Customer Reviews

Sony CMTHPX9 Microsystem

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I recently obtained one of these systems by accident when santa got a bit confused and purchased this system instead of the one i had requested. You can imagine my delight when i realised the quality of the system santa had delivered was far superior to the one i had picked. This system satisfies my needs in every way. Its design is slick and modern, solid and fairly tough looking and it doesn't look like it's about to start shooting lasers at you when you turn it on. Nor does it look like you could climb into it and fly to another planet. I see this as a good thing but thats just personal taste. As for sound quality, you can crank it loud without the system freaking out, and it is particularly bass friendly (just ask my neighbours). The dvd function is a great way to obtain good quality sound for movies and having everything hooked up thru the one system cuts back on messy cords etc around your tv. Only fault there is you can't watch a movie with the sound down whilst crankin tunes.The karaoke function is pretty much a non event but lets be realistic who really uses that anyway. Only other fault i could find is it takes a moment to play, especially burnt cds. Aside from this the system is an absolute winner, quality sound, stylish look, good price. It is the love of my life. Highly reccommended.

This Sony system is rocking!!!

Sound Quality - The sound of it is wonderful, and clear. Those 400 watt stereos do have a much better bass, but there design is lacking, and the treble is very muffled. The CMTHPX9 has great treble, and may not have 400 or 500 watts in it, but it still delivers some extreme bass.

Design - As I said before, the CMTHPX9's design is excellent. Not only is it easy to use and to set-up, but it is decent looking, unlike the HXGX7, which looks like a techno design mayhem. Also, the system is pretty small (though a bit big for executive), so it will fit on a normal 3-shelf bookshelf (system at the top, speakers in the middle, your stuff at the bottom, something like that).

Features - Do NOT LOOK AT THE SYSTEM TO SEE IT'S FEATURES. The system does look like it has low features, but the remote has tons more. Including an equalizer, clock, special display features, and much more.

Cost - This is a low point for the system. The 400-watt system is about 50 cents per watt, while this is about $1.06 per watt, making the more watted units more than double the value.

Overall - This may cost more than most units, though the design and features overway some of the more watted units like the HX-GX7, MHCGX450, and the SCPM39D. And for some, the CMTHPX9 outways just of the design (some of these shelf units make my eyes bleed a.k.a. HXGX7).

4.5 stars/5 stars (rounds to five)

I've only had this system a few days... and given the frequency of breakage from this models cousin (from previous reviews) I hope I wasn't foolish for not purchasing the extended warranty.

In general, it DOES seem to be a fairly dependable machine, and is the first unit of this type that I've owned in 7 years. The previous one from Aiwa, with its single cd, and double-cassette worked fine until the cd mechanism died... about 2 years ago. As far as this Sony goes, I'm a bit concerned about the mechanics that have to keep track of 5 cd's!

Regarding general operation; the sound is very good, as are its features. I wish it had more of an equalizer, instead of only allowing a slight variation between bass and treble. The extra bass feature is good though. I've heard the models from Panasonic and believe they have TOO MUCH bass! The Sony's remote is pretty good, except I wish it had numeric access for the station presets. This raises my BIGGEST complaint; when tuning a preset AM or FM station, the preset "number" appears in the display right before the frequency, separated only by a "dash". For example if you're tuned to 101.3 and the station preset is #4, the display would read "4-101.3" or if it's #17 it'll say "17-101.3" In my opinion the preset number should be smaller that the frequency digits or be in a different portion of the display. I've NEVER seen this before on ANY unit, and find it very confusing. Aside from that, I'm quite impressed with the reception (both AM & FM) that the radio produces with the antennas provided. Better than my old Aiwa. The tape however, is NOT auto reverse! The tape will not operate with its "hatch" open, and the little window is quite useless.

I like the sleep and timer functions, the cd exchange, the cd "synch" feature, and the handsomeness of the unit.

Fingers crossed that EVERYTHING continues to work!!

We bought this stereo last Christmas for my daughter. The sound is great, and the convenience of 5 CD's is good too. One thing we have been having problems with is opening the CD bay. It frequently gets stuck, always when she needs the CD in a hurry. I called Sony and they said the fix is to unplug the stereo for a minute and it resets itself. This works, but not too convenient.

I got this system about a year and a half ago and it has work GREAT. I love to listen to my music loud and it won't start going psycho at high volumes. It has some great features (automatic on/off alarm at whatever volume you want). This might sound weird but I bought some JBL Invaders also (GREAT TOO) and hooked them up with these and the result was an incredible range of sound. Bass is enough to blow your ears out if you wanna. The mid to high range sounds great together and each system makes up for what the other doesn't have. Try it!

I will make this short and sweet--this stereo is made very well;the sound is very good--perfect for your bedroom(which is where mine is)I really do not find any faults with this unit--I love the tape player being placed on top-makes it very easy to load and unload cassettes--also will be very easy to clean the tape heads--the access door simply slides back to insert tape--i hate those players with those "full logic" cassette players in them--every stereo ever had--those cassette doors break-either ya can't open em or they get stuck. No way this will happen on this unit--the only flaw in this unit is tape is not auto-reverse. I was very pleased with how good the tape player sounded--had some very old cassettes that sounded very good--had not been played in long long time-still great quality.
The tuner works well AM and FM--I don't listen to radio unless bad weather is around so tuner really does not matter to me.
It is more than adequate though.
The CD Player is very good--was surprized that it played all my homemade cd's--even my MP3's-flawless reproduction-just can't get over how good this unit sounds and i am older(54)person--have been involved with music most of my life and for the money-ya simply ain't going to get any better deal for the money--as a matter of fact about a week or two later;I went and purchased another one to put on the porch to listen to on those summer afternoons when the grill is on and friends are over. It even sounds good on the porch-it will produce good sound at higher levels also-with no clipping either.
The one I put in the bedroom; I also have my VCR/DVD Player run through the AUX Inputs--sounds great--the only thing I did was to add a couple of speakers to it for a better bass response for the movie soundtracks(Sony Speakers---SS-MB350H-another good product from Sony--they are killer for their cost also--3-way with 8 inch woofer--but that is another story) needless to say am set for the bedroom now.
The system also looks very well--I can't stand the systems with all the stupid lights and junk on them-give me just the plain solid look anyday.
I do not believe they are even making this model anymore so pick ya one up if you happen to see one somewhere-you won't be sorry.
One more thing--this unit is not very light in weight and will fit well on top of the bookcase but not in it. It is pretty long (the main power unit)--another plus is you can lock the cd module when and if you wish to move it.
If you have small children--keep them awy from this unit--the cd tray actually ejects itself out and does a little flip vertical to insert the cd's--this may be easy to mess up or break if not carefull with it.
Ya'll Take care and Happy Holidays
Michael

Just got one of these and it is great! Like all Sony products - READ THE MANUAL -to fully understand and enable its many features.

I have had this system for 8 years now, and it is still working fine. the sound quality is really good and it is nice that it has rca stereo inputs. the cd disc changer can get hung up sometimes, but I have never not been able to get a cd to eject or load with out more than a few seconds attention.

I have had this stereo just a little over a year and I have had it serviced 3 times for the same problem--the CD compartment would get jammed and would not open. Resetting the system(as Sony suggested) did not help at all. No, the CDs did not have labels on them, so this is not the reason it was jammed--they were all original CDs. The flip up CD tray is a unique feature, but I think that is exactly the problem. What a piece of JUNK!!!! If it were possible, I would not have even given it 1 star.

Worked until the warrantee was up, about a year. The CD changer died. The Sony site did not have any information on this model. Very frustrating and a waste of money.