Sony MEX-BT5000 + Bluetooth + MP3/WMA playback

The MEX-BT5000 is Sony’s first car CD player with built-in Bluetooth technology, and it’s all about making your life simpler. No more searching for the ringing cell phone while you’re driving down a busy street, or trying to talk on your phone while it’s connected to the charger’s too-short cord.

Instead, when the phone rings, you just push a button on the stereo to answer it. The music mutes and the call comes over your car’s front speakers. And your phone remains in your pocket, purse, or under the seat.

The Sony MEX-BT5000 is packed with useful entertainment and communications features, although it suffers from some fiddly controls. Advanced Bluetooth audio streaming may be its star feature, but its built-in sound optimization for digital audio playback means that it is more than a one-trick pony…

Sony MEX-BT5000 General features:

• Car CD player with built-in amplifier (17 watts RMS/52 peak x 4 channels)
• Bluetooth wireless connectivity works with compatible cell phones, music players, and more
• full range of Bluetooth features — hands-free calling, phone book transfer, high-quality audio transfer, and control of compatible equipment
• Sony MEX-BT5000 plays CDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs
• Rotary Encoder Joystick makes menu navigation easy
• flip-down faceplate with fluorescent display
• Sony remote control

Sony MEX-BT5000 Audio features:

• EQ3 3-band equalizer with preset sound curves
• BBE MP processing
• Dynamic Soundstage Organizer enhances the sound
• Burr-Brown 24-bit digital-to-analog converter
• subwoofer level controls and low-pass filter

Sony MEX-BT5000 Expandability:

• compatible with Sony’s optional iPod adapter, HD Radio tuner, and satellite radio
• inputs: Aux Lite rear-mounted auxiliary input
• outputs: three sets of 4-volt preamp outputs

The good: The Sony MEX-BT5000 provides drivers with a stylish and easy-to-use interface for streaming wireless audio and making calls via Bluetooth, as well as a robust receiver for a range of digital audio playback. Integrated phone controls and the ability to copy cell-phone address books are also in its favor.

The bad: The absence of an On button had us puzzled for a while, and the dislocation of the start- and end-call controls makes placing calls more cumbersome than it needs to be…