At £99 or less, Clarion's CD upgrade packs a few surprises

Clarion's new entry-level stereo claims to punch above its weight. At under £100 you wouldn't expect to find it amongst the heavyweights, but Clarion has focussed on delivering the must-haves for entry-level audio, as they see it - compatibility with your car’s original equipment, enhanced sound quality, ease of operation and outstanding value for money.

The CZ101E is part of Clarion's 2011 range, all of which benefit from some subtle style tweaks, and the CZ101E features CD-R and CD-RW playback, MP3 and WMA file compatibility and a 3.5mm mini jack AUX input on the front fascia to support a stand-alone MP3 player. It delivers 4 x 45 watts from its built-in amplifier and, commendable on a unit at this price, includes 4-channel audio pre-out for front, rear and subwoofer external amplification. The RDS-EON tuner has the usual 18 FM, 6MW/LW station presets.

There was a time, not so long ago, when any sort of sound enhancement built into a car radio, other than bass and treble control, was unheard of, but with inexpensive digital chips now able to incorporate some very sophisticated equalisation and sound processing power, even the low cost CZ101E boasts Beat EQ, Magna BASS EX and a Low Pass Filter for the subwoofer channel.

With the optional addition of a BLT373 Bluetooth transceiver, the new unit also allows for the safe receiving and making of phone calls via a Bluetooth enabled mobile phone, once the two devices have been paired in the usual way.

The look of the 2010 range proved popular, so the starburst style button illumination has now been set to mirror the rotary volume control, and Clarion have looked to improve the human interface of their units still further to continue their aim of constantly improving safety through ease of control.

The Clarion CZ101E is a very tempting entry-level upgrade, available from Clarion appointed specialists across the UK, priced at RRP £99.00.  For more details call Clarion (GB) Ltd., on 01793 870400, or visit www.clarion.co.uk.