Earlier in the year I decided I needed a new music system of some description. I didn’t have any requirements as such, as long as it reproduced CD playback in an excellent fashion, and also an RDS tuner would be a bonus too.
I fancied getting a stylish ‘one-box’ unit, but had read many negative reviews of the sub £200 systems often seen – I feel they are designed to look good rather than sound good. Whilst a great looker is essential, you need to be able enjoy the music surely?
An avid reader of Stuff magazine, (see my earlier review?) I decided to browse a few back issues. A preview of the Denon M31 caught my eye, and after further research I discovered its predecessor, the M30, had won ‘Best Mini System’ award or something to that effect in What Hi-Fi for three years. I knew this was a good omen, and the M-31 had to be even better surely??
Further reading in Stuff recommended a couple of other systems, including a Yamaha
one – which did sound good when I went to listen to it in Dixons, but I wanted to hear the Denon, besides it looked better than the Yamo.
Luckily via the interweb I found a local independent retailer had Denon kit in stock, and a drive into town found my in front of the Denon M-1 which had only just gone in-store that week. (This was March 2003) Let’s just say 30 minutes later I had parted with £300 and was loading the car up! Discussing in the shop the merits of the M-31 over the M-30 (award winner past 3 years) the only changes really were the most minor of facelift (I could tell no difference in a photograph), and upgraded internal type things. So, I was happy. Looking in Stuff magazine 4 months later, the M-31 system is the highest recommended mini-system in its field, so I can’t have done too badly.
The system is beautifully styled in a brushed silver effect with the fewest buttons possible on the front; so don’t lose the remote eh? Basically there’s an on/off switch, a volume, a function button, play, stop and search buttons. The controls are to the right of the unit, with the CD tray on the top left/centre, and a generously sized digital display underneath.
The actual unit itself (Denon model number CD Receiver UD-M31) is small, taking up a footprint of around 21 x 30 cm, so will fit in quite easily in many places. 2 additional identical sized units are available for Minidisc and CD RW tasks if you so desire. The Unit has all the usual CD functions, programmable, random etc (these via the remote) and won’t surprise you really, unless you’ve never used a CD player. The tuner is similar really, having an RDS (what station is tuned, on FM) display feature, and the usual programmable gubbins. All good really, all very simple and foolproof to operate. I should mention that the unit play CDR discs play fine, but there is no MP3 playback available. Radio pickup is via a basic wire, although a proper FM coaxial cable can be connected should you choose to. Oh, and AM reception is available too, you Sports/Chat/Golden Oldie fans.
The speakers for this M-31 system are Denon branded speakers, but upon further inspection are actually built by Mission for Denon. The speakers are SCM-51’s and are part of the standard M-31 Denon system package. The dimensions are 16 cm wide, 21 cm high, and the same deep. They really do sound brilliant for their size; they have to be heard to be believed, coping with the most radical sounds. Believe me, they cope with all genres of music, and it is reproduced very well at all listenable volumes with no distortion at all. They have their own bass system built into the back; the vents can be blocked up with the supplied sponges to lessen the bassy sound. The speaker design complements the main unit well, in that they are a light wood design, rather hefty in weight for their petite sized, and come with grey removable front panels, with a discreet Denon badge at the bottom. Of course you can run any speaker system, as universal speaker wires are used to link up to the CD Receiver.
In controlling the sound you can alter the bass and treble outputs via the tone function on the remote control or main unit. If attached, an external subwoofer can also be controlled here.
The rear of the Denon unit has ample connectivity – you can link in the separate MD and CD-RW set-ups if you want to buy them. Copying to mini-disc is supported via the optical output port. Other connectivity includes various line in and line out sockets, FM and AM aerial ports, and the speaker inputs. As much as you’d need I think. Oh and there’s an output if you have a separate subwoofer, so I guess the Denon could be looped in as part of a home cinema set-up?
All in all, for £300 this was a brilliant purchase. In the sound stakes it compares well to a friends separates system, costing over £1000, and other friends who rely on ghetto’s and other mini-systems cannot believe the Denon for the price.
Denon give a 3-year return-to-base guarantee as standard, which gives adequate piece of mind I believe. In fact the warranty is supported via a certain independent dealer network, again giving piece of mine should you move away. So far, no problems have been reported with mine, touch wood.
10 out of 10, highly recommended without a shadow of a doubt. Must put another CD on now.
Excellent review, I have one of these and the minidisc to go with it. Brill
alabony 29.10.2004 23:19
Nice op. I'm trying to decide whether to bite the bullet and get a 'proper' system (like I used to have til it blew up a few years ago!), or get something neat, tidy, and adequate. Sounds like you're pretty happy with this wee thing anyway, so I'll give it a listen! Cheers, Andy.
DarkDave 14.12.2003 20:01
Great op, although I'm not at all a fan of all in one systems. Dave
Jul 22nd, 2003
(Jul 23rd, 2003)
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