Ministry of Sound MOSDV124 - TechRadar UK

For starters, the MOSDV124's mirrored front panel will certainly appeal to those who like their eye-catching electronics. It's hard not to be impressed by the overall fit and finish. This stylish 2.1 system comprises a pair of compact bookshelf speakers with one of the tinniest subwoofer's we've seen, but it all looks surprisingly well built and put together at the price.

Facilities are respectable, and the MOSDV124 can handle pre-recorded DVDs, CDs, as well as CD-R and CD-R/W discs containing MP3 music or JPEG photo files.

Well connected

Connections at the back of the unit are good. Unsurprisingly, there's no HDMI socketry or digital video upscaling for hookup to an HD Ready TV set, but there's a good selection of analogue video socketry, including an RGB-enabled Scart output, S-video and composite video connections.

Component video sockets are also provided, but there's no progressive scan video mode for the very best analogue video images.

On-screen menus provide a comprehensive set of picture adjustments, but factory settings are fairly well judged with good colour balance. Darker sequences look a little too shadowy and subtle details disappear while watching our test DVD of Walk the Line, but adjusting the brightness level helps to improve picture depth. Any picture weaknesses are exaggerated by the poor quality Scart lead.

There's some visible video interference in background details, and we recommend replacing the supplied lead with a branded model for significantly improved picture performance.

Sadly, even the best quality video connection shows some flaws. Component video signals don't look as clean and solid as they should, and there's some video interference crawling around in the background of images.

Movie sound is surprisingly solid. The MOSDV124 may not be capable of delivering a virtual surround sound performance, but its firm stereo image ensures that actors' voices are fixed to the central TV screen and effects move smoothly across the screen.

The small subwoofer's performance is weak, and struggles to cope with the pounding bass notes during the opening sequence of Walk the Line, but it's a decent effort at the price. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand, but it is easily overcome by movie action effects. The low power amplifier also quickly runs out of steam.

Level headed

Music sound is respectable if you're not bothered about listening loudly. As with movies, bass performance is weak, but with careful level adjustment it can pull a surprisingly tuneful performance out of the bag.

The Ministry of Sound's smart looks will dazzle at the budget price. But its less than sparkling picture performance means that the MOSDV124 is better suited to a small screen in a second room, than a main home cinema setup.