Arcam has recently revamped its entire flagship FMJ range (see HFC 308 for full details). First seen at Munich’s High End show, the line-up has something for everyone in terms of both specification and price. At the very top of the CD player range, is the subject of this review; the FMJ CD37, an SACD-compatible disc spinner that reflects all of Arcam’s CD player know-how in one box.

Flushed, no doubt, by the success of the original ‘Solo’, Arcam has now progressed to a three-band, half-width, receiver with built-in CD player – and that’s usually the territory of Aiwa, Matsui and other faceless brands that no one has ever heard of.

After some four years in development, Arcam has added the MS250 to its ‘FMJ’ range of hi-fi separates. By no means the cheapest act available, it nevertheless promises audiophile sound quality based on Arcam’s CD player expertise and offers a handy capacity of 400GB – equivalent to well over 500 hours of uncompressed audio.

Arcam's CD players all look very similar. In fact, externally, this is identical to the CD192. It's considerably simpler inside, though, lacking the latter's upsampling function and highly specified DAC board

If the number in this model's moniker rings bells, it is of course because it is a common frequency, in kHz, for upsampling converters to use (there's nothing remotely sacred about it, by the way - 193kHz would be just as good)