Oakcastle DAB500 Bluetooth DAB+ Radio & CD Player, 60W HiFi System for Home

Early days, but nothing really negative. Very, very well double boxed and padded. DAB radio came on by default, I've not checked the stations yet, but it is really clear, with the aerial in a 45° slant. The C.D. player is ok, it's a C.D. player, the USB can take any size stick with up to 5000 tracks on it, the Bluetooth connection is faultless, quick with no dropouts. The sound is great for the size and price of the unit, although, to me, the graphic equalizer is a bit basic. There's Normal, Pop, Jazz, Classical, Speech, Rock and Custom. You can only adjust either Treble or Bass, nothing in-between, it goes from 0-+7, both on +7 sounds, to me, the same as all of the other settings, or very subtle changes. The sound is clear at all volumes, with little to no distortion. All in all I'm favourably impressed, it does everything, including alarm clock and switches to power saving after 15 mins of quiet. The remote has most of the controls on it, if not more, a good range and batteries supplied! I'd recommend

Firstly, the weight of this system surprised me, it actually felt like a good quality product, instead of a lightweight attempt at being one, which is so common these days, sadly. I was sceptical at first because it arrived in the manufacturers carton, not in a plain cardboard transit box, just as if it had flown off the shelf to my door! Then I thought more about this, like the saving on weight, packing, and a greener planet, lesser carbon footprint etc, so I put that initial concern aside. Opening this product revealed it had been well packed, but not over the top, just sufficient packing material to protect it in transit, and indeed it arrived in perfect condition, when I removed it from its box. Its overall design is minimalist, not trying to be anything other than a superbly made, competitively priced music system, and nothing else, no pretence here. No wild claims, just honestly described,. It’s a classical black box shape, in a life like dark wood grain, which fits in anywhere, streamlined insomuch that nothing sticks out of its casing, just pride and pure simplicity. I plugged it in, without having looked at the instructions, so far, the display came alive and the DAB radio immediately started playing the station it was already tuned to. I looked at the control panel below the clear cut and well lit ( dimmable) digital screen ( after removing the protective film). I tentatively pressed the scan button and it commenced searching out stations available in my area, finding 98 of them, including most of my favourites from a different area I had just moved from! Still not having checked the instructions, feeling that this intuitively designed music system was just so simple to get to know, I pressed the mode button, impatient to find the CD setting, and it confirmed my curiosity by showing me the modes of AUX input, USB, FM, Bluetooth, DAB radio CD ! The supplied remote is a bonus, ergonomically designed to fit nicely in a hand, with a tactile finish, so won’t slip out easily, and it works so well, the batteries supplied in the box, so full marks. Worldly wise readers will notice from my short video clip of the system playing a CD, will hear a track from a Clifford T Ward album, which immediately gives away my advanced years! The clarity, breadth and crispness of the ‘true to life’ studio like audio response on playback, is truly awe inspiring. The base is bang on, and for me, with elderly hearing, the treble response is like listening to someone in the room, singing to me, which is praise indeed these days with modern lifeless systems out there. I have to admit that in selecting and paging through the equaliser settings, I didn’t notice a tremendous amount of difference between them, they all sounded great to me, but I settled on Rock, but later discovered that the speech setting was obviously pleasingly different when listening to the radio news. Maybe I really do need to go and get my hearing checked! I’m blown away with this music system, truly. I usually try the volume of systems before purchasing one, and at first, when I advanced the volume on this model, it only seemed to change slowly, but towards the last quarter to maximum, the gain comes through swiftly, and powerfully, surprising me, indeed. For such an economically sized all in one system, I found the volume to be more than sufficient. It’s not a linear response curve, with the distortion free punch at the upper end, like a well tuned sports car or motorcycle. I have not at the time of writing this review, tried all the modes yet, but I have complete confidence that they’ll all impress me as much as those I’ve tried already. I understand that this unit is of of UK design, and manufactured abroad, and one reviewer commented that he would be happy to pay more for this unit if it was assembled here in the UK. Obviously, using a company with the production facilities and transport infrastructure already in place seems to be an obvious choice, but overall I agree that it would be great if it was also manufactured and distributed from within the UK, but let’s not forget the importance of utilising trade links abroad, either. Stunning and amazing music system, which I have no hesitation in recommending to anyone thinking of purchasing it. The free extended 3 year warranty was simple enough to initialise, and worked, simply by pointing my iPad camera at the QR code and up popped the registration web site with a list of products covered, took about two minutes, and all done! I’m so happy with my purchase, and it takes a lot to satisfy my quest for good quality, value for money equipment these days. Update 20/10/2024: Thrilled to have found searching for and saving radio stations as presets in preferred order, so easily. Having the facility to swap allocated preset numerical positions is brilliant too, just add another station to preset 1 and it overrides whatever was stored before, so it really is easy to instantly change your priority favourite preset allocations. Bluetooth worked so well with my iPhone 8, again, intuitively. The only difference I found was the volume level was lower on Bluetooth, so it was necessary to advance my volume button on the iPhone or on the music system to compensate. That wasn’t a problem, I just felt that the overall volume was lesser on the Bluetooth setting than playing CD’s or listening to DAB radio. It’s not a criticism, simply an observation. Also, before I sign off again, one reviewer commented that the speakers, or the greater volume of sound, was coming from the rear of the music system, or appeared so. Yes, there are two cones on the rear of the system, and when it’s playing, sound can be heard emitting from them. Without going into the science involved, some of the sound created from the speaker cones vibrating at the different musical frequencies, will, in the main, go forwards through the front facing speakers towards the listener. However, as the speaker cones vibrate forwards and backwards at very high speed, sound vibrations naturally occur BEHIND the speakers, too. In a totally sealed unit, these sounds hit the rear of the case, and bounce back towards the speaker cones, and can cause different effects within the cabinet or casing. Sometimes described as out of phase, ie, original sound bounced back towards the source. There are different methods of reducing these sometimes unwanted effects, and in this music system, the designers have introduced cone like structures on the rear to effectively allow these extraneous sound pressure waves to escape freely. This is an over simplified explanation, which I hope explains why sound comes from the rear. To some it may appear better, according to the efficiency of their own hearing, or to the range of musical frequencies being created by the speaker cones, either way, it’s designed to increase the overall listening pleasure. Judging by the amount of comments from reviewers mentioning how good the system sounds, proves beyond doubt that those conical apertures are doing their job well! ***** September 2025 update ***** It’s still one of the best purchases I’ve made, no problems at all, always goes on for the Radio 4 Today programme every morning, still looks and sounds terrific, stunning piece of radio equipment, and plays my CD’s faultlessly.✅ **************************

I read many reviews before buying this one. Under £100 and good sound quality. Used to have a £350 mini hi-fi so was managing expectations too. First impressions was that it looked good and the sound quality was OK, I.e. fine. It did feel like a slightly "boxy" sound but again, this is a £100 unit and not a dedicated mini HiFi. Having had it for 2 weeks now, I don't like the navigation or the remote. The navigation feels very klunky and the remote feels 'clicky' and cheap. Most CD trays will close when you press play even if the tray is open. This one remains open until you press "close". When navigating function to function using the button on the box, the screen oddly defaults between presses back to where you started from between presses (e.g. CD, DAB, CD, FM, CD, bluetooth, CD, Aux etc) which takes getting used to. As with all things I'll get used to it. For £100 you can't really argue with the sound quality which is my priority (and the EQ is helpful here too, it does make a difference). The volume is fine as long as you aren't looking for genuine power. For a kitchen and the occasional "turn it up" moment, it's fine. A good budget stereo, I've spent more before and got much worse.

I purchased this Majority device to listen to my CDs I had previously bought from Amazon, that I cannot now listen to through the monstrosity of Prime Music and the shuffle function. Call me old school but I want to listen to the whole album not a mixture of every CD I have ever bought - how ridiculous is that!! Whoever decided on implementing the shuffle function needs to reevaluate their use in the business as they have shown no consideration to Prime customers. This device is everything I ever wanted at the price which is most reasonable. The volume level is acceptable for a medium sized room and not overpowering that it could upset the neighbours or distort the sound quality. The graphic equalizer is good and to me a nice extra function which is easy to return to the default setting. Compact, well built, looks good and not flashy, the remote control is handy or you can use the manual settings. Like the FM and DAB radio, the reception quality as with the sound quality is above par for the price. Can't rate this highly enough if you want to listen to CDs, there are other functions but I bought this for one reason and I haven't been disappointed. HMV and Spotify now rule supreme. Majority also offer an extended warranty which is worth having and this is my second Majority purchase. Quick delivery and packaged well so a good solid five gold star from me.

This is my second time of buying this product, a friend loved the quality of the music in my house, I had to get him same system. Just a cute powerful system, no space taken in the house, quality sound, easy to assemble and many other options. When it comes to listening to good quality music, you cannot go wrong with this system.

Excellent value. Great sound.Easy to operate.

The DAB 500 Is a great addition to My bedroom. It enables Me to listen to cd's or USB stick or the included radios in My bedroom, either through the good sounding speakers or via headphones. Bluetooth is another great function added to this system along with the 2 alarms which can be set to come on with the radio stations or a buzzer sound, great for waking you up in a morning if needed, hence why I think this system is excellent for in a bedroom. Overall this is a good sounding, compact music system which has many features that You would expect on something more expensive. The small compact design is Ideal for in My Bedroom to listen to My CD'S which had been gathering dust in the loft, on the quality player ,with a sound You would expect off a more expensive system. The Bluetooth connectivity is also a useful function for if You want to play music off Your Mobile Phone or external I-pod. Overall this compact music system Is highly recommended by Myself especially with the added bonus of a 3 year guarantee. It would be a welcome asset to any household. At any time this would make an ideal present for any age, The DAB Radio is excellent and for anyone who listens to a wide variety of music then there are Various stations that cater for all tastes of Music from Rock, Classical ,80's or dance music. This is a modern looking system that would not look out of place in any room of the house and it is compact so would fit most areas. The good thing with DAB Radio is that it shows the name of the song being played and the artist who it is by, so no more wondering what the track was called or guessing the artist. The sound is phenomenal for such a small system, very modern looking and overall just a fantastic price for such a class item.

I rarely leave negative reviews, but this product genuinely deserves it. I purchased this Oakcastle CD player expecting a decent, enjoyable listening experience based on the reviews—but what I received was extremely disappointing. The sound quality is very poor. It feels closed, boxy, and lacks any real clarity or depth. Music sounds flat and muffled, as if everything is trapped inside a small enclosure. There is no richness, no proper separation of instruments, and certainly no sense of quality you would expect at this price point. For a product around £100, this is simply not acceptable. I’ve heard far cheaper devices that perform significantly better. This feels more like a very low-budget item rather than something positioned as a quality home audio system. What frustrates me the most is how this product has received such high ratings. It makes me question whether expectations are just very low, or if people haven’t experienced better sound before. If you care even slightly about audio quality, this will likely be a disappointment. Overall, I regret this purchase. If I had the option, I would return it without hesitation. I would strongly recommend looking at other alternatives before considering this product.

la radio funziona benissimo, ha una buona qualità di suono nonostante la compattezza. Sono soddisfatta

Great quality for the price but I wouldn’t expect perfection when it comes to the sound output. The CD tray isn’t the strongest build and the Bluetooth isn’t the greatest. I find your device needs to be within 4 foot to connect well. It’s not a bad sound, just not high end but as I say, at this price point you can’t expect that. Ideal for a kitchen or bedroom but not as your main system but then again I am an audio engineer and you may just want a decent cheap all in one system for background sounds. If that’s the case, I would recommend this system.

La minichaîne est belle avec son placage noir. Elle a été très facile à installer. Le son est très bon. Le porte-cd semble fragile mais il suffit de le charger avec précaution. Une seule remarque : comment fait-on pour l'éteindre ? J'ai beau faire exactement ce qui est indiqué dans le mode d'envoi, elle reste allumée. Mystère...

Also ich bin auf jedenfall positiv überrascht über dieses Gerät. Ich hätte nicht erwartet, für diesen Preis, einen so guten CD Player zu bekommen. Das Radio ist mir egal. Aber der Klang der Lautsprecher bei dem abspielen von CD's ist genial. Es klingt überhaupt nicht so blechern, wie bei vielen anderen Geräten in dieser Preisklasse, sondern richtig klar mit starken Bässen. Auch die Bedienung und Einstellung ist kinderleicht. Also zusammengefasst: Es ist ein geniales Gerät. Jetzt hoffe ich bloss, dass es auch ein Weilchen hält...! Ach ja, auch Kopfhörer kann man problemlos anschliessen. Der Ton ist dann automatisch über die Kopfhörer zu empfangen...!

Basico con calidad, todo funciona , sonido y bluetooth, perfectos radio muy bien, precio bajo calidad media