Roberts Sound 200 review

A versatile all-in-one worth seeking out a deal on Tested at £300

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

A versatile all-in-one worth seeking out a deal on

Pros

  • +

    High feature count

  • +

    nice design

  • +

    fair sound

Cons

  • -

    Can be a touch boomy in the bass and fizzy in the treble

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.

The Roberts Sound 200 is a classy piece of equipment.

Its curved, piano-gloss black case and bright blue display all look the part, and its features shelf is also well stocked thanks to DAB and FM tuners, a dock for iDevices, SD card slot, USB socket for external drives, CD player and alarm function.

You can also record content from CD and radio to SD cards or USB drives – a nice touch.

It’s easy enough to get to grips with, too, and is helped no end by its quirky remote control. This is a horizontally configured wand, held much like a games controller, and provides a welcome departure from the run-of-the-mill, wafer-thin plastic-fest devices such as this often come with.

Roberts Sound 200

Roberts Sound 200: Sound qualityBlasting BBC Radio 3 (well, as much as it can be blasted), we were impressed by the 200’s weight – it’s a bassy sound, and would do a decent job of filling a medium-sized room.

Separation between instruments is fair, if not the most finessed, but things break down a little in the upper reaches of the frequency range.

Harmonically it’s restrained somewhat, and doesn’t dig up quite as much tonal variation as we’d hoped – a trait that’s displayed across all sources. The 200 closes in a little around the midrange and lets the bass run wild, which robs notes of some sonic bite.

The treble is harsh and edgy, too. There’s a variety of EQ presets to help with this, but they don’t really change the underlying sonic DNA…

Our favourite sound came via the iPod dock – it tightened up compared with the same WAVs played from a CD. Plus, with iDevices comes the bonus of doubling up as an internet radio source, accessed from an iPhone or wi-fi-enabled iPod Touch.

However, even with the 200’s features and ability to drive a larger room, it still scoops three stars. A unit with many skills, yes, but one that’s let down by its sound.

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What Hi-Fi?

What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence.

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