Panasonic SC-DM502-K Premium Stereo System With DAB+ and Bluetooth Connection, Black

This is the third of these all-in-one's I've tried, having previously tried and returned both the Panasonic SC-DM202EG-K and Pure Classic C-D6. I returned these as the sound was poor on the former and bluetooth connection temperamental on the latter. I'd say this is the pick of the bunch, which given the higher cost it should be, but it's still not ideal.On all three, the radio reception was poor (the Pure was best, but was nowhere near as good as my old Phillips DAB radio was before it conked). I even bought a telescopic ariel, but that fared even worse than the wire ariel Panasonic provided. We do live at the bottom of a valley, and reception is poor at the best of times, so other people may fare better. I'm not bothered: I already have good FM on my main hi fi and can stream internet radio to this with Bluetooth.Of the three, this has the best sound. It's crystal clear, especially from CD or using a hi res Walkman via Bluetooth. The bass isn't great, though the clarity and vibrance does compensate you for this. You can improve it with the settings, but it's still not going to shake the room! If you're buying this as your main hi fi and listen to lots of bass heavy music, you may well be better looking elsewhere (none of these three had amazing bass); the Majority Quadriga has a built in subwoofer, though I've not tested it (I'm not keen on the disc insertion method on that).The Bluetooth works very well and I liked that you can change the settings for it (being able to switch between a high quality priority/high connectivity priority AND being able to make it louder, at the possible cost of quality). I've had no connectivity issues so far and it pairs with other devices very quickly, then re-connects almost instantly.I've not been able to test the USB function as it fails to recognize either of the flash drives I have. I've tried formatting them correctly, to Fat32 (quick format turned off) and it still says "Unsupported" when I try to connect one of them. I'll have to try getting another one. That said, though, with it being able to read MP3 discs, that isn't so much of a problem. I did manage to get them working with the Pure model, but that had awful navigation of USB sticks. I'll update this review when I manage to get a USB working.The remote is simple and effective, I actually like how easy it is to use. It also feels of better quality and more durable quality than the one provided with either of the other models.There aren't any instructions, other than the silly quick start guide. I managed to download the PDF of the full instructions and printed it out (it only needs 10 pages, if you print on both sides).One annoying thing... the insides are supposed to be fancy and wooden, to improve the acoustics, so why make the outer case a stark, and IMO somewhat dated-looking, metal? I mean, it looks nice enough, but it would have looked so much nicer in a nice wooden case...I'd say if an all in one is what you want, and want something simple that has good vibrant and clear sound, this is probably the best to get. I'm happy with it, streaming radio, music and podcasts from my laptop at my desk. It's also good for lying in bed and listening to a CD or my Walkman on. I find it very very relaxing!UPDATE:I managed to get the DAB working flawlessly (all stations we get) by extending the in-box ariel with some decent coaxial cable and sticking it at the top of the wall closest to our nearest transmitter. FM also works fairly well, with local stations being very clear. I did read one person complaining that the presets required going into menus to get to them, but they don't. That is to set it up, once you've set them up you simply go up/down through the presets. (20 for DAB and 30 for FM.)I also got the USB working using some Sandisk Cruzer Blade USB 2.0 32GB sticks (which worked with it out of the box). Navigation is somewhat cumbersome, you have to move up/down through the albums on each drive one at a time. It shows them in folder order, though, so does group artists together. There is also the option (in the Play Mode setting, accessed with the Play Menu) to shuffle the current album or shuffle the entire stick, which is userful as a sort of juke box of your favorite albums.Anyway, I'm still very glad I got it. It's got by far the best sound of the three I tested, is very quick to learn and natural to operate once you're used to it. Still would have preferred a wooden outer case, but I'm considering getting some wood effect vinyl wrap for it...NOTE: Make sure you buy a spare remote (N2QAYB001215) or a cheap one on Amazon as you can't work the system without one.

I've had a Ruark R4 for over 10 years. It's been brilliant but recently the cd drive stopped working. When I first bought it in 2008 I had problems with the cd and after contacting the company about it they brought me a new one. So this one has now failed and I needed to replace it. Looking online the new R4 is around £700 which I'm not prepared to shell out in these uncertain times when any of us could lose our jobs. So I started looking around for a similar system to replace it.After a lot of searching the Panasonic SC DM502 came up but strangely there were no reviews of it and no one seemed to sell it. It launched this year in February just as the Coronavirus pandemic was beginning. Maybe everything shut down before it went into shops. Anyway it was available here on Amazon and after reading the specifications on the Panasonic website I decided to give it a go. It's only just over £200 so thought worth a try and if I didn't like it I could send it back.I'm pleased to say it's a lovely piece of kit. A little smaller than the Ruark it has more capabilities as you can use Bluetooth to stream from your phone, a cd player, DAB radio and alternate inputs for other devices.There are various sound presets which you can choose depending on your preference and you can also alter the bass and treble. The sound is very good and natural as it has a wooden case. It's not something you would buy if you want to host banging raves in your home but for everyday use the sound is very clear and crisp and has a good bass end as well. If you want a pleasant room filling sound then I definitely recommend the SC DM502, it's good value for money.The only reason I haven't given it five stars is because the supplied aerial is one of those wiry things you're supposed to tape to the wall. There's no way I'm taping an aerial to my paintwork. So I took the steel retractable aerial off my old Ruark and attached it to the connection on the back. It's the same screw-on connection and it works perfectly. I don't see why Panasonic couldn't have included a proper aerial, it would have cost next to nothing.Apart from this gripe I'm very happy with it, it's a good and cheaper replacement for the Ruark for the time being...