Yamaha MCR-B020BL Micro Component System,Black

The Yamaha MCR-B020BL Micro Component System lives up to its name. It’s so compact and light enough that it can sit on top a dresser with space to spare. The MCR-B020BL is very simple to use. Bluetooth connects well with my iPhone; the CD plays wonderfully, and AM/FM is clear and clean music and vocals. The layout and design portray simple elegant functionality: Play/Pause, Stop, FFWD, RWD, Eject, Power, and Source (CD, radio, AUX, USB, or Bluetooth). There is a USB port on top (with tab cover when not in use) for Flash Drives and a headphone jack. The large dial in front is for Volume Control. Hookup is easy with black and red insert tabs for the wires in the back from the center stereo unit to the speakers and the AM and FM antennas. Keep the twist ties in place to prevent a tangle of wires. Power startup and play is fast…there is no noticeable delay. The bright blue LED is clear, clean, bright, simple, fast, and can be seen from across a small room. It displays and pertinent information immediately or in scrolling form from left to right. The remote has all the needed buttons and functionality for ease of use. It’s very slim, light, and ergonomically feeling and takes a circular watch battery for longer lasting shelf life. Pressing the buttons gave immediate stereo function response and one doesn’t even need to point the remote at the Yamaha if in a small room. There is also an Alarm and Snooze/Sleep button, but I didn’t try that feature. The mini speakers are smaller than competitors so one might have to angle them to produce the best sound quality. These aren’t your powerhouse speakers so one shouldn’t judge them as such. Vocals are clear and concise and allows for mono or stereo play. I heard no static and no electronic hum or background buzz from the speakers when playing music or when the unit is turned off. Overall, this is an excellent micro stereo system with all the necessary components included. Setup is simple and fast and music quality matches the small size. Everything works and response time is quick with no interference. Remote control and Bluetooth connectivity was solid for me, working as advertised. I have experienced no poor quality issues so far.

Just reading a few reviews on this product, it's clear that opinions about devices that reproduce sound vary greatly. For me, this meets my criteria. Sound quality, price, design, reliability. The sound is very good to excellent. Some say it's boomy or too bassy. I didn't find that and I'm not a fan of too much bass but this can pump it if you like. I prefer a balanced sound so I didn't need to much tweak the only settings you can which are HIGH MID LOW. I have a musical background, and this is quite nice to my ear. We have a YAMAHA piano and other products so hopefully the quality is still reliable. The display can scroll the USB data details in three ways if you prefer artist, album, song but not all three at the same time. You choose one. That's fine as I prefer the minimalist look and the design sports only the controls you need. No flashing LEDs dancing to colors here, if you want that you need to look elsewhere. So far it compares very closely to another popular but much more expensive brand we also own except this has more features and we both agree the audio quality is better. So is the price, by far. This offers several more features and not as add-ons for a even higher price. We wanted Bluetooth 4 and it works perfectly, just a bit tricky the first time you page down the options menu to find it and then turn it on (a bit convoluted - you could mistakenly think it's not working) but if you are able to read and follow instructions you'll get it and once done, it's flawless from there on. We like it very much but time will tell and I'll update if necessary.

My son has recently become interested in music, and has been listening to local radio stations on his clock radio when getting ready for school in the morning, and before bed at night. The last few months have demonstrated that this is more than a passing phase, so we decided to get him an actual stereo for his birthday. We wanted something relatively small, with radio / CD / Bluetooth, with two speakers, and decent enough sound to last him from his pre-teens through college - or whenever he was old enough to appreciate the sound of a better system, and go earn enough money to buy one. I had no idea what mini component systems cost nowadays, but I did have a budget in mind of around $100-200. I was willing to spend less if stereos had become such a commodity that good ones could be had for a song, or perhaps a bit more if I found a significantly better "adult" model that would really last him for a long time. As it turns out, cheap stereos are cheap, and good stereos are expensive. Surprisingly, there wasn't much competition in the segment of the market where this Yamaha MCR-B020BL model sits. There were a lot of lower-end models that had similar specs for around half the price as the Yamaha. The ones I saw in-person had a you-get-what-you-pay-for sound and build quality, with commensurate reviews online. Most of those also seemed to have a 1980s, bigger-is-better boom box motif that favored excessively large plastic parts and garish aesthetics designed for impressing impressionable onlookers with their heft. On the other end of the spectrum, there were small units for more discerning listeners - and even veritable audiophiles - with audio capabilities that increased linearly, and price tags that increased exponentially. In the sweet spot where I was looking, there were really only two stereos to choose from: this Yamaha MCR-B020, and the Onkyo CS-265. The Yamaha seemed to be a new model at the time I was shopping, so I found no reviews of it. After reading the user manuals for both the Yamaha and Onkyo, and reading many reviews of the latter, I ultimately chose the Yamaha for a variety of factors that I won't itemize here. I will, however, include my list of pros and cons for the Yamaha MCR-B020: PROS + Great value, as measured by functionality and build quality relative to the sale price, as one would expect of a Yamaha audio product + Small size; big enough enclose its functional parts, without excess + Two speakers that you can place right next to the receiver for an all-in-one look, or separate more widely for a better stereo experience + FM / AM radios, with antennas. Note that the North American model does have an AM radio, even though some descriptions of the unit say that it's FM-only. + CD player (1 disc) + Bluetooth connectivity - and Bluetooth 4.0, in particular. I wanted a stereo system that my son could use for playing songs from his tablet. We have all of our CDs ripped to our mobile devices, and he's also discovered YouTube and Pandora. I've been a long-time Bluetooth hater due to its abysmal performance in many of my personal and work devices, but since Bluetooth 4 came out, I've changed my tune. I specifically wanted a stereo with Bluetooth 4, and this one has it. + Remote control, including sleep timer and alarm. I wanted to set the stereo up across the room, facing the bed, for listening in the morning and night. The remote makes it easy to enjoy when lounging in bed, as do the sleep timer and wake-up alarm feature. + Large enough display screen to use as a clock. When playing music, the words on the display are too small to be read from across the room. This is fine, and reasonable for a compact system such as this. Fortunately, when you turn the stereo off, the entire display turns into a large clock which is easily visible from across the room. This feature allowed us to reclaim some of the limited shelf space that was being occupied by a clock radio and repurpose it for housing this stereo. + Simple controls. This is particularly true of the onboard buttons and dials; they're appropriately simple, and obvious for a child or non-technical person to use. Note, however, that many of the features are available from the remote only. I find the remote easy-to-use too, but just realize that you'll need to hang on to the remote, even if you don't use it frequently, to do things like auto-program the tuner. + 1/8" stereo and USB inputs. You can also connect devices via a 1/8" stereo port on back, or a USB port on top. We probably won't use these much, given the availability of the Bluetooth connectivity, but I like to have a wired option on all of my speakers/receivers, just in case. I'm sure this stereo will outlast the current Bluetooth spec, if not Bluetooth itself, and it'll be nice to be able to use it as a general-purpose audio amplifier in the distant future. CONS - Boomy bass. My only real complaint about the MCR-B020 is that it has that typical ported-speaker, boomy bass sound. There's a lot of low / low-mid sound, but it's muddy. Yamaha does a fine job of coaxing a decent sound out of a single, affordable 4" driver in each speaker, but physics ultimately how good the system is going to sound. This is a great stereo for what it is, and fits perfectly with our intended application / budget. If you're looking for hi-fi performance, though, you're going to have to spend more. - No RDS or manual labeling for radio stations. Our big receiver in living room allows us to label the tuner presets with the station name / call letters / etc. so we see those instead of the frequency when scrolling through stations. It's a nice feature that I wish the MCR-B020 had, but not a big deal that it's absent. - Black only, in North America. The MCR-B020 seems to come in several colors, but apparently the North American model is available in black only, at least at the time of purchase. Again, it looks like this model is brand new right now, so maybe the options will broaden as time goes on. - Mono-only when manual tuning. Per the documentation, the FM tuner only yields a mono output when manually tuning. For whatever reason, you need to use preset tuning to get stereo output. Over the past few weeks, it seems that we use the preset tuning almost exclusively. So, in practice, this isn't an issue (for us). I was just caught off-guard by this limitation, and figured I'd mention it here. Overall, the Yamaha MCR-B020 is a great stereo system for the price. It's feature-rich and solidly-built, yet still simple to use and affordable. The sound is big (albeit a bit bassy) and the physical size is small. It's by far the best of the entry-level systems that I tried (though I didn't get to hear an Onkyo CS-265 in person). At this price point, the market for mini component stereo systems is pretty thin, with more options to be had in the cheaper and the more expensive segments. Fortunately, the MCR-B020 finds a sweet spot that meets our son's needs today, and will certainly find a use as a secondary system as he grows into better audio equipment over the years. I would recommend this stereo unreservedly to others with similar needs.

I'm happy with this purchase, it was really easy to set up right out of the box and the sound is excellent for the price point. Its footprint is pretty small, so perfect for small spaces. The remote is not very stylish, but the unit itself is sleek, yet discreet and not too ostentatious, it would fit in any decor without becoming a focal point (tech, in my opinion, should blend in and not distract from your overall decor). The buttons are easy to understand and well laid out, this unit would be a good fit for those who are a little less tech-savvy, but still want to enjoy clear sounds, without too many complicated bells and whistles to adapt to. This one has a good balance of features, quality and price point.

Well, this is one component system which is much better in sound than bose, and is fairly priced. If you are looking for something with a punch in bass, this is not for you. This has a very crystal clear sound, fairly balanced treble and base, in all, an excellent purchase. Go for it if you are looking for something in mid range for a small / medium sized room. Please note that this is not a home theater system, so, do not try to compare with them. Yamaha lives up to the expectation with the sound quality delivered, seamless connectivity through bluetooth. FM reception is very clear.

Pros- Good built with aesthetics/Good mid range with fair highs/Room filling sound/Moderately good BT connectivity/Good for bedroom or a 150-200 sqft/VFM Cons- Sometimes bass is a little boomy/FM reception is not smooth(may be due to the fact that we live in a bungalow with multi storied all around)/Connectivity with wires is definitely better than bluetooth 4.0.

I really do like this unit. The sound is wonderful and I find the options for input and output are very good. It has an AUX port where I can connect my TV output. It has a Headphone output so I can connect a bluetooth transmitter and play audio to my JBL Bluetooth speaker out in the back yard. It also has a USB port where I've placed about 24GB of music MP3s that I can play from there and also broadcast to an external speaker. It has the Bluetooth receiver so I can play music and audio from my phone or tablet. The AM FM audio is excellent and you can have up to 30 presets for each of the 2 radio bands. The one hiccup that the unit has is that it loses its preset stations every three days. It's not difficult to re-program and that can be done automatically but it is annoying to have to do that over and over again . Overall the preset issue is the only downside to this unit. It's very good, excellent audio, great connectivity. A great brand!

Un bon petit appareil, qui ne prends pas trop de place et est esthétique. J’ai réussi à le programmer sans manuel d’instruction. Le son est bon et il est simple à comprendre et la manette encore plus. Ce que j’ai moins aimé, c’est qu’il faut programmer les postes de radio seulement à partir de la manette, il n’est pas possible via l’appareil direct. Alors si un jour la manette se perd ou se brise et qu’il faut reprogrammer, ce sera moins amusant. Sinon, je suis satisfaite du produit dans l’ensemble.