (DBDF in this case), function (cd/line in/radio), trebble, and bass settings.

The finish is one of the things i feel really give this micro system a sense of class - brushed aluminium.

Everything is well spaced out on the main unit itself. Not as well on the remote itself.

size : well, the speakers are a good size, regular bookshelf speaker size.

speaker depth: 137 mm

speaker width: 212 mm

speaker height: 256 mm

as for the unit. wel..the unit is very compact as height and width go, but because of how compact the front is, it LOOKS long, but it isnt really that much deeper than the speakers.

width: 293 mm

height: 246 mm

depth: 131 mm

Overall Cost:

Well, for 280RRP pounds (230 pounds if bought on line)you would think this thing should sound fan fricking tastic, and yes it does, frankly. Everyone I show it to just says it sounds amazing, for its size. It isnt in the league of speakers that are 3 foot tall, but for the size of the speakers, it really is brilliant. Many may say you paying for the brand, and finish. I can certainly see that having an effect on what I paid for it, but in all fairness, it doesnt dissapoint. Honestly, you tell me, although taste is subjective, which would you prefer, a bass junkies sony 'i dont know how many' cd changer, lights flashing on the display, play station linked, mini system with a plastic finish?

pics:

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/gre...-SE1/front2.jpg

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/gre...-SE1/front3.jpg

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/gre...Hifismaller.jpg

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/gre...E1/speaker1.jpg

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/gre...E1/speaker2.jpg

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on top of mds-jb980

[atrain]

nice review there greg

[mercury_in_flames]

nice review there greg

cheers dude.

I would welcome any questions also. I dont see myself as having audiophile knowledge/standards, but would be happy to answer any ques.

Does anyone own any other sony sound system with the 'Eisa award winning' S-master amp? I wouldnt mind hearing your experiences.

[Ishiyoshi]

Thanks again for the nice review.

[mercury_in_flames]

Unreal, 11 months and 15 days after i buy my cmt-se1, the line out stops working, talk about timing. Ive contacted the site where i bought it from, but I am pretty sure i will have to take it to a sony centre. gaad daaamn.

[AMPlitude]

ouch... thats gonna cost ya

[mercury_in_flames]

it shouldnt as I am still under warranty (1 year warranty), the sony centre should be the ones who service it, we'll see.

Edited November 15, 2005 by GregTheRotter

[mercury_in_flames]

uploaded: a vid of the speakers pumping bass at their best, with the song: around the world, no sound though, just watch and you'll see.

PB170015.MOV

[Human]

Unreal, 11 months and 15 days after i buy my cmt-se1, the line out stops working, talk about timing. Ive contacted the site where i bought it from, but I am pretty sure i will have to take it to a sony centre. gaad daaamn.

Sorry to hear that man.

I always buy Extended Warranty ( i buy 2 extra years - total of 3) for electronics that cost over $ 100.00 Can. [i'm in Canada], - twice i had to used it.

Once 4 or 5 years ago with Sharp Mini System with build in MD , CD, Tape , AM /FM , (i don't remember the unit name any more) - it broke first time after 16 months, they send to fix it but it broke second time 3 months after that - so i got 100% full credit for it in the "London Drugs" store here in Vancouver , BC, ( chain of stores here in BC ) and i got in exchange a Sony MD deck MDS-JE 470 and some other stuff to match $ what i paid for Sharp

....and now second time with Sony portable ZS-D55 with CD, tape, AM/FM, line /in\ and /out\ RCA type , and optical line, .....really nice portable unit, but also had twice problems - first after (?) 18 months with CD , second time just 4 months ago with tape, ...and now i got credit for it from Sony Canada in BC, they are located in Coquitlam, BC (really nice customer service) and i'm looking to get a portable Hi-MD as replacement.

Electronic Service people who do servicing for Sony they were trying to fix it but needed some extra parts, etc,etc., - and finally (Sony) decided to replace it.

Right now Sony has NO portable units with line In and Out RCA style, etc,ect., - so I will get my self portable Hi-MD, right now i'm having fun choosing model , cause i don't use computer for music, but i think i'm close to make final decision, ....and You people here are helping me with Your comments - THANK YOU

I'm drooling just thinking that I will have portable Hi-MD .....

So in my opinion the Extendable Warranty is always good investment.

Wishing You GregTheRotter luck with Your CMT-SE1 , let's hope You will have to pay nothing for repair (Under the 1 year Warranty).

My existing 2 year Extended Warranty is still good till March 2006, ..and I'm told that i can buy another extra 2 years, apparently it is possible to get in total 5 years of Warranty coverage, 1-st year Original Warranty form Sony, and twice x 2 years as a Extended, ....so i will buy it for sure.

Ask if You can get that where You are.

I was thinking several years ago that Extended Warranty is just empty sucking Off money from customers, ....but so far i like it, .....i like it a lot

Cheers.

[mercury_in_flames]

you can buy extended warraties here too. I bought a 2 year for my deck, but i didnt have the money at the time that i bought my se1. I wont have to pay for the parts, I found out that i just have to take it to a shop that services for sony, they are a chain called J and E associated. I am getting paid on the 24th and then i will go there. My friend wants some petrol money to drive me there, im just going to give him 10 pounds or 18 dollars, just for a 'thank you' gesture.

[Human]

you can buy extended warraties here too. I bought a 2 year for my deck, but i didnt have the money at the time that i bought my se1. I wont have to pay for the parts, I found out that i just have to take it to a shop that services for sony, they are a chain called J and E associated. I am getting paid on the 24th and then i will go there. My friend wants some petrol money to drive me there, im just going to give him 10 pounds or 18 dollars, just for a 'thank you' gesture.

That is good news of You not paying for repair ,

..but this is just NOT paying for parts and labor, or just for parts only, and You have to pay for labor ?

I wonder if at this point You can still buy an Extended Warranty for Your SE-1.

Also maybe You can ask Sony if they can send a courier to pick it Up from You place, ... i know here i got option to do that when i was returning one replacement unit that they give me in exchange for the ZS-D55 (the replacement had very small display -very hard to see, and had no RCA style line /In\ and /Out\ ), and Sony send a courier for pick-Up or i could deliver my self to the electronic shop.

IMO is good idea if You call Sony and ask, ... and save $10 - to spend on more blanks of MDs

You can sort off in a nice joke-iy way tell Sony that one of the forum member in Canada told You that Sony Canada did that , and You wonder if Sony UK can do the same with courier, ...and You can tell them that the saved money for petrol You will spend on Sonys MDs , ....i found out many times that when You ask in a nice and "creative" way quite often You can get extras.

Good luck, ... and i hope You will get the unit back soon so You are not deprived of music

[mercury_in_flames]

haha, i doubt they will do that, and i'd rather take it there in person, one less way it could get hurt when changing yet another persons hands. I will ask them if i can get at least another years warranty, cheers for the idea. I am only taking it on the 24th as thats when i get paid but anyway.

[mercury_in_flames]

Just took my cmt-se1 to the service place today. The time they take will depend on if they need to order parts so yeah. Lets see how sony's service is this time around.

*edit* i phoned them and yeah it has a fault (duh) and they say it shouldnt take more than two weeks to fix..we'll see. grr..

Edited December 9, 2005 by GregTheRotter

[mercury_in_flames]

YES YES YESSSS I phoned them up again today and they say its fixed now. I am definetly taking my minidisc recorder to check if they really have fixed the line out

[mercury_in_flames]

Well thought i;d report back. Since I took my hifi for service, ive had these morons replace the wrong part (the line in instead of the LINE OUT - the fact that i told them the line out was faulty and the receptionist wrote something along the lines of low 'volume', says it all. So they take it back again after a month, they repair the line out, but after 2 days its broken again, and doesnt work at all (do these guys suck or what?), and to top that off, the flip down panel at the front which is meant to glide down smoothly now seems to be going against something on the way down and has even stopped half way down, instead of opening like it should. So, what have we learnt, people havent got a clue about servicing sony stuff. Well, I bought another years service plan a week ago from another firm, and will phone them to see what they say, whether they will repair it. I will probably take it to this place again, seeing as their 'repair' HA! is garanteed for 3 months, i should ask them why dont you make it a week seeing as you cant repair a hifi to save yourselves. As you can see I am ticked of f beyond measure.

[garyc]

What's the latest GTR?

[mercury_in_flames]

Up to now, I have been there and back a total of 5 times. On wednesday, I explained to the technician that the line out is broken yet again, and the flip down panel needs to be adjusted to smoothly fold down, to the be how it was before. He said he understood and would fix those things. If it breaks again, I will speak to the manager and tell them to arrange for another place to fix it, as its a joke that they cant even fix a hifi system. I mean use better solder then? what am i supposed to tell them? It cant be THAT complicated for someone who repairs hifi components etc all for a living to repair a line out!!

[mercury_in_flames]

well...as you can see from all those smileys, I got my hifi system back today. The repair man said there was something wrong with a transistor, and so he fixed that, did loads of re-soldering, and so forth, and now its fixed. Im in heaven yeeeeeeeeea at long last, a happy ending.