Excellent value
Written: Mar 07 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great packaging, nice sound, well thought-of controls, sturdy
Cons: A few display irks
The Bottom Line: An excellent choice if you need an MD/CD Mini-system
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| hedgehogs's Full Review: JVC MX-MD70 CD Shelf System |
If you're looking at this, you're probably in the market looking for a good Minidisc/CD mini-system. If so, congratulations: you've just found what you're looking for.
What catches the people's eyes in this system first is, obviously, it's sleek design. It's colored in pleasantly muted silver shade, it is compact but all the controls are laid out very ergonomically, all indicators are plated with glass, and a huge bright LCD screen graces the top of the unit. However, as an owner of this mini-system, I am happy to report that it goes well beyond the looks, and actually is not just a pleasure to look at, but also a pleasure to use, too.
The sound is crisp, in traditional JVC approach. There is no distortion even on high output levels. An "Active Bass" function works very well, emphasizing bass on low volume settings (when the woofers aren't fully driven). Pre-set equalizer options are meaninglful, but it's good to have a manual equalizer option that is present too.
Everything this system does, it does it well. MD module is excellent, with all the playback features you'd expect, recording from the internal CD changer, external sources, or internal radio. Recording options are quite versatile: You can record from any of the three loaded CD's in succession, manually record selected tracks, or even mark up to 32 songs from all of the three loaded CDs and then press Record button and let her rip in an unattended mode. MD titles tracking is a true pleasure thanks to jog control and large display where you can scroll alphabet and select from 5 letters at once. I typically title a CD-to-MD copy in under one minute! When playing the MDs back, the unit can display up to 4 upcoming track titles. Editing tracks is also convenient, especially the "Divide" function where you have the control over 1/8sec intervals. To master all the MD features, you'll probably have to consult the manual once, but since the interface is organized and laid-out very logically, you'll understand the functionality at once. Besides CDs, as I said, the unit records from built-in radio, and you can set timers for radio recordings.
Speaking of timers, you're also getting a wake-up timer in this unit which is better than in any I've seen: you can select any sound source (MD, CD, AUX, AM/FM), time, and playback volume, with an option of gradually fading it in to the desired level (so it doesn't blare at you when the timer kicks in).
3-piece CD changer is versatile enough too, with various play modes. In "Program" mode, you can select any tracks from -- you've guessed it -- up to three loaded CDs.
One good thing about the radio that is completely omitted from the manual is the fact that it is capable of receiving RDS/EON radio data feeds. It means that if you're a lucky listener of the RDS-enhanced radio station, you'll get its name and programming ticker right on the display of your unit. Unfortunately, I am unable to enjoy this feature, since no stations in my area broadcast in RDS.
The remote: it is sufficient, by all means, but, sadly, has this kind of low-rent look to it that simply doesn't feel right when it's standing next to the sleek and sexy main unit. The buttons on the remote are arranged intelligently, however, and it can be used for MD titling. Nice feature: when you're using the remote, all messages appear on the main unit's display in larger font.
Finally, to the minor drawbacks and irks:
1. No CD-Text support. CD Titles are not displayed and are not transferred to MDs. But given a dearth of CD-Text-enhanced CDs, this may be not a big shortcoming after all.
2. When playing back MD or CD tracks, the only available timing is "track time elapsed". There is no way to display "track time remaining" or "total disk time elapsed" and "total disk time remaining". This is my biggest complaint.
3. No real spectrum analyzer. You're only having two equivalent modes left/right-channel spectrum power bars display.
4. Long MD titles that don't fit the screen width are scrolled only once, when the track starts playing. After it, the remain static (and truncated) for the duration of the track playtime. This is my second biggest complain.
5. Inability to title MD discs and tracks while CD-to-MD copy is in progress. Correction: you can actually try doing this, and the unit's interface logic won't stay in your way, but as my experience shows, the TOC on your MD will be blown away once you save the track names. I think it's a "feature".
Keep in mind that none of this issues can really spoil my enjoyment of this great product or prevent me from recommending it to you. If you're lucky enough to snatch it just for $250 at www.jandr.com like I did, you got yourself a terrific bargain. In conclusion, I am returning to what I started my review from: if you're in the market for a great MD/CD mini-system, you've just found it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
hedgehogs
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Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 1 member
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