Once again the midband and presence seemed to take precedence over the low bass and upper treble. This overall character seems reasonably consistent, although there is also a clear difference between the sonic character of the two supplied phono stages.

Cartridge issues

On balance, the battery-powered Unicophono stage was marginally preferred. it doesn't quite have the midrange sweetness or the warmth of the new Simply Phono design, but it does seem rather more neutral overall, cleaner in the bass region and with less forwardness in the stereo image. Had we been using a valve amp, the preference might well have reversed.

Substituting the Apheta/Superline cartridge/phono stage allayed much of the criticism, confirmed the slightly bandwidth limited, but wide dynamic range of the turntable/arm combo, but also strongly suggested that the moving magnet cartridge may well be the limiting factor in the overall sound quality.

This thoroughly entertaining turntable is blessed with gorgeous styling and although it's primarily intended to match Unison's valve amplifiers, it will look amazing in any hi-fi system. Greater sonic performance may well be available by using a higher quality cartridge, and some less costly turntables could also match its performance, but we'll bet no alternative package will look as good.