Philips FWM377/05 Shelf System

I was recently looking for a new stereo system for my lounge so of course started by looking through some of the offers on ebay, when I found this system.

I have checked other reviews online by other users and experts, and I can tell you the reviews are very good, so went ahead and purchased it about 3 weeks ago.

The system was well packaged and easy to set up, although the length of the speaker cables are a little bit short (approx 2 meters) but that is where the grumbles end.

It has a 3 cd changer, RDS radio (not digital), USB input, Aux input (DVD movies sound great through the speakers as do TV programmes etc from for eg. a sky box.) and a tape player.

I would have to start by saying the quality and power of sound is quite simply superb from a system costing just 87 pounds. I was gobsmacked quite frankly. Deep adjustable bass and pre-set equaliser settings help inhance listening as well as an Incredible Surround feature which makes the speakers sound further apart than they are (great for movies and TV).

It has an easily automatic set up radio (RDS) and presets up to 40 stations depending on how many you can get in your area. You get an FM aerial and a MW arial to help with the signal quality.

The cd draw takes 3 cds at a time and you can change a disc while another is still playing. It also has all the usual features you would want as in shuffle, programme etc.

Tape deck is fine with all usual features, although I am not really sure how many people are really bothered about having a tape deck any more.

One really neat trick of this machine though has to be the USB input. Simply drag and drop your downloaded music onto a USB stick on your PC, plug it into the front of the machine and away you go. Reading of the USB is almost instant. The instructions recommend that you put no more than 400 songs into the machine but that is more than enough. This USB feature also has all the features of the cd player pretty much like shuffle, fast search, repeat etc.

Of course with the USB in the machine you can record from any other input, so you can rip your cds instantly, record content from old tapes, record from radio or even from film or TV (via the Aux input).

Taking everything into account this really is a fantastic piece of kit. It looks great, speakers look great, sound quality is really good (you can feel the bass in your tummy and through your feet!) and it has all the features you would want in a mini system for a budget price.

By the way, the Philips FWM387, is in Argos for 190 pounds, and although the front of it is slightly different its basically the same machine.

This is the first review I have ever done, so my appologies if its rubbish, but if you were thinking about getting the FWM377 then I hope it helps, and if you do buy one, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

All the best, Paul Donoghue.