Oakcastle HIFI200 CD player with Bluetooth and DAB+ radio |
Oakcastle HIFI200 CD player with Bluetooth and DAB+ radio | Built-in 60 Watt 2.0 Speakers, Compact Hifi Stereo System | AUX, MP3, Custom EQ, Remote Control, USB
| Dimensions: | 32.79 x 31.8 x 25.3 cm; 2.88 Kilograms |
| Model: | HIFI200 |
| Manufacture: | Majority |
| Dimensions: | 32.79 x 31.8 x 25.3 cm; 2.88 Kilograms |
| Origin: | China |
Oakcastle HIFI:200 Compact Micro CD HIFI Sound System for a Stunning Stereo Experience
The Oakcastle HIFI:200 is the latest Micro CD HiFi sound system from the Majority Audio design team in Cambridge. Its compactness is astonishing — the main unit measuring only 190 x 180 x 105mm in size, and each of the two separate speakers just 123 x 130 x 172mm, all weighing in at a mere 2.30kg. The complete system is therefore both small and discreet enough to be located unobtrusively on a windowsill, bookshelf, kitchen work surface or bedside table. Setting up is straightforward with clearly designated connections for speakers and mains supply. The remote control is attractively designed and includes two AAA batteries.
The Oakcastle comes with both DAB and FM radio and a CD player with CD-R and CD-RW compatibility. Over several days, I enjoyed listening to a wide choice of music, artists and radio output reflecting the full range of sound frequencies on radio and record. These included mainly rock, pop, jazz soul and classical together with some current affairs programmes and radio drama.
The small, 100mm cone diameter speakers are commendable for their crisp, distortion-free, immersive clarity of sound which can be further enhanced by five different equalisation modes and an X-Bass function to adjust the volume of different frequency bands within the audio signal and personalise the listening experience. From my location, with the fine wire aerial fully extended, I was able to scan a total of seventy-seven digital radio channels, all of which were improved by use of the equalisation and bass enhancement functions. A slight background hiss was audible in FM transmissions. I preferred the speaker stereo experience to that of my wired headphones.
The system includes Bluetooth 5.0 which both connects faultlessly and allows error-free streaming with compatible devices such as mobile phones and iPads. There are USB and Auxiliary ports for MP3 multiformat playback if required, and both worked reliably when tested.
The centre of the main unit includes a warm, orange, LCD multi-line information display panel (55 x 20mm) for detailed information about DAB programmes, CD tracking details and a digital clock for perfect timekeeping.
The twenty-two-page A3 Instruction Guide is beautifully produced and illustrated, with clear guidance and advice on using all aspects of the system to best advantage. Topics include, for example, using the remote control, setting the clock and alarm system, factory resetting, DAB radio scanning, pruning unavailable stations, guidance on Dynamic Range Compression, FM operation, radio station pre-set storage, CD, USB Auxiliary input and Bluetooth instructions. The warranty and support section provides guidance on activating the product’s three-year extended warranty and contacting the Majority Technical Team if required.
However, a battery compartment, located on the underside of the main unit, unmentioned in the instruction guide, and requiring two AA batteries (not included) is designed to retain power to the clock, alarm and timer memory which are lost whenever mains power is removed.
In summary, this is a versatile sound system which will provide a pleasurable stereo sound experience for every household.
For the size of the Oakcastle HIFI200 Micro System, the sound quality is excellent and being able to do so much from the remote control is very helpful. It was easy to set up but when I had a problem storing presets for DAB radio stations an email to the Support Desk was responded to very quickly and the problem resolved. I would highly recommend this compact system.
Very light in weight and small dimensions but good quality sound
The Oakcastle HIFI200 is a micro hi-fi system from Majority. It comes with a compact amplifier / CD player which measures about 180 x 180mm and about 105mm tall. The two speaker cabinets are also titchy at 130 wide x 125 deep x 170 high. This is a great little system which can fit neatly onto a bookshelf or unit without taking up masses of space.
At first, I set up my HIFI200 with the speakers directly on the left- and right-hand side of the amplifier. This was ok but once I had learned the unit’s functions, I positioned the little speaker cabinets apart so that they were equally spaced away from the amplifier. Wow, what a great difference. A full, lovely stereo sound from the neat, titchy Oakcastle HIFI200. It is a delicate beast with a big heart!
The unimposing amplifier unit delivers 60 watts of stereo sound and has some very useful functions. Firstly, you might wonder why a CD player? Well, if you are anything like me, I guess that there are still lots of people who have extensive dust collecting CD collections and who may be feeling a little taken over by technology. The HIFI200 gives you a valid excuse to give your collection an airing and experience those classic CDs again. It really is fun, try it. While writing this review My HIFI200 is knocking out some classic Eagles numbers. Who you say.? Well, everyone to their own!
The radio function includes FM and DAB+. I love the flexibility that DAB+ offers. The quality is so good. Its ok to have FM but DAB+ provides as many crystal clear, quality radio stations that you might ever need. The HIFI200 has a simple wire aerial which you can easily position to get the best available reception in your area.
You are not just restricted by CD or radio functions. The HIFI200 also offers Auxiliary and USB inputs. The USB function means that you can simply playback your favourite recordings from a memory stick.
It’s easy to overlook Bluetooth but the Oakcastle HIFI200 also offers the up to date function of Bluetooth 5. This, for example, means that you can also use the unit to playback from your mobile or computer. This is a great function. I like using this to playback from the likes of You Tube. Brilliant.
Although the HIFI200 is a compact and light little system it does have a good size clear LCD multi line display which allows you to easily see what you’re listening to or which functions you’re selecting.
For those who need it, the HIFI200 also allows timer and alarms functions.
Finally, I must not forget to mention the very useful remote control which allows you to operate the HIFI200 remotely and even offers some extra functions.
In short, a great little sound system with lots of functionality.
A British made product, would buy it again. Good quality sound and easy to use
There is nothing bad about the Hifi200 I have it in my workshop it looks good, sounds good and easy to set up.
A very basic CD player which does what it says ” on the tin” well enough considering the price, Would NOT recommend if you have a large living space.
I found i was quite annoyed by the fact that a factory tested ,brand new item , un opened could be faulty. Its quite embarassing giving a present to someone to find out this is the case. After replacing the faulty speakers i was actually suprised on how well the stereo performed and how good the audio quality was.
Im not trying to slate the seller of the item or the company of manufacture because im sure If i had more time i could have sent it back and had it replaced but it was a last minute buy.
It is not possible to comment on this product until after Christmas
It easy to use as I give it to an 82 year old
Sound reasonable, good features, slim and can be placed anywhere. Price competitive.
So compact, was easy to find space for it. Matched other items in the living room. Everything worked perfectly and the sound was amazing for such a small unit. Remote control was simple to use. Overall a great little unit. The price was amazing. Such great value for such a feature packed unit.
There are two negatives which do not affect the 5* rating. The first one is that because the unit is so light in weight, it moved whenever I pressed a button. This was so easily solved with the addition of a few Velcro dots underneath the unit. The second was that no matter how I tried, I could not connect any of my Bluetooth headphones/earbuds to the unit. No problems with the Bluetooth connectivity to all my other music players, eg, mp3 players, phones etc. Overall a brilliant, low budget, great build, very compact piece of kit. Very happy with it, and I would recommend it.
Enter the Oakcastle HIFI200 waving its hands up in the air, “pick me, pick me” I hear it saying.
At first glance, this unit’s spec sheet looks to tick those requirements and some more. From opening the box to taking the unit out, you can tell there is a lot of attention to detail that has gone into the design of this product. Even in terms of packaging, its minimalist but striking, the contents were spaced out yet still snug in the packing materials.
The whole thing is very light too, being almost entirely constructed of plastic, which always helps with placement of the unit. I wouldn’t have to worry about a shelf not being able to take the added weight or if I later decided to move it, no hassle there.
The fact that the speakers are separates, is always a plus point for me, it helps with the spatial aspect of the sound delivery, plus you can customise the distance to your liking or listening environment.
The orange LCD display portrays the required info well and is concise with just the right level of brightness.
Now for the most important part, the quality of the sound. For such a small package, the sound is quite decent, we are not talking professional or monitor quality audio here, but enough to keep the casual bedroom listener happy. Bass and Treble handled quite well. The packaging states a decent 60W of stereo sound, however the manual states 2ch x 5W.
I did notice the quality was much better when listening to CD Audio or USB MP3 audio as to that compared to the quality of the audio on DAB Radio channels, but this could just be down to the low bitrates used for encoding of the radio channels.
I was comfortably able to crank the volume up to its maximum threshold of 30 when listening to MP3 audio, however not the case for DAB Radio without serious distortion.
All in all, great for CD Audio, good for USB MP3 and Bluetooth Audio, not so great for all DAB Radio stations. The Remote is responsive and perfectly sized. I also used the Aux connector to use the speakers to amplify and playback sound from my laptop or use the unit to act as desktop PC speakers.
This is a sub 100pound unit so don’t expect Denon or Sony here, set your expectations right and you may be enjoying this little wonder for years to come.
One suggestion for improvement would be to have the headphones connector moved from the back of the unit to the front, it didn’t make sense to me, the Aux connector could happily go on the back.
I was looking for a new sound system for my Workshop aka The Man Cave aka The Bunker aka My Sanctuary!
I have a number of criteria for a sound system because:-
– I have quite a few cds and have no desire to resign them to the obsolete technology pile,
– I also have a number audio books on usb memory sticks,
– I also use audible through my phone on Bluetooth and
– I’m a big fan of Simon Mayo on Greatest Hits so wanted something with dab radio stations.
– oh in case I’m researching my next project from a reclining perspective (asleep!) I want a remote control and sleep feature.
Above all the connectivity features because I sometimes make workshop noises in my….workshop, I wanted something with a decent sound – no I’m not listening to the subtle sound textures of the classic 1974 Autobahn by Kraftwerk on vinyl but I do want to able to hear the words in an audio book and also some music tracks need to be played ‘loud’ like Renaissance’s Annie Haslem’s singing on the 1977 Novella cd, magical! Some compact cd dab radio systems look the part but sound like they are wired into empty baked bean cans but this is not the case with the Oakcastle, the sound is very good.
So I have a number of expectations in my sound system and priced at just under 80 from Amazon the Oakcastle presents as remarkable value for money.
In terms of connection possibilities it punches well above it’s weight the setup is simple and straightforward, yes I would have preferred an external aerial socket as well as the aerial wire, but it works very well anyway and for this price there has to be some compromises.
The display is crisp and clear, the sound is very good, nice and gravelly the stereo definition to my ear is good, again I would have preferred spring press sockets for the speakers, but the wiring for the included speakers work well and once plugged in they are plugged in, a price compromise but the speakers work very and there’s a extra bass button if you want extra gravel!
The remote control is a decent weight, sturdy and clearly laid out, with all the buttons that you need easily to hand and the buttons you might occasionally use available but out of harms reach (meaning that you won’t suddenly vaporise a chicken while searching for the ‘mute’ button [NB. There’s no vaporise button, but you know what I mean].
Oh and the Bluetooth was effortless to set up and i must mention that it was a delight to see the instruction guide written in plain English and only included the things that needed to know. Refreshingly simple and straightforward.
So, in conclusion the Oakcastle cd, dab, Bluetooth usb stereo represents excellent value for money the connectivity is superb, the sound is excellent, the set up is simple and it has a great remote, yes there are couple of compromises but the price is under 80 and all in all a great unit for the money.