Sony MHC-M20 High Power Audio System w/ Bluetooth & CD

Let’s get this out of the way first, I’m not sure what Sony considers to be “high power” but at a rated 35-watts per channel the Sony MHC-M20 High Power Audio System CD Sound won't blow you out of the room. Let’s be honest, 35-watts per channel simply isn’t “high power.” (Unless, of course it is being compared to the audio output of an iPad.) In the “good old days” a 35-watt amplifier was considered to be low or possibly mid power. (Sony marketing strikes again.) Not that you can’t get some decent volume out of the system. At two feet away from both speakers with full volume I measured a peak of 94 dB on my calibrated sound meter. For reference that’s roughly the same sound level as a gas lawnmower. The Sony MHC-M20 has a built-in CD player (after all, this is Sony) and FM tuner (but no AM capability) a USB input, it supports Bluetooth and has an auxiliary jack (stereo RCA connectors on the back.) It has the obligatory remote control, a microphone input if you are into karaoke or just want to annoy your family, but, strangely, no headphone jack. The Sony MHC-M20 system consists of a main unit and two individual speakers. The main unit is very lightweight almost troublingly so. Obviously there can’t be much of a power supply inside. However, to its credit Sony eschewed the all too common external power brick in favor on an internal power supply. That was nice to see. The controls on the front panel are not laid out in a particularly logical manner. For example, some of the CD controls (Open/Close, Track) are on the right side of the unit while others (Play, Stop, Pause) are on the left side. The lettering on the front panel is the dreaded gray on black. Why Sony thinks that the much harder to see gray on black is a good idea instead of the, say, more readable white on black is hard to say. The speakers are made from plastic with thin pressboard on the backs. They are 2-way bass reflex speakers with a 2” cone tweeter and an 8” woofer. The speakers in my system have consecutive serial numbers. I liked seeing that. However, plastic and pressboard are not great materials for speakers. This, in part, makes the speakers to be the weakest part of the system. I’m on the fence about audio system break-in time. However, I do grant that break-in could affect the speaker’s sound quality. Therefore, I gave the system several hours of continuous playing at high level (but below distortion) to allow it to “break-in.” Some might argue for several days of break-in as opposed to several hours, but I felt that several hours was enough. To gauge the audio quality, I listened to several sources including known high quality CDs, FM broadcasts and, most importantly, an auxiliary feed from my studio DAC. The source material from the DAC was high quality, uncompressed audio files. I did not test or engage any of the system’s audio “features” including Sony’s questionable “Megabass.” What I heard was reasonable sound but definitely not audiophile (not that Sony sells the system as an audiophile system.) When I first listened to the Sony MHC-M20 I heard bass that was definitely mushy and boomy. However after “break-in” the bass had evened out. Maybe there is something to this break-in stuff. The worst part of the sound was distortion. Sony claims in their specifications that the system has 0.7% harmonic distortion from 250 milliwatts to full power. I’m not buying that. I didn’t measure it, but to my ears I heard distortion that I suspect far exceeds that 0.7% specification. So did Sony lie? Not exactly. The 0.7% is likely measured at the amplifier output (speaker jacks.) It doesn’t account for distortion in the speakers that, to my ears, is noticeable. And here’s the problem. Sony is selling the MHC-M20 as a system. While I applaud Sony for including the specs (most manufacturers don’t bother anymore,) the specs should include everything in the system including speakers. As it stands, the Sony MHC-M20 would make a reasonable audio system for casual or background listening. It would work in an office or a bedroom, but won’t replace your home theater or component audio system. It certainly has plenty of flexibility in the inputs offered by the system. However, largely due to the low quality speakers, it can’t be considered as a serious audio system. Oh those speakers! The Sony MHC-M20 has non-standard speaker connectors so it isn’t easy to try changing speakers. However I am sorely tempted to do just that. I may just take my wire cutters and splice in some good 35-watt capacity speakers to see if system takes off and sounds great. But please don’t tell Sony.