Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous Stereo System!
Review: I like my electronics to not only sound good but they have to look good too! This mini stereo system is incredibly good looking! It has a beautiful wood finish on the speakers and the silver tone contrasts nicely with the wood! It also packs a lot of sound in a little package. Great for bedroom or office!
Rating: 
Summary: a lot of options for the price
Review: I was in fact looking for the AIWA XR-EM71 unit but could not find one. Because I needed soms mini or micro system in my office I tried to look for an alternative in the same price range. I went home with the MC-50. The unit is beautiful and decent with light blue front lights. For the price you get a lot of options you won't find on other systems. There is a timer (you can use the system as a clockradio/CDplayer !), sleepfunction, RDS, 3 CD-changer suited for CD-R and CD-RW discs, RDS-news search, Incredible Surround sound, digital out, wooden speakers, remote control, plug and play, 40 tuner presets and 40 programming CDtracks, clock display function, Dim-function, tape recorder, subwoofer plug. The incredible surround option is a nice feature that gives the impression of surround sound. However I've found that this option is not always that good (depending on the sort of music you play). The RDS-news option interrupts the CD-player or tape recorder when a news transmission is detected and switches to tuner mode. At the end of the bulletin the system switches again to the last resource and resumes its last operation. It's a pity that this option works only once for each activation ! The CD-changer is a little noisy when changing discs but that's common with most CD-changers. Even expensive multiplayers make soms noise when changing discs (however the marantz multiplayers are as far as I now the most silent discchangers available: you hardly hear the discs changing !). The speakers are very well build and give a crisp sound. All in all I'm very satisfied with the MC-50.
Rating:
Summary: Go for the MC-70
Review: If you like the design of this model (and I do!) than I would recommend to go for the Philips MC-70. After listening in the store to both this MC-50 and MC-70 I did buy the MC-70. Sound quality is great from both sets but with that extra power and the wOOx bass boost in MC-70 my choice was quickly made. Incredible Surround function makes a difference, it really creates spacious sound, even when you put the speakers close to each other.The CD changer is OK after you get used to the system. I am used ONE tray with easy access to all 3 CD's but here they made the system smaller and you have to press TRAY 1, TRAY 2 or TRAY 3 seperately to access the CD's. This means you have to remember in which tray you have inserted your CD! Tuner and tape works good, as in all sets. If you want to use this set in the bedroom, Philips has a nice package of features: - a nice DIM function for the display. - clock and timer for waking up including a SNOOZE. - SLEEP function to drift off. All in all, great set for the den, bedroom and even the living room. If you put it in the living room, go for the MC-70.
Rating:
Summary: A Well Executed Executive ...
Review: The Philips MC50 gives a lot of bang for the buck ! Therefore, the term "micro system" may be misleading since it's excellent sound quality could probably rival other mid size shelf systems by other manufacturers costing hundreds more and with less features... Bass response is deep and tight and the treble range is adequately smooth without piercing ears or causing the family dog to go crazy !The IS (Incredible Surround)circuitry opens up the stereo field giving a more clear robust sound while enhancing the audio image. The triple elevator cd tray mechanism is quick during disc changing or random shuffling without hardly any time lag; this is so important with changers when randomly playing tracks for a party. The most convenient set up feature is the automatic programming or storing of preprogrammed radio stations. All it takes is a couple of easy prompting functions to engage the auto tuner and voila ! No time consuming and tedious guess work is needed for this (a very smart feature on Philips' part). As for aesthetics it's a damn good looking piece of modern audio technology. It beats the heck out of the chintzy and practical mundane black on black stereo speakers and component commonly seen by other shelf models on the market. This micro-system's appearance harkens classiness with a hint of arrogance ... The rear panel contains hook up for an aftermarket powered sub woofer. It has a digital receptacle in back for doing digital to digital cd-r recording when hooked up to an additional source.The auxiliary function will also permit for hooking up an additional cassette, cd, cd-r, dvd, vcr players but not for a turntable (unless turntable has its own built in pre-amp)... However, I have some minor gripes (almost not worth mentioning, but I will anyway) 1. The system's lack of direct track cd number access on either the component piece or the remote. 2.There is no track search function for the tape mechanism. 3. The cassette door is also the "push to open/close" type. Yet, hardly anyone listens to cassettes these days, inlcuding myself, so it feels as though the mechanics of the tape door was an afterthought. Yet, all is forgiven by the crisp and clear playback audio characteristics when playing a cassette ! 4. The hand held remote gives the false impression of backlit function buttons with their opaque appearance. Still, the remote functions are well laid out and it feels comfortable in the hand (not at all awkward). By no means should the "minor gripes" deter anyone from purchasing this fine piece of digital audio equipment. Again, because Philips went the extra mile to design a system with a remarkable almost perfect audiophile-like sound the MC50 deserves 5 stars !
Rating:
Summary: Good, but lacking adequate bass response
Review: The Philips system is a great buy for the price, but does have a few drawbacks. The speakers are necessarily small in this class of equipment and, therefore, lack adequate bass response in comparison to larger speaker systems. The Philips system does have an output for a user supplied powered subwoofer, and I recommend that this be a serious consideration for a potential buyer. The setup for the tuner is quite confusing, and the automatic setup is totally worthless, so that the user has to figure out how to do it manually. The remote functions are also confusing.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but lacking adequate bass response
Review: The Philips system is a great buy for the price, but does have a few drawbacks. The speakers are necessarily small in this class of equipment and, therefore, lack adequate bass response in comparison to larger speaker systems. The Philips system does have an output for a user supplied powered subwoofer, and I recommend that this be a serious consideration for a potential buyer. The setup for the tuner is quite confusing, and the automatic setup is totally worthless, so that the user has to figure out how to do it manually. The remote functions are also confusing.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad at all
Review: This system looks great, sounds great and is a perfect price/performance mix. The only gripe I have about it is that the 3-CD changer is a bit loud. In fact, my girlfriend avoids using any tray but the first one *just* so that she doesn't have to hear the tray-switching gear mechanism... Other than that, the backlight dimmer is great, the sound quality is enough to fill my 2-room apartment comfortably and it was easy to set up out of the box. Very happy with this puppy. Plus with Super-Saver Shipping--it was quick & easy to get!
Rating: 
Summary: broke in 1st month
Review: very disappointed...the cd tray broke within the 1st month of use & Amazon.com was no help in getting it fixed...
| 
