Advance Acoustic (AA) is clearly committed to driving down the price of heavyweight hi-fi. With its first transport and DAC combo it has delivered a near-20kg CD player for little over a grand. If sound were measured by mass, this would represent a milestone. As things stand, though, weight does at least infer solidity of construction and that's something that these two boxes are clearly strong on.

At the dawn of high-end CD players, every company who wanted to be seen as a major contributor had a two-box transport and DAC (digital to analogue converter) at the top of its range. The theory being based on that which encourages bigger amplifiers to be split into preamp and power amp cases.

Separating out the noise producing disc reading part of the equation from the subtle conversion process, should enable the latter in particular to do a better job. You also end up with separate power supplies for each, which is a good thing, and you get to sell a bigger and thus more impressive looking player overall.

To DAC or not?

This approach went out of fashion, however, when it was discovered that 'jitter' (the arch enemy of good digital audio) usually increased when the signal had to travel from one box
to another. A problem in the mid-nineties when hip brands started to make high-end single-box players. Of late, however, the standalone DAC, or amplifier with on-board DAC has seen a revival, and now one or two companies are putting a toe in the 'separate transport' water.

This approach makes a great deal of sense, because it's now possible to re-clock the signal when it comes into the DAC. This means that jitter problems introduced by the division can be eliminated and the advantages of the approach more readily appreciated.

Advance Acoustic is a Franco-Chinese operation, which makes very substantial electronics for the asking price, and this new pairing is no different. Both of these components come in full-size casework supported by large aluminium spike feet.