Customer Reviews

Sony CMT-NEZ3 Micro System

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Last year the 3-disc CD changer on my Phillips compact system (FWC550) died shortly after the warranty period expired (naturally). After doing some research I decided to try the Sony system based on Amazon customer reviews. (I do a lot of shopping on Amazon because of these reviews; I can make better decisions and I learn a lot too!)

Although the included speakers produce quite acceptable sound for what they are, I did the same as some other reviewers and substituted the really good speakers from my old Phillips 550 system. Wow! The sound is great!

APPEARANCE, CONTROLS, SIZE: The cute little all-silver main unit is lightweight and fits perfectly in a small spot on my desk. The large unit controls and remote proved easy to use. The included speakers look fine and the whole system is more attractive than my old Phillips. The top-loading CD player (no CD changer to break this time!)and the cassette holder are convenient to use. (I still have lots of cassette tapes, which hints at my age.) It was easy to set the clock.

SOUND: Crisp and clean. Bass and treble can be adjusted with the equalizer on the remote. I like lots of bass and this system delivers (through different speakers of course). The Dynamic Sound Generator can be turned on for even fuller sound and the effect is very pleasing. CDs and tapes sound equally good. I don't use the radio.

OTHER: You can do CD shuffle and repeat play or create your own order of play. You can record a CD to tape but I can't imagine who would want/need to. There are also audio in and headphone jacks.

PROS: Small, light, easy to set up and use, great sound and very inexpensive. Perfect for someone looking for just the basic functions plus a few nice extras.

CONS: At this price, I don't think it has any. Now if it will just last a lot longer than my last system............

I needed a simple, well-designed bookshelf system for CDs and FM radio.

CD: My experience (and many Amazon reviews) convinced me that CD changers are not reliable, so I looked for a top-loading CD player i.e. with no motorized CD drawer. Controls are large and intuitive.

FM: Reception is good, using the unobtrusive antenna provided with the unit.

SOUND QUALITY: I cannot rate the 1-way speakers included with the NEZ3 as they are still in the box. I have several pairs of 2-way speakers collected over the years from previous stereo systems. After checking the user manual to ensure the NEZ3 supports 6-16 ohm speakers, I connected it to some EPI-100 loudspeakers, 20" tall classics from the 70's. The sound quality is great! There is no distortion even with the NEZ3 cranked up to Maximum. Of course, the Sony's puny 9-10W/channel produces sound that is just "loud enough" as opposed to "painfully loud", but it is more than adequate for my home office. There are individual adjustments to bass and treble available via the remote.

TAPE: Although I do not frequently play cassettes, I like the NEZ3's solenoid-operated tape mechanism which I believe to be more reliable than mechanical tape drives. No Dolby, which was not a concern for me.

PROS: Simple compact design, easy to use, does not call attention to itself, and sounds great! I think (hope?) this unit will provide many years of good service, as there's not much to go wrong.

CONS: CD player does not remember what track it's on if you switch the unit off or go to FM then back to CD, which I guess is not unusual. Must lower the volume when switching from CD to FM. Clock and display could be a little brighter.

After trying another competing microsystem, this one is a keeper.It reproduces high, middle and low audio ranges well. It sounds nice out of the box, given it is only 20 watts, and the FM reception with the wire antenna is excellent. Since I have a Cambridge microworks speaker system with subwoofer, I then plugged it into the headphone jack of the CMT-NEZ3 and what a lovely sound she makes now. It now rivals the sound of a $400 Yamaha mini-system with the augmented speaker system. This Sony microsystem is well worth the money.

this sony really delivers for the price. it has a top loading cd player which plays burned cd's from your computer and also plays mp3 cd's too. but that is not all, you got a cassette player and in the back of the very small system, you got a line in jack so you can connect just about anything you want to add to the system. i have already connected my mini disc player, dvd player, playstation and directv too. the only thing that sony did not do with this unit is that they did not put tweeters on the speakers like last years model, but then again, last year's model did not have mp3 on it and the speakers still sound very good. i modified this unit a little by adding a powered subwoofer (which i already owned) to give it that extra punch and i will tell you that it made a huge difference. the sound is not overcomed by bass and you can hear everything very clear even in mp3, which i am new to. i am a sony guy and i have purchased just about everything in my room sony and i have been using a lot of sony's sonicstage software. well, my desktop has that atrac3 plus format and it is pretty good. the new sonicstage software which is now the 3.1 version lets you save music in mp3 format unlike the past where you could only save in atrac3 format. on my notebook computer i am trying out mp3 for the first time and i will say that it is great. but now almost everyone is into mp3 and these new systems are coming out with mp3 playback. if you don't have one then you are still living in the past. forget about the micro systems with 3 or if you are lucky 5 disc cd changer, go with mp3 playback.

This unit looks nice and plays nice, until it doesn't anymore.

This piece of crap worked for only 3 months and was turned on about 10x only, as it stood in my bedroom where I only seldom listen to music. It went dead all of a sudden, and Sony doesn't honor the limited warranty !!

Apparently, what I have (a short circuit, that prevents me from turning the unit on) is a common defect and it's even MENTIONED in the owner's manual (ie if you get standy flashing, you're in trouble!).

I had several bad experiences with Sony, this will be my last. My advice is stay with Panasonics, they're way way way better.

The unit was satisfying as advirtised in all ways.

I thought the the max volume limitation at peak was not as close to what the unit could produce, (maybe at least 20% more without distortion) as the volume control will not go farther than allowed by the unit.

The clock in the dark is useless, as it is not bright enough to see from any distance.

Lastly, their is NO audio out port to allow any singals from the 3 audio sourses that play well through excelent speakers of shelf size to be transmited to another source, be it a computer or another sound sytem.
The headphone output could be used for computer input use, but this signal is amplified. Strange how this missing audio out port is on some lesser systems, and not this one. (there is an audio in port, but isn'nt that sort of useless, if this unit has 3 good audio sources?)

The unit's size is fine for an office, liv room or den and is not a sound sytem to have a giant party with, only background music.
A treble control would have also been useful, in additon to the bass boost of at least 10 %, but I suppose bass background is more pleasant than treble boosted signals.

Overall, the unit does the job in my studio, and for the price was far above others in qualtiy, size and performance.
I assume an equalizer would have driven the price up, as well as a higher max volume level.(I would have paid an extra $20.)
You get what you paid for, and in this system is fully advirtised corrrectly.

This product just didn't live up to my expectations. First, what I really wanted was a boombox with a built in hard drive to store and play music files. No one makes that product, so I thought I would try a small stereo that has an auxillary input that I can connect my mp3 player into. So this Aux input is a critical feature for me.

The Sony unit plays CDs alright, and the radio is ok, but the volume through the aux input jack is very feeble. I have to turn the mp3 player all the way up, and the CMT-NEZ3 all the way up, to get just a moderately listenable volume, compatible with say, easy listening or smooth jazz style music. It can't even produce an appropriate volume for Beethoven, let alone any rock selection.

Even if you don't plan to use the aux jack, the overall sound quality is just ok, far from outstanding. I cannot comment on the tape player since I haven't used a cassette tape since '95, Personally I would rather they leave the tape drive out, but I guess other folks use them.

I have since bought an RCA RS2650, which cost less and is far superior. It has much better sound, the aux inputs are also weak but better that the Sony. It also has a 5 disc changer. If space is a consideration, it is a lot bigger than the Sony.

It's an excellent audio system for normal listening. It plays audio CDs, CD-Rs and mp3 CDs very well. The solenoid cassette player also plays very nicely, comparable to my car audio system. The speakers are nice and easy to connect as well. It has the nice facility to dub CD music into tapes if you dont have a cd player in your car.

I saw a review complaining about aux input. If you turn off auto volume and bass boost in your aux player, the volume is good. The complaints I have are: there is no autoreverse in the cassette player; the cassette player makes lound noise when you stop or start play.

Amazon gave a very fast free shipping and the package arrived in excellent condition.

I bought this for my "technology challenged" parents and they were able to use it easily. The controls are very logical. Sound is not bad either, but it is not high powered, and there are no separate bass and treble controls. For the money it is a good deal because you can play cassettes, CDs, and an AM/FM radio.

I had been searching for a mini MP3 system for some time. This one arrived in just a couple of days, was easy to set up, and I have been playing it constantly ever since and love it. I was a little sceptical about ordering a refurbished model, but am pleased to say, it worked out very well. Would highly recommend this model for someone who wants a simple mini system. The sound qualtity is great.