Price Paid:  $316.00 from Brandsmart at SawgrassMills, Florida, Miami.

Summary:
After all, this is a great Mini Shelf System, with great sound, and very good price for those who are going to buy their first home sound system or upgrading from an old one.

Strengths:
Excellent sound. Very clear bass and brilliant treble. 5 point equalizer to be precise with sound adjustment. Optical out ideal for recording minidisc's, dvd 5.1 Dolby Digital input. Great rear speaker for taking advantage of the total system power and for surround sound. Power saving feature leaves the unit in standby mode so there's no consuption of power when not using the unit. Very good, clear and complete user manual.

Weaknesses:
Noisy cassette deck mechanism when fast fowarding, fast rewind or stopping.

Similar Products Used:
None

Summary:
The systems sounds very good with the speakers kicking out excellent bass without bottoming out. All the other systems that I've tried above cannot pump out more bass without the speakers giving out (including the awesome/bulky JVC).

The DSP modes and equalizer preset has all the settings you'll ever need for the different music genres you have. The JOG-dial is feather-touch and convenient.

There are a lot of features on this unit that I will never ever use. But the biggest mistake Sony made with this product is not putting the ENTER button on the remote which is required for programming and other such stuff. There is also no button for bass, clock, timer, bla bla bla. A very dumb move. But maybe I am spoiled by my older Aiwa which has a button for everything including eject (which is useless because you gotta get up to change the CD anyway). A full-functioning remote would definitely complete this system.

I am not a Sony fan and you'll never find me buying a Sony ever again. I buy Panasonic whenever I get a chance. But this Sony was the best model available in the market that can handle the bass without bottoming out (look for the VACS feature). All new Sonys are the same too.

TIP: If you have a room no bigger than 15ft x 15ft big, do NOT buy a system with more than 100Watts total power. This Sony is rated at 265Watts and even at the low volumes, the bass just keeps pumping out (which causes problems with my neighbours).

Buy this product if you get a good deal. I only paid $340US ($523 Canadian) which has an MSRP of $699 Canadian.

Strengths:
Great styling, excellent sound, lots of functionality and features, powerful remote, powerful bass, "2 years" manufacturers warranty.

Weaknesses:
Remote remote remote. The only thing I can do with this remote is basically change cds, tune radio stations, and power it off.

Similar Products Used:
Aiwa (280Watts), JVC (400Watts), Panasonic (400Watts), Pioneer, Kenwood.

Summary:
(My model MHC-GRX90AV - the same as RXD10AV.)

This is a well-made system that shows that Sony's reputation isn't built on their world-firsts alone.

Looks good, nice dual layer fluoro display that works well with the spectrum analyzer. Has a huge great jog dial in the middle of the face that spins really well with just a finger.

The sound is great - it can really pump out the bass on all songs - try listening to something like "Angel" by Massive Attack on it, you'll see what I mean. The DSP modes are really effective, and the Karaoke mode screens out the voices well in certain songs.

Lots of good inputs and outputs - the most important being optical out and DVD 5.1 in. I am yet to try it with DVD, but works great if I plug my televison, MiniDisc player and computer in. Includes sound modes for TV and computer games.

The remote lacks a little. There is no display, and no play mode, and no enter (used for programming)! Does have play, pause, stop for a Sony MD deck if you have one. Also has a sleep function (including auto sleep - turns off after finishing a CD or tape) which isn't on the unit itself; and check and clear, for program. (And still no sign of enter.)

The unit goes well with the MiniDisc deck MDS-S40, something I also purchased recently. They fit perfectly, and look of similar style. I think they compliment each other perfectly, and people ask me if I bought it as one unit.

All in all, this is a very fine purchase, and well worth the AUS $750 I paid for it.

Strengths:
Great sound, good DSP modes and Dolby Pro-Logic, great Sony functionality. Nice 2-layer display. Good style.

Weaknesses:
Remote missing display, play mode and enter. A little flashy with things such as the image pattern - turn it to normal spectrum analyzer.

Similar Products Used:
Sony, Sharp, General Electric...

Summary:
Exellent system for everyone who enjoys good quality sound but has a budget. This system has exellent speakers with bilt in 6.5 inch subs. It is probably worth buying a separate sub wich I am looking in to.

Strengths:
Great bass and exellent overall sound quality. Decent price for the product. Many usefull functions.

Weaknesses:
Could use a 5 or more disk changer.