Sony CMTSPZ90DAB -

Saying I was extremely disappointed would be an understatement. My previous Sony lasted 10 years, and 3 international moves through the postal system. Never a problem. This one I returned within 2 days.

We only tested the DAB radio and FM receiver. The spot we placed the stereo received perfect reception from our little portable DAB radio (only a fraction of the cost). In contrast, the stereo seemed to find the DAB stations in the area (the scanning worked) but when it came to actually playing the stations - nothing! We tried to extend the aerial all the way through the house, but no improvement.

Next, we tried the FM tuner. There was better success in being able to tune in to stations, but there was an enormous amount of interference, and so the sound was crackly/hissy. Annoying to say the least.

Trying again the next day, we had no improvement, and so we packed the stereo back in the box and returned it to the retailer. As such, we didn't test the tape deck or the CD player.

There was a small amount of reluctance from the retailer to refund us on the basis of "the DAB radio didn't work" - even asking if we had plugged the aerial in!! He relented, claiming "I'll have to take your word that the DAB doesn't work, as I can't test it in the store because we don't have DAB reception". Funny that - we went literally a 2 minute walk to a competitor around the corner, and their products (not Sony) had a decent DAB reception - you could hear the stations clearly! While I appreciate that DAB reception can have localised black spots, in this case I believe product quality could have been the major contributing factor.

My advice: avoid this product! There are enough other options on the market.