I originally had a hot tip on a dark colored Sony mini stereo system that was quite impressive and headed for Europe, sporting a 3 disc DVD changer and a 7 inch LCD screen. I didn’t have a price, but I had a model name – the MHC-GZR33i. I then looked at SonyStyle USA and noticed that this product already existed, and is called the Muteki Shelf System LBT-LCD7Di. The US version has a tang orange color scheme on the speakers and light while the European version is more subdued and in tune with Sony Design. Oddly enough, I have seen little to zero coverage about its debut. However, what’s really crazy is that the product is available at a ton of stores. Let’s talk about the US version first:
Fusing a 7″ LCD screen, 3-disc DVD/CD player and an iPod (including iPod Touch and iPhone) dock, this Muteki shelf system is an extremely diverse offering from Sony that is sold at $499, but can be found for nearly $75 less already. In addition to 360 total watts (180W x 2) with GROOVE and Z-GROOVE (lol) bass boost, this Muteki system comes with a karaoke feature that allows you to sing along to your favorite tunes. Plus, you can play your iPod video, DVD or view a photo slide show. The tiny screen is nice, and if you want to show video on a bigger screen it has composite video output.
Other I/O include digital audio output, headphone, and analog in. You can play music (MP3) or video from CD’s, DVD’s, iPod, and USB. Put a single DVD disc with a bunch of MP3’s and your sitting pretty. Overall codec support includes MP3, WMA, AAC, and DivX. Did we mention it reads many Walkmans easily because they appear as mass storage devices? It also has the ability to listen to the radio or record and playback from the USB port. More specifications are available at SonyStyle.
So, the European version is essentially the same but looks much better in my eyes and is called the MHC-GZR33i – it hasn’t shown up anywhere yet but it will soon. I don’t have details on the price, but at $499 in the USA, I’m sure you can use your imagination. The only comparable system being sold in Europe right now by Sony (although that will change when this arrives soon) is the similarly named MHC-GTZ3i, which has less features.
This information is a Sony Insider exclusive, brought to you here first.
