MicroSystem CD Build Quality and Remote

When one gets used to great audio, it is hard to stomach little else. After spending thousands on a home theater setup, a two channel rig, a decent pair of cans (headphones) and a headphone amp… well, perhaps your finely tuned ears are just too delicate for a simple Wal-Mart special clock radio. You need something a little more… refined. The Boston Acoustics MicroSystem CD is much more than just a clock radio, this unit purposes to be able to take “tabletop performance to the next level, with big, rich sound you never thought possible in a system this size.” Gee, I think I’ve heard this one before… but where? Hmm… Well, we’ll deal with that later. What is most important here is 1) how it sounds, 2) How it looks and 3) how well it works.

Build Quality

The MicroSystem CD is heavy for its size (most DVD players don't weigh 6 pounds!) and feels very sturdy. It arrived in a colorful box that should be very eye-catching on the shelf of your local electronics store. The review unit is black (charcoal) but it is also offered in white. There are speakers on either side with a port on the rear of the unit behind each of the drivers. The unit had a very low profile but is a little wide (good for separating the speakers for stereo response but bad for placement) so it may take up a bit of real estate on your dresser/nightstand. There is an attached power cord, a removable FM “wire” antenna, and a removable internal AM antenna. The AM antenna is plugged in externally but the antenna itself is located inside of the unit. This allows you easy access to the connection so you can disengage it if you’d rather us an external antenna. On the back of the unit there are two inputs and one line out (in case you feel the need to use this unit as a transport or you want to connect a subwoofer). There is also an 1/8th inch stereo input on the front that is designed to be utilized with iPods/MP3 players. A headphone jack is dangerously close to the iPod input with labels that are only legible when you are up close in bright light. There is a compartment on the bottom for a 9 volt “backup” battery.

The front display dims under low light conditions which is still easily readable from across the room. I found that in my room, every time my shadow fell across the unit, the display would dim. This was neat in that it showed how responsive the dimmer function was, but also a little disconcerting. I’d always seem to see it out of the corner of my eye but by the time I got my head around to see what it was, the light would pop back on to full strength. Watch The Ring or a similar movie and then have that happen to you. I was afraid to answer the phone for a week. I found out later that the amount of light that triggers the dimming function can be adjusted manually by pressing and holding the Info button while adjusting up and down the level with the Volume buttons.

The back of the unit has a “Bass Trim” knob which can be used to attenuate the amount of bass coming from the unit. Since this unit is designed to maximize bass output, placement near walls/structures could create an overly “boomy” bass experience. The Bass Trim knob can be used to reduce the amount of bass if you can’t pull the unit away from the structures.

The drivers are 3” paper cone woofers. From the outside (through the grill) I thought they were coaxial but I was wrong. Behind each woofer is a cavernous space with only a modicum of polyfil to keep the cables from rubbing. Each side feeds into a small “port” which exits the rear of the unit. The electronics seemed densely packed into the enclosure with very little space that was not utilized by a circuit board, output device, or the monstrous toroidal transformer - very unlike the cavernous spaces found in most set-top radios. Overall, it is a very solidly built machine.

Remote

The remote hides neatly away in the fold down face of the unit. Honestly, this placement is so cool, I find myself using the remote even when I’m standing directly in front of the unit just so I can fold down the front. The remote is slightly larger than a credit card and about a 1/4 inch thick. It charges by sitting in its magnetic cradle. The buttons are bulbous and present a bit of resistance when pressed. There is no backlighting which for the most part isn’t a problem. You can even browse your folders on your iPod/MP3 player from the remote. The layout is fine though I wouldn’t mind seeing the 1-6 preset buttons being usable for track selection when controlling the CD (yes, I know it would only work for the first 6 but who cares?) It would also be nice if the “sleep” button were lighted so that you could see it if your alarm is set early. Of course, there is some value to making people get up (or turn on a light) so that they actually wake up. I know that I’m famous for turning off the alarm, lying back for “just a second” (I tell myself), and waking up hours later.