background image

A u d i o   J o u r n a l

MicroSystem CD
Boston Acoustics
www.bostonacoustics.com
$499 in Charcoal or Polar White

What is it? The Boston Acoustics MicroSystem CD is a very stylish all in 
one music system that’s at home in an office or any reasonably sized room.

Oh, it’s a table radio

. Calling this system a table radio is like comparing a Ferrari to a municipal 

bus. The MicroSystem CD plays music and it plays it well. The slick, little credit card remote 
mimics most of the top mounted controls and operating the unit is quite intuitive. The slot loaded 
CD is hidden behind the display and a magnetic gap provides a handy-dandy storage place for 
the remote. Open the box, plug it in and listen…

Wow, this doesn’t sound like a table radio! 

I told you, this is not a table radio. The Micro 

System CD gets an amazing amount of musicality out of a very small enclosure. The sound is 
sweet and seductive, wholly devoid of harshness. The high end can actually be a bit subdued 
when listening to properly recorded classical guitar, for example.

Can it rock?

 Come on, this little Boston Acoustics unit only 

weighs 9 pounds. Still, the MicroSystem CD will put out a 
surprising amount of sound with great ease. On both large 
scale classical material and some fairly head-banging rock, 
the presentation was always controlled and full of impact. Of 
course, the laws of physics bend but they won’t break. Put it 
this way, the MicroSystem CD will play pretty much any 
music you like at sane, but not insane, decibel levels.

But what a radio it is! 

As much as I enjoy my CDs, what pleased 

me most about the MicroSystem CD was its amazing tuner 
section. Oh I know that this is the age of XM Radio and iPods 
(though iPods will feed the MicroSystem CD just fine) and all the 
rest, but I still like listening to plain, old radio. The tuner on this 
Boston Acoustics model is among the best I have ever used, and I 
have used some very expensive tuners. Best of all, its great 
balance of sensitivity versus selectivity is had with the use of the 
very simple antennas supplied by Boston. Distant stations or 
smaller stations prone to drift are 

locked 

in. My guess is that 

Boston borrowed some of the tuner technology from their superb 
Recepter table radio for the MicroSystem CD to great effect.

Everything, all in one box!

 The 

MicroSystem CD has not replaced my 
reference system, but it was never 
intended to. Still, I can imagine many 
listeners using it as a main system 
and enjoying their music for years to 
come. Boston has a winner here: the 
MicroSystem CD is elegant in look 
and sound. It has a smoothness that 
calms the soul and never sounds 
small or forced. For less than $500, 
both convenience and music are your 
reward. 

Highly recommended

.

© copyright 2005 Paul Cervantes / Ultralinear

subscribe:
[email protected]

email:
[email protected]

Reviews: