Big sound, small system!
Written: Dec 30 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Impressive sound and frequency response, very compact, afforbable, alarm clock feature
Cons: No cassette deck
The Bottom Line: If you want big sound but have limited space and budget resources, the CMT-RB5 is for you.
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| rfman's Full Review: Sony CMT-RB5 Shelf System |
The time had come for me to finally decide that I wanted something better than my General Electric alarm clock to play music in my bedroom. So on this sunny Saturday morning, I set out to do the rounds of the local electronics retailers to buy myself a micro audio system. I didn’t have any particular model in mind (although I had seen the JVC all over the place previously), but I know that I didn’t want to spend more that 300$CAN (about 200$US).
So off I went, and I quickly realized that in my particular price range, it basically came down to either this Sony model or the JVC micro-system. There were some other systems from RCA and Koss and such that were somewhat less expensive, but they all sounded rather unimpressive compared to the two aforementioned models.
So out came my test Jazz CD. Jazz music usually covers a broad spectrum of instruments, combining vocals, bass and highs simultaneously. This is where the Sony CMT-RB5 clearly became the obvious choice. Both the Sony and JVC have good bass response, I’d call it a draw between the two. However, having heard a track on the Sony and then on the JVC, I immediately wondered where the cymbals had disappeared. The highs on the JVC were muffled, unclear and blended in with the rest of the music. The Sony obviously had the better tweeter assembly of the two, and my choice was made. After some haggling with the salesperson, I got my CMT-RB5 for 279$CAN (about 180$US). I’ve played many types on music with it, and it always performed exceedingly well.
Here’s a little overview of the CMT-RB5 micro-system:
The main unit is very small, and incorporates the amplifier (25 Watts RMS), the CD player and tuner. For those of you for whom this is important, the CMT-RB5 does not have a cassette deck. This was great with me, since I no longer own any cassettes, and it made for a more compact unit. The CD player accepts a single disc at a time, but plays CD-R and CD-RW discs as well as CD-Text information (for some reason, CD-Text only displays the song title, not the artist or disc title however). It also has a sleep timer function, and an alarm clock function, which is very nice.
The tuner is digital, and has up to 20 preset spaces. Reception has been great even with only the supplied wire as an antenna.
As mentioned previously, the amplifier provides 25 RMS Watts of power to the speakers, which is plenty for a micro-system in my opinion. It has DBFB bass enhancement as well as Bass/Treble controls. It also had RCA coaxial inputs and outputs, as well as an optical output for connecting to a CD-R or mini-disc recorder.
And finally, it really looks really cool. There is a little window over the CD slot through which a mirror reflects the edge of the spinning CD. The buttons are transparent, and the front panel is silver with some Plexiglas accents, which give it a slight retro look that I really like. No fireworks display, no bells and whistle, just a clean look that is also functional.
The speakers are 2-way, with 4-inch main speakers and dome tweeters. It’s impressive how much bass extension the reflex enclosure (the port is on the rear of the speaker) can squeeze out of a 4-inch driver. Using a test disc, I estimated the bass roll-off at about 70 Hz. This is amazing considering my car system has two 10-inch woofers and a 12-inch woofer, and it rolls off at 40Hz or so.
The speakers are finished in imitation maple, with a gray and silver front panel. With the white speaker elements, the speakers look better with the speaker grilles off than on (they also sound better that way too!)
With all said and done, this is an amazing little system for the price. Here’s a summary of what I think of it:
THE REALLY GOOD:
-The sound quality. The CMT-RB5’s output is rich and fills the room. The bass extension is great, and the highs are crisp and clear. That’s what really counts in a micro-system, isn’t it?
THE GOOD:
-CD-RW compatibility. It’s nice to be able to read CDs recorded on re-writable discs. If only my car stereo could do the same!
-Affordable price. At about 180$US, the CMT-RB5 offers great value. It sounds better than any boom-box at the same price.
-Very nice appearance. Unless you like flashing lights and appendages of all sorts that is. The RB5 has a clean and functional look that works well in most decors.
-Coaxial and optical I/O. I really like the RCA inputs to connect my RB5 to my computer’s sound card. I don’t see much use for the outputs though, as most people will be using this unit standalone.
THE NOT-SO-GOOD:
-The lack of a cassette deck. While I didn’t mind this omission, some people would want cassette compatibility for books on tape and such. The only solution with the CMT-RB5 would be to use a separate cassette deck connected to the RCA inputs.
-The unimpressive remote controller. Although it’s well laid out, it’s made of a cheaper plastic that the main unit itself and feels light. But hey, it works great, and that’s just me being picky…
THE REALLY BAD:
-Nothing to report here.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
rfman
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Member: Luc Delorme
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Reviews written: 103
Trusted by: 15 members
About Me:
Electrical Engineer, amateur photographer, car buff, technophile, video game player and collector.
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