Harley Benton Custom Line CLA-16SCE

I have always been wary of purchasing acoustic instruments online without being able to play or see how they feel first. After having a look around the nearest music stores and not finding anything that was jumping out at me in the 200euro price range I said what the heck I'd give this one a try, even though there were no reviews on it yet.It was for my son to learn on so I figured it had to be good enough for that purpose and if he stuck with it he could always get a better one in a year or so.
Arrived in the usual prompt fashion from Thomann. At first glance it looks good -simple but nice, it obviously doesn't have fancy beading etc. but I think it is
still well finished and the only obvious flaw I could find was a tiny bit of roughness on the neck which I have to say wouldn't bother me but if you were being picky, maybe.
I left the strings that it came with on for a week or so, which were ok but I prefer 10's on an acoustic and these were I'd say 11's. The action on the strings as it came was again ok but I figured there was space to go lower. So when I changed the strings I took the action down and I have to say it's really nice to play now, not quite as good as my 4 times the price Tanglewood -but close.
As for the most important thing; the sound. It's very good. I teach guitar so sometimes I end up having to listen to beginners who are using guitars that are not up to much. Teaching my son on this Harley Benton I have marveled a few times at how good it sounds.
It's folky but clear without any muddiness and a nice medium sustain. Through the pickup it sounds good too with no feedback through a Roland cube amp..
For the money compared to others I've tried I was definitely surprised, this guitar is really good value.

This is a £175 guitar made of solid wood, which sounds fantastic and is beautifully constructed. Any criticisms at this price point are moot and I only include them to offer my limited advice to any new players thinking of buying this. I wish when I first started playing guitar that instruments of this quality were available for this price!

I bought this as a present for somebody who is learning to play, and it required a very small amount of maintenance (he could have easily done this himself with the help of google and youtube).

The frets were rough and needed polishing (I use those fret rubbers). The truss rod was loose when shipped so over the course of a day I brought it to tension and made sure the neck was straight. The nut was cut a little high (but this is a really small issue and I don't have the skill nor tools to make it absolutely perfect, so we can live with it for the moment).

My 8th Benton guitar, 9th on the way! Really how can Thomann afford to sell quality instruments at budget prices. Opened up this acoustic guitar yesterday and was thrilled. Beautiful finish, no issues whatsoever. Unless you consider tuning it up a half step and tweaking the trussrod 1/8th turn to get the neck perfectly straight with dead on intonation. Honestly the strings are a bit heavier gauge than I use but they are fine for now. If you compare the materials they use with other higher priced guitars they are similar. Craftsmen ship is top notch with Harley Bentons. Plugged it into my Line 6 UX-2 and sounds awesome. Next step record some tracks and see how it sounds in a mix. Summed up....Don't hesitate to buy one of these. I can't say I'm pleasantly surprised because all my other Thomann purchases have been all high quality at big bang for the $$$!