Price Paid:  $400.00 from Fillion Electronique

Summary:
DENON UMD-30 A very clean and smooth sounding unit. The design is classic and display is adequately bright. If you're limited for space and budget, this is the system for you. Comparable to Yamaha and Nakamichi. I've added Paradigm Cinema series speakers and they elevate the system to a higher level.

Strengths:
Good value for the money. Clean and smooth sound. Classic styling.

Weaknesses:
None really.

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha Nakamichi Marantz

Price Paid:  $365.00 from Hypeaudio.com

Summary:
*******This is a review for DM30, which does have the pause for the CD.*********** ;-)

The sound of this system is quite good for the money. However, you do need to work on the speakers placement to achieve the best sound, but that is expected for the system that has to descent speakers.

I did some shopping around, and looked at primarily at two brands: Yamaha and Dennon. I have a Yamaha receiver for my HT and I love it, so I wanted to stay with Yamaha brand; however, I liked the Dennon sound better than that from Yamaha Pianocraft. Possibly because of the speakers. But the only people who don't need to worry about positioning of speakers for stereo, are the once who've already done that and the once who've purchased the Bose Wave radio. The former once had spent some time, the later once overpaid $399. (Sorry, I had to do that! ;-)).

The unit itself is pretty heavy for its size (don't know the exact weight, but it is in the manual) and so are the speakers. There are few sets of inputs on the back to hook up other sources. Good bonus.

The unit did come with all of the wires and antenna in the box. Setting it up was easy, I did not need the manual which I browsed through looking for some unusual caution notes. I cannot comment on the quality of the manual, because I have not really read it, since I've not used any of the advanced features (Alarm/timer for example).

Overall, I am pleased with the purchase. If anyone is thinking on above average clock/alarm stereo combination, I would greately advice this system. I use it in the bedroom, and it seems to workout quite well.

Strengths:
Good sound, seems to be well built, cheap but still Mission speakers.

Weaknesses:
No dimmer for the screen. I would also like the capability of having the clock displayed all the time after it turns off, without the need for the extra buttons pressed.

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $450.00 from J and R Music World

Summary:
Too much of a chance of the unit failing. I would wait until the company gets its act together about reliabiltiy before buying.

Strengths:
The sound is quite good for a small unit. Both the CD and the tuner section provide good sound for the money

Weaknesses:
The CD transport stopped working after about 1 year (after waranty had expired). I had that fixed and about 1 month later the left channel blew out. Reliability obviously is an issue.

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $355.00 from consumer-direct.com

Summary:
DID NOT WORK...BUYER BEWARE...CD player stopped playing after ONLY 30 minutes usage.

Weaknesses:
DID NOT WORK...BUYER BEWARE...CD player stopped playing after ONLY 30 minutes usage.

Price Paid:  $337.00 from Hi-Fi Club

Summary:
***NOTE: This is for DM-30, supposedly a successor of DM-3.

I went out to buy this highly acclaimed DM-3 last weekend from a Denon dealer here. They told me D-M3(as called here in Europe) is discontinued and is replaced by D-M30. (I checked Denon Europe's website, it's true). And they comes as standalone unit instead of a package with Mission speakers. D-M30 cost US$337 itself.

Anyway, they also has B&W 302 on sale (US$154 a pair) so asked to hook them togather and listened with my CDs, blues, pop, dance. And I'm quite amazed at the clarity and power of this little silverish beauty, kind of love in the first sight. I'm no audiophile so I might be easily overwhelmed but I did compare it with other much expensive stuff in the shop and it stacks well considering its size and price.

Also I noticed some small changes over D-M3, although the spec looks quite similar:

1) There is now a pause button on the remote (model number RC-877) for CD playback. Although the remote is still not the most intuitive kind, I can do everything on the remote now, well, except eject the CD-tray. There is still no mute button.

2) The tone control is improved. There is no pre-setting any more, you can choose: source direct (no tone control), bass adjust, treble adjust, and Super Dynamic Bass (SDB).

3) The front cover layout is different.

Maybe I should start a new listing for D-M30... But need to play with it more to have a overall feeling.

Bruce Z.

Strengths:
Good sound and adequate power for its compact size. Love the vocals (esp. female).

Weaknesses:
Yet to find. But classic music on it seems not very impressive.

Similar Products Used:
SONY portable stereo