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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Hype Not Substance, November 2, 2008
This review is from: Sony MHCEC78Pi Mini Hi-Fi Shelf System with Digital Media Port and 380-Watts RMS (Silver) (Electronics)
This unit was the middle of three Sony offerings at a national chain. I should have walked away when I saw that none of the three would lock on to even one station...when there's almost two dozen stations right in town. But hey, it's a Sony, right? People who say Sony has gone downhill are just blowing steam....
I'm beginning to think they were right. Here's why:
1) FM reception is marginal, even with ideal antenna placement. In fact, the instructions tell you how to power off the CD portion of the system in order to improve reception. This is ludicrious in an all-in-one system. I know enough about human factors and design engineering to recognize that the complex, three-fingers-at-once keying required to power down the CD player is clearly a diagnostic designed in for techs, but which has been published in the instructions as some sort of workaround to salvage a poor system design.
2) The display cannot be read unless it is eye level or below. People buy compact systems for two reasons...to get simplified operations (blown out of the water by the complicated power down the CD procedures)...or to save precious space in small or crowded rooms. Since you can't read the display unless this unit it on a low bookshelf, options for where you can place this unit get limited pretty quickly. I have to compare this to a Panasonic unit I have at work. It sits on top of the overhead, above my computer. That puts me at a negative 70 degrees or so from the display, yet I can read it easily. Why can't Sony do likewise?
3) The equalizer presets are lame, especially the "Jazz" setting, which approximates wrapping the speakers in two layers of pillows and duct tape. With only four EQ settings to choose from, this narrows down your real choices quickly.
4) Despite the pretense of bi-amplification (hence two sets of wires per speaker), bass is muddy with a poor rolloff below about 120hz, and an overemphasis in mid-bass to try and disguise its thinness. Rich this is not. Anything more demanding than a string quartet or acoustic guitar is going to sound weak and boomy. Jazz and rock are going to sound lame, and rap is going to be a shadow of what the actual recording was.
5) The antenna uses a psuedo-proprietary connection (it appears to be a three pin power connector for CPU fans), which means if you have to move the unit several times over its life, like from one dorm to the next, the typical cheap/thin/fragile antenna wire that's included will inevitably break. Problem: there's no way to replace the antenna with an aftermarket unit. Likewise, with the non-standard antenna connector, you can't use an upgrade antenna or a cable-tv feed to improve the poor FM reception.
6) I've been setting clocks on car stereos, VCRs, watches, PDAs and all the other gadgets since the 80's. No problemo. But with THIS unit, it was a half-hour ordeal of trial and error. It wasn't obvious, and it wasn't documented in the one-sheet instructions.
SUMMARY: Sound like an 80's boombox from the drug store. Reception like the clock radio at the motel. Display you can only read if it's down low taking up prime real-estate.
BOTTOM LINE: You wouldn't like it if you got one for free. It's annoying.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid for the price, March 9, 2009
This review is from: Sony MHCEC78Pi Mini Hi-Fi Shelf System with Digital Media Port and 380-Watts RMS (Silver) (Electronics)
This thing isn't going to blow the door off dorm room hinges but it pumps out quality sound. I bought it for my girlfriend who has a studio and this thing is nice and loud enough to blanket the bedroom and kitchen area (which aren't connected in a typical rectangular fashion). It's a great option for a living room area or bedroom. The price on this thing makes it right all the way.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
MHC EC78Pi, October 25, 2008
This review is from: Sony MHCEC78Pi Mini Hi-Fi Shelf System with Digital Media Port and 380-Watts RMS (Silver) (Electronics)
Pros: OK sound, plays MP3 CDs, OK FM reception, iPod connection.
Cons: Horrible looking speakers, speaker leads too short, clock display cuts off after 8 seconds, no CD changer.
I bought one of these to replace a 7-year old Magnavox mini component system with a 5-CD changer, in one of my vacation rental homes. Quite a miracle that it lasted this long. The sound of the Sony system is no better than the Magnavox, although I'm sure it would play much, much louder, if anyone could stand it.
I have to wonder what kind of person designs this kind of junk. The speakers are separate from the main unit, but the speaker wires are 24ga, and only about 4 ft long, and the connections are sealed inside the so-called speaker cabinets, so to set the speakers on top of the bookshelf with a reasonable separation, I had to join extension wires to them - 8 wires altogether. And that's another thing - why does it need two sets of speaker wires? This is NOT high fidelity!
Another annoyance is that you have to use the remote to display the time, as the clock display goes off after 8 seconds. Every other device I have has the clock on continuously - even if it's always at 12:00:00.
It's good that the unit plays MP3 CDs, but I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that it only plays one disk at a time.
Ah well, I guess I'll just return it and get the 3-disc changer.
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