I owned a Denon D-M30 Hi Fi for many years, and I loved it. Not only does it deliver fantastic sound quality, but for £245 it is a very versatile and hard wearing product.

The dimensions of the decks are 210 x 95 x 326mm, and they weigh 2.9kg each. The hi fi is comprised of 3 - 5 decks, depending on your choice. The tuning deck will be present, and you can choose whether to purchase the cassette deck, CD deck, mini disk deck and radio to accompany it.

The decks are silver in appearance, and equipped with larger than adequate display screens on which you can see how long the media has been playing, time left to run, etc. There is a dial and the standard Play, Stop, etc, if you wish to operate the deck manually. I usually use the remote control for this, the sensor for which is located in the uppermost level. The buttons for manual operation require a bit of force for the action to be detected, and although the deck is endowed with a non-slip coating on its underside, it can still slip out of place somewhat if you happen to push it too hard.

When inserting cassettes, CDs and mini disks you must push the button on the bottom left of the appropriate deck, and the tray will extend outwards. You simply slot the disk into the crevice, and either push the tray back in manually, or wait a few seconds for it to retract automatically. I have discovered that when the automatic function kicks in the tray can draw in a swift speed, and my finger once became stuck in the machine. This caused the tray to cease movement, and I was able to hit the eject button and release my digit. I experienced some discomfort, but thankfully the 'bite' was not so aggressive that it drew blood.

On the tuning deck there is a large volume dial. If you enjoy listening to music at high volumes you will certainly appreciate this feature, as it enables you to select eardrum shattering levels (although I would not, of course, recommend this, for the sake of your neighbours!) I frequently listen to loud music, and even when it is distinctly audible through the double glazing I find I have reached only a third of the hi fi's maximum volume capacity. The tuning deck also features dials for bass, treble and balance. You can focus the dials centrally to select Flat sound, or in increments of +1 or -1 down to -5 to the right and +5 to the left. On the right is a larger dial that is the rec selector, and on the left is the input selector. The dials are all very smooth to operate and will respond immediately to your request.

The remote control that accompanies the hi fi package runs on two AA batteries, and in the entire time I owned the hi fi I had cause to change the batteries only once. The remote is equipped with 53 buttons, so you can control a great deal from a distance. Some features you can operate, as well as the standard volume, On, Play, Stop, Rewind and Fast Forward, are sleep, dimmer, standby, shuffle, clean, aux, phono and CD sync. One complaint I have about the remote control is that you sometimes have to align yourself perfectly with the sensor in order for the signal to be detected, but if the batteries are fresh this is slightly less problematic.

This is a fantastic hi fi that is both stylish and durable. It is endowed with a huge array of features, so you are able to modify the sound that emits from it to your requirements. It delivers a gorgeous, rich bass and those who crave their music loud will be enchanted by this model.