The Volvere's armboard is drilled to suit SME arms, but can also accept other types, including Rega's, with a suitable mounting plate. Avid doesn't supply tonearms itself, but has recently been getting good results with Naim's ARO unipivot design, Naim systems being one reason why the black finish was introduced.

Avid is making an SME-style sled mounting for the ARO, the first example of which was supplied for us to try. It brings the opportunity to adjust overhang alignment, which means that this Linn cartridge-oriented arm can be used with other types, possibly for the first time.

The set-up process isn't intrinsically complicated, although at first glance the instructions may make it seem so. Luckily, it's usually carried out by the dealer anyway. We started out using our benchmark tonearm - the SME Series V - on the Volvere, because it lets us know what the turntable itself is contributing to the party, and also because it's a doddle to set up.

Once in action, the Volvere delivers a substantial sound. Its forte is bass, which it delivers with a weight and power that's rare among turntables at this price. If digital has any advantage over analogue, then bass is its trump card; silver discs can't match the natural sound of vinyl, but they do generally offer more powerful bass.

No more, though. Here, vinyl has a weapon with which it can compete against digital on its own terms. You want slam, grunt, girth even? You got it.

Further up the band, things are pretty decent too. The midband isn't as refined as, say, that of the dps2 we're reviewing for The Collection 2007, but it keeps meticulous time and delivers a detailed and stable soundstage that you can walk into.

The treble is well extended and has more sparkle than our reference SME 20A, the lap steel guitar on Joni Mitchell's Hejira album sounding uncannily real in its capable hands. The quality of treble is also responsible for the precision in the bass.

Perhaps surprisingly, you don't get crunchy bass without clear-cut treble. The Volvere is also more on the ball when it comes to rhythm and timing, surprisingly making the SME sound relatively cumbersome in comparison.

Dynamics and absolute resolution are both areas that could be enhanced. Rickie Lee Jones's Flying Cowboys is an unusually plush-sounding recording, but here some of its gloss is missing. This may be because the Volvere is a shade monochromatic and doesn't indulge tone colour as much as some designs.

We're not saying that it doesn't bring out instrumental timbre, just that other designs bring out a little more. It's likely that a different cartridge to the vdH Condor used as a reference would do better; a Koetsu, for example, or the more fruity-sounding vdH Grasshopper.

With the Naim ARO unipivot in Avid's custom-made sled base, the Volvere turns in a pacier, more nimble sound that encourages extended listening sessions, despite delivering less of the deck's bass power.

Unipivots tend to be more fluent and less mechanical-sounding than rigid bearing arms, and the ARO did precisely this while delivering good solidity of image and an attractively open and spacious sound, albeit one which seems to major on image width rather than height.

There's still plenty of bass with the ARO, just not quite as much - the action being centred on the midband, the heart of the music. You also get a sense of better bass articulation because it's not quite as extended; bass lines tend to be more nimble and give the overall sound the classic Naim 'groove'.

The new Volvere is a welcome replacement for what was already a very good turntable. It has a good deal of the power associated with the bigger Avids and delivers a solid and precise sound that makes a lot of competitors sound decidedly weak.

If it's not as refined as some, that's because its strengths lie elsewhere. However, given the price, it represents a definite benchmark.