Marine Audio Blog

Why settle for just car audio? With this marine ready CD-tuner you’ll be rocking the high seas too. Weather resistant with AUX-IN for easy connection of portable audio players and an easily readable LCD display you can see even in direct sunlight.

(Image depicts US market CDX-M10.EU model is identical but with added benefit of RDS-EON and EU tuner specification)

Replacing the popular CDX-R35MR, the new CDX-MR10 falls squarely at the budget end of the range yet, in spite of this, the unit makes a great starting point for the average in-boat entertainment system. Sony’s marketing images really don’t do the product justice. Flip open the fascia case for the first time and you’re immediately struck by the unit’s styling, which somehow hits the perfect note. Sony’s designers clearly knew their market when they designed the unit’s cosmetics, which will sit happily with the cosmetic syling of the typical modern boat. The front panel also feels reassuringly heavy – a trivial detail, but one which inspires much more confidence in the product than with previous models.

When it comes to the specification, the unit has everything you’d expect from a Sony CD tuner around this level – MP3 and WMA playback, a convenient 3.5mm front panel input that you can plug a portable MP3 player into, and RDS-EON tuner (EU market product only – the US equivalent CDX-M10 lacks this feature) and a very respectable 4×52w S-MOSFET integrated amplifier with a signal to noise ratio far superior to previous Sony units of a few years past.

It’s worth noting however that the unit lacks one key feature – Sony’s Unilink Bus control functionality. If you’re just looking to install a simple head unit and speakers, this probably isn’t too much cause for concern but, conversely, if you’re looking for the basis of a larger system, this point may become a problem as this feature is essential for connecting to Sony’s own RM-X55M remote control (ideal for use on flybridge craft, or cockpits which suffer from heavy sea spray) or to external full control iPod interfaces, such as Connects2’s ASOIPOD001.

One obvious question which potential buyers may wonder is what exactly they’re getting for the money over a similar specification conventional car CD tuner. This may not be immediately obvious to the uninitiated, however, there are some very important factors which make the unit well worth the extra. The most important of these is the unit’s construction. Unlike car CD tuners, the CDX-MR10 features an internal PCB with a conformal coating designed to deal with the rigours of the damp marine environment, and a front panel which is designed to withstand high levels of UV exposure (to ASTM G154 standard). Whilst the unit is not designed to be subjected to direct water spray (unlike some higher models from Sony’s marine range), this should help to ensure that the unit has a long life when mounted in a splash protected location.

With a price tag around the £130 mark, the unit offers great value for money and should keep those with modest demands happy. If however you’re a system builder, or want control from more than one location, spending a bit more on a higher specification model (such as Sony’s CDX-HR70MW or CDX-HR70MS models) may well be money well spent.