Sony CMTSBT100 Micro Music System with Bluetooth and NFC

Update 01/29/2019: The fact that the system takes a ridiculous amount of time to discover the tracks on a USB stick or a CD is very disappointing. I turn it on but then have to watch it count every single track before I can press play. The system turns off altogether if I walk away and wait too long after it has completed its counting. Once it turns itself off, the system needs to be powered on again and go through the exact same counting process all over again. It is very annoying. My flash drive has hundreds of tracks on it so it takes a great deal of time for the display to show 1, 2, 3, 4..... etc. That long pause is an unfortunate drawback to this system and means you can't forget you are waiting for it to play. I still like the Sony Music System's features and good looks, and the system still sounds good when it does play. I am even OK with the time it takes to count every single track, although no other device I own insists on doing that. I just don't understand why it can't automatically play music after it finishes counting all the tracks.Original review after owning the system for 6 weeks: Although my family was strongly in favor of a SONOS system or a Bose radio/CD, I chose to buy the Sony Micro System because the price on Amazon was so good and it seemed to do every single thing I needed it to do. I decided I would pay attention to the various complaints people had about it, and send it back if it performed poorly.I have had this system now for about 6 weeks, and so far I am just delighted with the sound, the design, the small footprint, and the multi-functionality of this Sony Micro Music System in spite of its negatives I outlined below.The sound from the little speakers is surprisingly good. I find the system to be quite attractive, and I am delighted my kitchen now has a radio, a CD player; Bluetooth for connecting my phone to listen to downloaded podcasts; Audible books on my Kindle using Audio In; and a USB port to plug in a flash drive that holds the playlists from my iMac. For the money I spent, the system is excellent. I have not found a persistent hum or buzz from the CD player that other reviewers described.Bluetooth: I found when pairing my Android with the system that nothing happened when I first pressed the remote Bluetooth button repeatedly, then held it down for a long while. It was when I stopped pressing the remote and switched to pressing the button on the receiver that the system read PAIRING and then the Sony system appeared in the Bluetooth list on my phone so I could pair them. Now I am able to use my phone to play Pandora.So far the time spent copying my iTunes playlists to USB flash drives has not been a terrible bother, I guess because I was prepared for that aggravation having read all the reviews. Therefore, I want to thank all the generous people here who took the time to write detailed reviews of this system. A plus: It will play music and audio books from all my flash drives: old, first generation ones, and brand new ones too. I have another sound system that will play only new flash drives.I don't know yet if I will eventually miss having WiFi, nor can I predict if the Bluetooth will drive me crazy. On the whole, I am really delighted with this system since it does everything I want and the sound is a great deal better than I expected. Everyone who visits my house mentions how good this system sounds. And I can crank up the volume so we are able to hear it well without distortion to the farthest reaches of neighboring rooms .Because of the good price and the excellent sound, I have been able to overlook the system's slow initialization and the time it takes to load CDs and flash drives. However, if I am in a hurry and want to remove the CD when the system is not turned on, it takes forever for the tray to eject because it requires waiting for the CD to be read first. Another negative is something another reviewer pointed out: It doesn't keep track of where it left off on a flash drive or a CD so -- if I remember to do it -- before I turn it off, I write down the CD track number and forward to that track when I want to continue listening. I don't bother doing this on a flash drive, though, so I end up listening to the first bunch of tunes on the drive over and over which is tiresome.I wish the speaker wires were longer than four feet. To separate them more, I just ordered the 15 foot Samsung wires that another reviewer recommended for this system: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XLZ6J06/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AYM8I6S71KDRT&psc=1Update on speaker wires: The speaker wire I ordered to increase the distance between the speaker and the receiver does have the correct SONY proprietary connection so it works perfectly. However, although the wire colors are obvious in the picture, they didn't register with me when I was purchasing the wires, and was disappointed to discover the red and black colors when I opened the package. They are ugly and do stand out which is my own fault.

I’ve used this system for the past 2-3 years to stream music over Bluetooth and lately as a CD player.All things considered, it’s a great micro hi-fi system and I do recommended for the combination of sound quality, features and value it provides.Let’s actually start with its flows after 2 years of use:- CD player is very slow - it’s takes several seconds to open CD tray and once CD is loaded, it takes about 10 seconds to read it- It takes a long time for a system to initialize once turned on. For instance, if you have CD loaded and then you turn on the system, it took 25 (twenty five!) seconds to get to a state when you can play music- The remote stopped working after a year. The issue is with the main unit not the remote itself. Still, it’s an issue.- The main unit only has proprietary 4.2mm connectors for speakers and no RCAs which is a bit of a bummer. The power cord also can’t be disconnected which might be an issue if it is damaged.Now, onto the good things about this system:- Excellent sound quality for its size and price. The sound is well balanced, it sounds flat which may be an issues for some folks but I personally really enjoy that. There is a very basic equalizer and bass boost (which they didn't call Mega Bass for some reason, perhaps that name was reserved only to portable audio). The system gets reasonably loud without feeling like you’ll damage the speakers - rather impressive at this price point!- Bluetooth connectivity is solid, I never had any issues and while you obviously get only mp3 quality at best, it’s reliable for music streaming from your phone, laptop or iPad. The range is decent as well, you can generally have your sound source in a different room without an issue.- CD player quality is excellent: I only played factory-made discs (no CD-R/RW), but never had any issues.- Listening to CDs through high quality headphones (like Sony MDR-V6, a timeless masterpiece) is pure joy - there is very little noise from the unit itself, it’s barely noticeable and you can really enjoy music the way it meant to be experienced - in a CD quality that no streaming service can match- The design of the system is timeless and classy. In addition, the speaker covers could be removed to reveal great-looking driversDespite all of its flaws I still gave it 5 stars - it sounds great and provides great value for the price.I’m no audiophile by any means but after years of listening to mp3s and streaming services it was very refreshing to load up a good old CD (a 40-year old technology!) and listen to the music in great quality.If it’s still available, don’t hesitate and buy it.

Strengths are simplicity and good sound quality. Easy to set up, easy to operate. CD's from the Clash to Tony Bennett sound good, as does FM radio. AM radio, if you are lucky enough to get clear reception, also has a strong, pleasing sound quality.Great little remote control and super easy interface. Playback even from folders in thumb-drive is straightforward.At full volume with the CD player or thumb-drive, I hear no significant distortion or speaker issues.Weaknesses: Should be able to go about 20% louder. Sometimes you want to cut loose a little in the office. This barely fits the bill for that, but for casual listening while working, solidly A-ok.The "EQualizer" is only bass and treble. A full star off for no mid-tone. BASS BOOST doesn't do much, but probably that keeps the mediocre particle-board speakers from rattling.As others have noted, no balance control (left - right volume). Even casual listeners appreciate being able to compensate for speaker position, and a "micro-system" with speakers that can be placed quite far apart certainly should include the feature.Sony still has a long way to go to get back to its glory days. This item, with the described shortcomings, is an example of short-sighted stinginess. Sony doesn't even offer a more advanced micro system for more money, one that a customer could upgrade to, so what was the point of leaving out something as standard as a balance control or midtone option in the EQ?In this price range, there are few options. Sony included as little as it could, but did make a system that looks nice, sounds good, and is super-simple to set up and operate. A little more generosity with features would go a long, long way with customers.