Price Paid:  $230.00 from Liverpool (High class mall)

Summary:
Check it out. Sound quality and overall finish rivals kilobuck Denon or Onkyo systems. Super buy! The sound quality is awesome. No sismic bass here, but instead rich and deep. The power glide withdrawing panel is a real eye-catcher. Super clean, sophisticated and expensive looks. People guess price at $500-$600. Feather touch hidraulic deck eject is a plus, and the beautiful light blue, classy LCD display is a first. By all means, check it out!

Strengths:
Probably one of the best sounding, super quality construction systems available in its class. Looks like the kilobuck Denon systems, with sound that rivals every bit of the way. Sounds fantastic, highs are super crystal clear, mids are not boxy, but instead soft and well balanced. Bass is incredible for woofers its size. Deep and distortion free, the bass is so clear you need to listen to it to believe it. Sound, crispness, clarity, substance and bass is audiophile class at the very least!

Weaknesses:
I really miss Dolby (should have Dolby B at least) noise reduction system on the deck.

Similar Products Used:
Denon, Onkyo

Price Paid:  $250.00

Summary:
After looking at every sterio system availiable.. playing cds in them.. gettin a feel for power and bass and overall sound quality and pretty much not caring for the extra frills the larger systems had like the light systems and different sound settings such as disco and rock.. things that u can adjust for myself with the bass and treble settings, I picked the SC-PM22 because after hearing larger systems and bein pretty happy with gettin a larger system, I heard these micro systems and was blown away at the style at first but then after listening to them, they produced a unique sound that i found much more pleasant than the larger systems produced. The SC-PM22 was my fav system because of the awesome sound it produced. I never read any reviews beforehand so I wasnt sure what I wanted or what was good.. i just let my ear decide and i was well rewarded. A little bonus is the ability to put the speakers about 6 or 7 feet on each side away from the main unit which give you the ability to spread the sound around the room instead of having the intense sound comin from one concentrated place, it kinda bathes the room in the music which is pretty cool. This set isn't for someone who needs to do a lot of editing and recording plus tons of little features although it does have a nice tape deck to accompany the cd player. However, for anyone who just wants to listen to their cds or radio in the best sounding music on this side of 600+ bucks(not all for over $600 will be this good though lol), this does very nicely.

Strengths:
Amazing, full, room-filling sound with excellent bass, speakers can be separated which spreads the sound around the room better, plays CD-Rs, simple yet gets job done well

Weaknesses:
not feature rich like other systems although not an issue for me

Similar Products Used:
none

Price Paid:  $250.00 from Cheapest store

Summary:
When i first saw this unit I was amazed at the display as well as the neat sliding panel. After getting over that initial excitement when i put in a CD and started listening i was amazed at the sound quality, def. up with the best mini systems. Is a system of class and quality rather than crappy features and cd players that break and huge systems that take up half a room. Highly recommended for sound quality, general quality, clear blue display, and the fact that it is relatively good value. If you want a high volume "bass-boomer" then perhaps you would be better served getting a 3cd, two disc system.

Weaknesses:
1 cd

Similar Products Used:
Sony "Mezzo" systems and Sanyo, JVC, Kenwood equivalent micro systems

Price Paid:  $249.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
This unit has a very upscale look to it, most people think it costs more than it did. For the price of an average mini-system nowdays, this is an exceptional value. One thing that was a pleasant surprise was the ability to wake to music! I love it, it starts out by building from a zero volumne, and stops where you have set the volumne. This is a very nice sounding unit, the best I've heard yet. The finish quality is very high, none of the plastic look of the majority of systems out there, with some of them having poorly matching cabinet/speaker assemblies. The only drawback that I find is a lack of speaker attatchment to the main unit, as in most mini systems. There is no equalizer on the unit, but then I found with it's quality speakers and separate base and treble, its never missed, and this unit really pleases the senses with it's supperb sound. Can't miss with this one if upscale looks, and awesome sound are the goal.

Strengths:
Accurate, clean sound. Perhaps not the loudest out there in the mini-system market, but it will satisfy 98% of them.

Weaknesses:
Only 1 C.D. capacity.

Similar Products Used:
Sony mini systems, Aiwa.