Neon MCB1534D micro stereo system

Rating: 5/5

Review:
An excellent little stereo system

I was sent this small stereo system for review.  I liked the look of it and expected it to be pretty good, but it is far better than I expected at this price both in build and sound quality, and I think it represents excellent value.

The unit looks very nice – it is very compact and has a simple, neat front panel in brushed metal.  The speakers are shiny black, again with a simple front grille, so the whole thing is elegant and will fit neatly into even a small room.   It is easy to set up and has a good instruction manual.  It has an excellent range of inputs:

DAB and FM tuners

CD player with the ability to play mp3 discs too

Bluetooth 3.0

USB drive

2 x auxiliary inputs for things like record deck or connection to TV

They are all good.  There are no number buttons on the remote, so you have to scroll to the track or station you want, but otherwise it's functionally excellent.  Bluetooth pairing was simple both conventionally and via NFC and the connection is stable up to about 5 metres.  Radio tuning and reception is very good.  (Unlike another reviewer here, I find the DAB reception excellent even with just the supplied wire aerial.)  In short, everything works well.

It was the sound quality which really surprised me.  Obviously, you're not going to get top-end hi-fi from a unit like this, but it's very, very good – especially for its size and price.  I have put it through its paces using my Test Playlist which begins with Tudor choral music and ends up with London Grammar and includes most styles in between, and everything sounds very good indeed.  There's a firm but not overbearing bass, the middles are rich and tops are very clear and bright, giving a very well-balanced sound to my ears.  The articulation is very good so that individual instruments and voices are clear even in complex music, a string quartet is very well balanced, rock and acoustic music are great…I can't really fault it.  There's a selection of five EQ presets if you want them, and individual treble and bass controls, so you have the ability to adjust the sound to your taste.  It goes loud enough for a reasonable-sized party and it's just a very good unit.

In summary, this is an excellent stereo at this price.  It is well made and elegant, with surprisingly good sound.  The remote could do with some numbered buttons, but that's the only thing I can criticise in any way, so if you're looking for a very compact system I can recommend this very warmly.

Amazon page HERE