We had gone without a proper HI-FI for a long time, the computer was being used as a music device, so last October decided to go out and buy the Sony MHC-RG220 system. We hadn't done any planning for this, it was simply what looked reasonable, and we wanted the ability to play MP3 disks too. ... Read review
Advantages: Good price, looks, reasonable power, sounds good, it's a Sony Disadvantages: Not for the audiophiles - but then they'd not be reading this...
...go out and buy the Sony MHC-RG220 system. We hadn't done any planning for this, it was simply what looked reasonable, and we wanted the ability to play MP3 disks too. Going for a Sony, we thought would be a sure way of getting a reasonable quality product. As for looks both the main unit and the dual woofer speakers are tastefully designed and would look perfectly at home in most modern decor. The volume control is large and prominent in the centre ... ...the time of writing the Sony MHC-RG220 is available online, in the UK for £152 including VAT. A standard 1 year warranty is included. As with all modern electronic products it is likely to be discontinued shortly after posting this opinion.
*** Conclusion ***
As with all music systems, I'd always recommend hearing them for yourselves first, not relying solely on any textual information. Having said that, for the money it's a ... more
We had gone without a proper HI-FI for a long time, the computer was being used as a music device, so last October decided to go out and buy the Sony MHC-RG220 system. We hadn't done any planning for this, it was simply what looked reasonable, and we wanted the ability to play MP3 disks too. Going for a Sony, we thought would be a sure way of getting a reasonable quality product. As for looks both the main unit and the dual woofer speakers are tastefully designed and would look perfectly at home in most modern decor. The volume control is large and prominent in the centre of the unit, with 28 function buttons dotted around the front panel which silver in colour. The cabinet is black plastic. The display is blue LCD, with a red illumination which "dances" in time with the music, but serves no use other than that (it can be turned off). The power of the system is quoted as 100+100 watts RMS.
*** Basic Functions *** 3 Disc CD Player Double Cassette Deck AM/FM Tuner with RDS MP3 Playback Remote Control Game Mixing input
*** Installation *** Simple enough, even without the diagrams in the manual. Connect the speakers to the speaker terminals on the back of the unit, the radio attenna, insert the batteries into the remote control unit, plug it into a power socket, and turn on. Initially you'll need to set the clock, but that's all. Actually the clock needs to be set everytime the unit loses power (a bit annoying).
*** CD Player *** Although we weren't too bothered about multiple disk players, this one can load 3 at a time. You can easily select any one of the 3 disks by using Disk 1, Disk 2 and Disk 3 buttons on the front of the system, or indeed by using the remote control. Whilst playing a disk, you can eject the other two and change them. To access the third, you must rotate the carousel. As well as playing standard audio CD's, the unit can also play CDR, CDRW and MP3 disks. Whilst it may be useful to play CDR/CDRW audio format disks, MP3 disks are a great bonus. It is possible to copy over 100 or more tracks in MP3 format and play them on this system, giving a long total playing time, especially if you have 3 loaded at once. On a minus side though, the reading of disks does seem to take longer, especially when on random when the tracks seem to be shuffled for excessive periods of time. If you do things properly, you can structure your MP3 disks by album, and the system will then allow you to choose specific albums from the disks, as well as specific tracks. This makes location of particular tracks quicker and easier. The album and track names are displayed on the panel on the front of the system.
In general operation of a normal CD, it performs much the same as any other CD player. Tracks maybe played in order, randomly or programmed manually. With having 3 disks, you are also provided with the option of playing all disks, just a single disk, all the disks randomly or a single disk randomly. The usual buttons for play, stop, skip back and forward within a track or to next or previous tracks, pause and eject are provided, both on the unit itself and on the remote control unit. Repeat options are also available, although we rarely use this option. When using programming mode, you can select up to 25 tracks from any of the 3 available CD's. Programming is fairly straightforward, although you might need to refer to the user guide the first few times. So far the operation of the CD player has been problem free.
*** Cassette Deck *** Does anyone still use these? I know we've all got piles of old tapes stashed away somewhere, do do we ever need to play them again? Well if you do feel like it, just for nostalgia, two decks are provided. To be honest, in the 4 months or so we've had it, we've only played one tape, so a full opinion isn't possible. However it did play with super sound (for a tape). The buttons to control cassette operation are all "touch" rather than "press" type buttons, but you can also press the cassette windows themselves, and they soft eject very smoothly. Controls include the usual play, rewind and fast forward, stop, pause, eject and record (on deck B only). It is possible to play both tapes in succession, by altering the play mode to "relay" on the remote control. The AMS system allows you to move forward or back to the beginning of a track. The CD-Tape Synchro function allows you to copy a CD to tape easily. It is also possible to record a programmed track listing to tape, and of course you can record from tape to tape or radio to tape manually. Using the Game input (which we use for DVD input), you can record the audio from this too.
*** AM/FM Tuner *** This radio tuner allows you to listen to the radio of course, and provides up to 20 FM and 10 AM presets for your favourite stations, more than enough for most people I should think. Providing you connect the 2 seperate supplied antennas you should have no problem using the automatic tuning function initially. The system will seek out all the available stations in your area and store them into the preset locations, meaning you can simply press a button to get to the station you want. A Manual tuning option is also provided should the auto tuning not be to your satisfaction. We had to resort to using the manual method, as many of the stations seemed to be just off channel. The FM radio system is all well and good, however sometimes youäll get a lot of static noise. A push of the FM Mode button on the remote, will change to mono, usually giving a clearer, improved reception. We've not noticed any wandering off of the stations once they've been set. The tuner is equipped with the RDS system, which works on some FM stations. The first "advantage" to the RDS system is that the station name is displayed on the LCD panel. Other information and services may be available with RDS, but this is station dependant. For some reason, we are unable to make use of the function, as we have to re-tune slightly to get the best signal, which then does not provide the RDS information.... It is also possible to record radio at a pre-defined time.
*** Other functions *** Sleep timer - You can set the system to turn off after a certain time, anywhere between 10minutes (you're very sleepy) and 90 minutes (not at all sleepy). It can also be set to auto where it will turn off after finishing the CD or tape.
Wake Up Timer - Use it as an alarm wake up call, but instead of bells and whistles, a nice gentle relaxing CD or perhaps just your favourite radio station. This can be set to wake you up at the same time each morning (or whenever). The clock must be set to use this function (obviously).
Clock - Can be displayed when the system is in standby mode (as long as you've set it). As mentioned earlier, if power fails, the clock needs to be reset.
Groove Function - The is basically a bass boost function, and creates a more powerful sound suitable in certain music types. 3 settings are available, Groove, V-Groove and off.
Sound Effects - The effect button provides various changes to the sound of the system. Settings such as Rock, Pop, Surround and Movie are available.
Game Mixing - Although we haven't got a games machine (bit old for that), a feature is provided which allows you to input the game sound to the system, and mix with your favourite music. Four levels of mixing are provided. Sounds like a novelty.
Headphone socket - allows standard stereo mini jack headphones for private listening.
*** Remote Control Unit *** Quite small for a remote control, but none-the-less providing 29 buttons in total. All the most useful operations are available on the remote, volume, CD functions, radio presets and MP3 control. All buttons are the same colour (grey), except the Standby button (green). It's fairly well laid out, and the text either on, above or below the buttons is easy to see. None of the text has worn off yet. It requires 2xAA batteries, which are supplied.
*** Dimensions *** It's 8.5kg in weight, and 280x325x407mm (width/height/depth).
*** Price & Availability *** At the time of writing the Sony MHC-RG220 is available online, in the UK for £152 including VAT. A standard 1 year warranty is included. As with all modern electronic products it is likely to be discontinued shortly after posting this opinion.
*** Conclusion *** As with all music systems, I'd always recommend hearing them for yourselves first, not relying solely on any textual information. Having said that, for the money it's a great system, looks good and sounds good. It's compact enough to fit almost anywhere, and fits in well to most surroundings. Feature wise it provides all the everyday functions plus a little bit more. Whilst audiophiles will probably cringe at it's power output and low price, as an all round music system, it's a sound investment.
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