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restorer-john

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was there a golden era of such systems as techmoan states? Any ones to look for? (@restorer-john: do you know if these Sonys were decent for what they were?)

There were some lovely mini/micro systems from the likes of Panasonic, Yamaha, Denon, Onkyo and Sony. I was selling some around 1998-2000 and there was one I can't think of, a Sony, which had fabulous performance and a built in mini disc, but much nicer than the one pictured above. All aluminium front panels and knobs and great speakers.

The Panasonic SCPM-1 started the really good sound micro/mini systems for Matsushita, and they produced a ton of gorgeous sounding products for quite a number of years through the 'lifestyle' period.

But the one I would track down is the TEAC Reference 500 series. They are true miniature and very high quality, absolutely beautiful components, fully separate, aluminium panelled, remote operation etc. And they made a cassette deck, mini disc, CD player, Tuner etc. There is also a few nice receivers.

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https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffnt&q=teac+reference+500+series&atb=v108-1&iax=images&ia=images

https://www.gumtree.com/p/stereo-systems/teac-reference-500-hifi-system/1399908972 (in the UK and has a mini disc (faulty) with it)
 
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In case anyone is interested or considering something similar, I ended up going with a seemingly little used Arcam Solo Mini. I had limited options as I am in the States and we never got the good stuff but I am quite happy to be able to get both a tuner and cd player in a reasonably small package. The main reason I bought this particular unit is because it measures well above spec all around, providing 42W instead of 25W at 8ohm for example. While this was a popular unit, Arcam really didn't relay just how good it was with respect to the competition, probably as it measures better than the more expensive Solo, at the cost of a few watts. I am excited to give it a spin when I receive it and before I give it away in order to hear what $350 got me.

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Arcam Solo Mini SINAD measurements (from the great audio.com.pl):

29283-max_arcam_lab_03.jpg

Cambridge Audio CXA60 + CXC combo, another combo I was strongly considering:
YWRkPTUyMng1MjJ4ZmZmZmZm_src_41532-cambridge_audio_cxc_cxa60_fot1.png

41545-cambridge_audio_cxa60_lab3.jpg

For fun, SIMAUDIO Moon CD.5 + i.5:
55893-simaudio-moon-cd-5i-5-audiocompl.jpg

28197-max_simaudio_i-5_lab03.jpg
 
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bogart

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If I had to guess, this built was when Arcam was the version of itself their stories refer to :) really glad you found something suitable! Handsome design doesn’t look dated either.
 

Yasuo

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Sony CMT-SBT100B
Panasonic SC-PM250EB-S Panasonic SC-PMX92EB-K
Philips BTM2310
SHARP XL-B515D

There are many models with nice looks and specs (at least on paper), like Teac, LG, Technics, Denon...
 
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