Sony CMTSX7B.CEK Hi-Fi Sound System with Multi-Room, High-Resolution Audio Playback CD and DAB - Black

The receiver is diminutive and can play literally any source one could think of: DAB, line-in, optical-in from the TV, CDs, over the network music from the NAS with DLNA, bluetooth, Chromecast, Spotify, Tidal, Google Music, everything! The receiver doesn't have too many inputs (one line-in, only one optical-in) but with so many options already build-in they're not of much need anyway. It does however have a USB type B connection which allows the use of this receiver as a DAC from a laptop or a NAS - a very interesting option. Plus an USB A connector at the front which enables the use of storage devices such as usb sticks and hard-drives. It has network standby which allows you to turn it on and stream music as soon as you get home without touching the remote. The Sony music centre app is pretty good and allows control of most of the receiver's functions, most notably the easy setting of EQ parameters. The remote buttons were kept to a minimum thus making everything easy. No one needs a numeric keypad on the amp remote. The speakers while quite small (with 1 inch treble and 4 inch mid-bass drivers) are very well crafted. Sound quality is very good considering these are probably worth a 1/4 of the whole package price. A pair of Q Acoustics or something else will surely sound better, but these are still very good. The package has basic speaker cables included. Banana plugs need to be purchased separately, but both the receiver and the speakers can accept them. The only downside would be the weak headphone amplification. For example - it cannot drive the DT880 250 Ohm to a satisfactory level. I would also suggest getting foam pads or some basic rubber feet for the speakers. Overall incredible value and quality. This might be one of my best buys of 2018.

Happy but not delighted! Sound is very good. Wanted to pair a Bluetooth headphone (Sony) with Bluetooth Stereo (also Sony) but the stereo is only a receiver of Bluetooth not a transmitter so can not pair them. Although using a plug in small transmitter works perfectly fine, apparently the stereo doesn't compress the Bluetooth so hence better quality of sound via Bluetooth. Haven't tried all the functions yet but overall I'm happy I bought this.

This is the best system going. I have listened to many systems and speakers twice the price and they weren’t a patch on this little belter. Speaker sound quality and bass is amazing! Plays cd’s, Bluetooth and USB. Unbelievable value for money.

First I must say I like this system. Second, I bought this as new and it arrived with no remote control which made me think it is used or refurbished as the box packing was also minimal with no Sony labeling. Amazon arranged a refund for lack of remote so I can order one which at time of writing I'm still waiting for (see update below)and so my review is based on finding alternative ways of operating this system. Worked beautifully on arrival with front panel controls doing what I expected of them and very quickly connected to my home WiFi. No remote so I installed the Sony Music Center(centre!) app which controls, via the home WiFi, this Sony system. The app detected a software update was available and so I installed it. After the update I had to power cycle twice to get the controls to work properly again, see note below. Tuned the DAB radio to get an idea of the sound quality and found the base a little lacking unless the speakers are driven hard (louder volume) this is where the ' missing ' output for a sub woofer would have been a good idea, I guess Sony want you to buy additional WiFi linked speakers to fulfill this role. At this point I noticed a problem! Note: When DAB, and apparently only DAB, was selected the input select function refused to work with the front panel controls,the menu button flashes the display with no menu!, and so I resorted to the app again to change the inputs. Each input selection displays the input and a nice touch is that the name of the attached Bluetooth device is shown after "Bluetooth" label disappears from the display - I can see me having fun with that by changing the device name to something like "Happy birthday" or something more "sinister" to display a cheeky message on the display in Bluetooth mode. When I set the Bluetooth to connect to my Sony Walkman mp3 player the menu Bluetooth displayed correctly but I then had a problem with gaining access to the menu options. The one I wanted was the option to connect to a Bluetooth device and eventually it did work but I did wonder if the menu response time is a bit slow! Maybe when the remote control arrives the menu selection will work better - I guess that's how most people will use this system. So, to summarise, a good selection of inputs including an option to connect external audio, for example a new-fangled record player (they were and now are the days). I don't know if the audio has RIAA equilisation, doubtful, so if you intend to connect a record player make sure it has a suitable built in pre-amp with equilisation. As a side note my record player has a hidden switch under the platter, found by lifting the mat the record sits on, which turns on /off the pre-amplifier. No doubt the later USB type record players will work with the USB input of this system. Bluetooth volume is balanced well with the other inputs, in the past I've had to compensate by increasing the volume of Bluetooth. Easy to set up, a drawing is included, just a shame about the problem as noted, and laggy front panel operation. WPS set up was extremely quick even though I bought a LAN cable the connection the WiFi to my home network works really well. UPDATE JAN 2020: The remote arrived but gave no real difference to the app options other than for some it may be easier to use, ie no setup/login will be required. I still had the same problem when DAB was selected. Biggest issue here is that the menu - function is required to change the DAB station. Workaround was to reset and get the DAB to reenitialise but this also meant reseting all, including the WiFi password! I contacted Amazon who offered to return to Sony to fix but this should have worked on arrival and so I have returned this and bought a Denon CEOS instead.

I purchased this Sony unit a couple of weeks ago. I have been happy with other Sony products. My first impressions were not great. After trying several set-ups the audio was dire. The bass and mid range were nowhere to be heard. For a £400 hi-fi system I expected at least a pleasant listen but every genre of music from classic to rock, dub and electronica sounded horrible. I sent it back and got a refund that was hassle free and prompt. I visited my local hi-fi dealer and he sorted me out with a Denon DM-41DAB system with a pair of monitor 100 speakers for £430. It sounds lush, so much better than this offering from Sony. Steer clear and get yourself a Denon DM-41DAB , you won't regret it !

This a superb product.My wife got me this for a Christmas present and have been playing with it ever since. The Bluetooth is great and have now got it paired with my tv which is a Samsung and use it as a sound bar for the TV. Great sound a d the usb allows me to have all 4,000 track ready to play in shuffle mode. Love it. Now for some Bluetooth speakers for the rest of the house.