Form vs. Function...
Written: Jan 08 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Design, design, design...
Cons: Price and lack of power
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| WAYNEF's Full Review: Sony CHC-CL1 CD Shelf System |
This is without doubt - the most beautiful mass-produced Lifestyle Micro system - period.
Not even Bang & Olufsen comes so close to perfection in-terms of:
1). Form / ingenuity
2). Function / ergonomics
3). Price / economics
Yes. Without doubt B&O (http://www.bangolufsen.com) are astoundingly good at creating works of art that perform astoundingly well: but they're so 'Expensive'. B&O prices to the average person often seem prohibitive.
The little Sony CMT-LS1 succeeds where all similar B&O systems fail.
It makes true design accessible: to the average person.
Certainly at £379 (GBP) or $580 (USD) the CMT-LS1 could be thought to be 'expensive'. But you'd pronounce it with a small-e, and not a BIG-E (or should that be a BIG-"EEEEK"!?) like that of a B&O system.
THE OUTSIDE
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Front
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The entire frontage of the CMT-LS1 is fabricated aluminium: cold to the touch. Not that you need to touch it though. As you hand approaches it, the lower front-panel moves down and out of the way of the rudimentary CD controls: PLAY, STOP, BACK TRACK, FORWARD TRACK, SCAN BACK, SCAN FORWARD, PAUSE and EJECT. Additionally you'll see other buttons contained within. They are 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. These buttons allow you to select from one of the five CD's that you can have loaded in the CMT-LS1 at any one time. Finally there are controls to switch between TUNER (FM/AM), CD, TAPE (option) and MD(option) again.
After a few moments of acquiescence, the CMT-LS1 closes its front-panel again: to resolve it's perfect, minimal flat fronted appearance.
You'll also be flattered by a delightful blue upper front-panel display. Beautifully formed black letters displayed here: all totally readable, all imparting 100% information. No flashy 'wizz-bang-wollop' graphical eq's here "Thank you very much".
Top
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"Where do you put those five CD's?" I hear you ask. Well, on the top of the CMT-LS1 is a CD slot. No ordinary fissure here though. Oh no. Pressing a disk number then EJECT causes the top-slot to flip open with a solid (i.e. not cheap and clunky) 'thud'. You then offer your CD to the slot and the CMT-LS1 elegantly draws the CD in: closing the top-slot again behind it with that satisfying 'thud'.
Back
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Minimal information here as there's well, nothing really to describe. Such is the mastery of the CMT-LS1's design. The only real point to note is that you can site the system either on a desk or horizontal surface or, more unconventionally, onto a vertical wall. To allow this, Sony package the CMT-LS1 with two different back plates. You decide which one you use.
Finally, because the speakers are detachable, there's the obligatory wires attaching them to the centre, amp section.
Sides
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Truth is: there's even less to explain here! The CMT-LS1 is astonishingly slender front-to-back. That’s why it's called the "Wall-Hanging Jewel". It has very little profile so if you've decided to mount it to a wall, it'll take up very little space indeed.
THE INSIDES
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Can be controlled by a matching blue wafer Remote-commander with touch sensitive keys. Elegant in it's only right, without the CMT-LS1!
CD
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Takes upto 5 CD's. You can select any track from any CD at anytime. Unfortunately though, as with other multi-CD systems, you can't change a CD whilst another is playing. Something to bear in mind as the CD players stops abruptly. Not very nice when you want to changes CD's quickly at a late night party with your friends round. Don't say I didn't warn you!
The CD player is also "CD TEXT" enabled. So if the CD manufacturers been bothered (and there's only a few it seems in my collection), then you'll see the CD name appear in that blue window followed by each track name as it starts to play: scrolling right-to-left. Tres bon!
TUNER
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RDS-FM(UHF) and AM(MW) bands supported. RDS displays the station name and copes with frequency differences across regions (if your interested). This helps greatly if you move home often or plan on filling up the 20-30 pre-set channels with your own! The tuner has 3 mode: MANUAL, AUTO and PRESET. I won’t explain these.
Extras (like TAPE or MD)
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Well suffice to say, but the CMT-LS1 copes with them. Don't ask me how, ask the shop!
THE OUTPUT
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Last but by no means least is the heart of the CMT-LS1. It's amp.
I must confess that for the money I was a little disappointed by the power of the paltry 2x15Watts output. You do however have two methods of controlling the sound (apart from VOLUME ofcourse), those being: SURROUND and DSG.
SURROUND
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Gives the impression that the sound is coming from a larger area than the diminutive CMT-LS1. You'll be aware of things like drums sounding as if they're above and behind the CMT-LS1, whilst guitars feel closer and further to the left (or right dependant on the recording). The same is true for vocals, bass, keyboards, etc... Some people like this feature: others hate it. It's a matter of taste but it works OK.
DSG
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Dynamic Sound Generator. Erm. It's seems to boost the 'loudness' at low-volume. But little else. Answers on a stamped-addressed envelope to… (only joking). This feature works OK, but nothing to spend to long on.
CONCLUSION
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If you've go the money - BUY ONE - you want be disappointed.
It'll be something that'll be in your family for years to come and when your grand-children (gulp!) see it, they'll all be fighting over who'll get it from your Estate!
Simply put: this system is so futuristic that any small flaws concerning it low-volume output will be quickly forgotten about. Put it in a small room (do you have those in the USA?) like a study or a hallway and watch as visitor first walk past it, stop, turn, gaze and finally go to touch the CMT-LS1 only to "GASP!!!" as the front panel opens, then closes without making contact. Personally though, no visitor of my home seemed to wait until the panel closed: they always walked away slowly thinking that they'd broken it or tripped some high-tech security device!
BEAM ME UP SCOTTY!
Enjoy.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
WAYNEF
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Reviews written: 1
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