Why You Can Trust CNET Philips MCD515/37 review: Philips MCD515/37
Philips MCD515: affordable A/V minisystem Dek: When all the electronics news is devoted to iPods and HDTVs, sometimes it's easy to forget that technology like A/V minisystems even exist. That's too bad, because the latest wave of minisystems--including the Philips MCD515--include DVD playback as well as the standard CD and AM/FM/tape functions. How does Philips compare to the competition?
When most consumer electronics news is devoted to iPods and HDTVs, sometimes it's easy to forget that technology like A/V minisystems even exist. That's too bad, because even though it's old technology, sometimes it's just the right component for a bedroom or den. Take the Philips MCD515: It isn't the most attractive unit, but its DVD/CD player is more than adequate for late-night bedroom movie watching. It's also got a few extras--DivX playback, MP3/WMA support, and a tape deck--that are useful add-ons, even if you don't use them all the time. You can get better-sounding (LG LF-D7150), more fully featured (JVC UX-G70), or better-looking (Philips MCD702) A/V minisystems, but the MCD515 is a well-rounded unit that does everything pretty well--and sounds pretty good--for a very reasonable price.
Philips MCD515/37
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Design
The MCD515 is a standard three-part shelf system: a center receiver/head unit with two detachable stereo speakers. The predominately silver/gray receiver unit isn't exactly eye-catching, but it's far from an eyesore. Toward the bottom of the unit is a vertically mounted cassette tape deck. Above that are a couple of simple disc and tape transport controls for playback, as well as a prominent volume wheel. Further up is an LCD screen that's easily readable from a reasonable distance. The single-disc DVD/CD drive is on the unit's top side.
The remote is slightly cluttered for our taste. While important buttons like Play, Stop, and Volume control are slightly larger than less important buttons, they aren't differentiated enough to be able to navigate by touch easily. There are also some serious button-placement issues. For example, the Mute button is small and placed in an array of many other lesser used buttons--not the place for a button you often want to get to in a hurry. It's not a terrible remote, but we have slightly higher standards considering that it doesn't really make sense to replace it with a universal remote costing a third of the price of the minisystem.
The two speakers are each 6.7 inches wide, 9.9 inches high, and 8.4 inches deep, and are made of particle board with an imitation rosewood finish. Each features a piezo tweeter and a 4-inch woofer. Speaker wire is included, and because the receiver unit and speakers use standard spring-loaded connectors, you can substitute your own if you need longer runs.
Features
The two main media-playing devices are the DVD/CD player and the tape deck. The disc player is also capable of handling MP3, WMA, and DivX files on home-burned CDs and DVDs. Of course, there's also an AM/FM tuner, along with included antennas. The tape deck is capable of recording from the CD player, the radio tuner, or the auxiliary input.
Connectivity is pretty average for a minisystem. For video, you get the same component video, S-Video, and composite video outputs you'd find on a standard DVD player, so you can connect the MCD515 to virtually any television. And while the all-in-one system is designed to play through its connected stereo speakers, there is some flexibility available: optical and digital coaxial outputs let you connect to an outboard receiver if you'd like to get true surround from your DVDs. There's also a set of analog RCA outputs, as well as matching input--perfect for connecting an iPod or a video game console (or any other external device) to listen to with the MCD515's speakers. The only front panel connection is a standard 1/8-inch headphone jack.
An important note regarding the component video output is that you must change the "Component" setting in the Video portion of the System menu from "S-Video" to "Component" for it to work properly. We expect component video to work out of the box without any tweaking, and we imagine plenty of people are going to be confused about this. See our note in the Tips and Tricks section for more information.
Disc compatibility was solid, with the MCD515 handling all but the most difficult discs in our test suite. It handled DivX files on CDs and DVDs, as well as a DVD full of MP3s. We did have some audio issues with one of the DivX files, but the other three files worked perfectly.
Performance
Overall video performance was notably worse than standalone DVD players we've tested, but about average when compared to other similarly priced A/V minisystems with built-in DVD players. First, we used Silicon Optix's HQV test suite, and the MCD515 failed almost all the tests. Most of the tests were full of jaggies and artifacts, the only bright spot being its ability to handle scrolling titles competently. It did not pass the full resolution of DVDs in progressive mode. Next, we switched to Star Trek: Insurrection, where the MCD515 demonstrated that it did have 2:3 pull-down processing, as the bridge and hulls on the boats in the opening sequence were rendered cleanly. In fact, considering how poorly it faired during the HQV test, we were a little surprised by how competently it handled this DVD. We also watched the opening of Seabiscuit, where we saw more of the jaggies that were present in test patterns.
Of course, plenty of people--if not the overwhelming majority--will find the performance to be perfectly acceptable, especially if they're viewing on smaller (less than 30-inch) TVs. Just don't expect the built-in DVD player to perform as well as better standalone units. Considering how poorly the player handled deinterlacing tests, it may be worthwhile for HDTV owners to set the component video output for an interlaced signal instead of a progressive signal (see the Tips and Tricks section for more details).
Sound-quality performance was pretty good compared to the competition. We listened to the MCD515 along with several other similar systems--the Philips MCD702, the JVC UX-G70, and the LG LF-D7150. Listening to Jimi Hendrix's Axis: Bold as Love, the MCD515 easily bested the MCD702, doing a decent job of recreating Hendrix's distinctive tone. While the LG LF-D7150 definitely won the matchup outright because of its superior bass output, we thought the MCD515 had a slight edge over the JVC UX-G70, although the sound difference between them was close enough to chalk up to preference. While we have to mention that none of these minisystems come near what we would call good audio, the MCD515 is certainly a worthy contender given the lowered expectations of minisystems and its low price.
We switched over to DVDs to test the MCD515's home theater capabilities. Firing up King Kong, we watched several scenes and compared it to the MCD702. Again, the MCD515 easily came out on top, delivering much more natural-sounding dialogue. Kong sounded fiercer, and we were able to lose ourselves more easily in the theater experience.
In the final analysis, the Philips MCD515 compares favorably to its slightly more expensive sibling, the MCD702. Yes, the latter model boasts some stunning good looks and a second auxiliary input, but the MCD515 sounds better, plays DivX videos, and--for those who still need one--includes a tape deck.