Yamaha MCRE300 Review

“Well the Yamaha MCR-E300 is by far the best micro...”

Written on: 15/05/2003 by Rab.

Good Points
Excellent Sound-Speaker finish-Classy looking (high wife appeal)

Bad Points
No Mute or CD Eject button on remote

General Comments
Well the Yamaha MCR-E300 is by far the best micro system I have owned, and I've owned a few.

If sound is the most important thing to you, then this system will blow you away. The clarity, depth and quality of reproduction of original CDs is very impressive. Don't be fooled by the 25W/Channel power rating, this unit pumps out more sound than the Panasonic SC-PM28 that is rated at 140W. And the great thing about it is that it does so with amazing clarity and very clean sound.

The unit is basic, ie. No tape deck, single CD, no fancy display and the basic audio controls are all manual (Volume, bass, balance and treble).

The black piano finish on the speakers and the gold (not ugly gold) finish on the system itself is very pleasing in classy settings (the wife loved the look of it).

My only drawbacks on this system are the exclusion of Mute and CD Eject buttons on the remote. And also, less importantly, when changing the volume from the remote, the Volume knob on the system rotates but is a little noisy (the motor that drives the knob is a little noisy).

Apart from those two minor things, I really cannot recommend any other system that is better than this for this amount of money. If you plan to use it in a large room, it has a Sub out so you can add a separate Subwoofer, although I haven't yet found a need for that myself.

I have used numerous micro systems from Sony, Panasonic and Technics but now I am a big Yamaha fan. And believe me, you will be too when you listen to it.

Price paid: $570 CAD (aprox $390 US)