The Cipher is a new high-end SACD player from Krell and is a welcome surprise. It shows there's still a market for the medium.

True, SACD software issues are somewhat limited and the format risks being superseded by high-res downloads, but many small classical and jazz labels still support SACD and issue new titles each month.

This is where the new Cipher comes in, replacing Krell's popular EV505 SACD player. It promises an improved performance – especially in terms of Red Book CD playback and while this is very welcome, it's as an SACD player that the Cipher will stand or fall.

Fortunately, Krell has spared no effort to make it as good as possible – with both formats.

Disc accuracy

The Cipher is an advanced digital disc player offering users a choice of SACD and DVD-Audio playback in two channel and multichannel surround formats. The ability to play in surround is unusual – many purist audiophile SACD players dispense with this option, offering just two channel playback.

There's a choice of three fixed-level analogue outputs: RCA (unbalanced); XLR (balanced) and – for those using Krell amplification with the appropriate inputs – a special four-pin CAST socket (CAST is claimed to offer a significant improvement in sound quality). An output for subwoofers is also included in the mix.

The Cipher's disc drive is mechanically isolated from the main chassis and the mount uses composite materials to minimise vibration-induced errors. Strategically placed damping is used to reduce mechanical resonance and Krell's customised disc-drive firmware is claimed to improve disc-reading accuracy.

SACD disc transports can be temperamental and some players gained a reputation for being mechanically noisy and unreliable. Fortunately, the transport used in the Cipher is very quiet and seems to play a wide range of discs without complaint. CDs that jump or suffer dropout on our other players, played perfectly on the Cipher.

Separate lasers for CD and SACD are employed and these are individually hand-calibrated for accuracy. All signals are fed into a custom-designed Krell anti-jitter module and this is said to reduce jitter to virtually unmeasurable levels, resulting in a perfectly clean digital signal.

D/A conversion is via a pair of balanced 24-bit/192kHz DACs. Most players use a single DAC for each channel, but Krell uses its DACs in pairs and configures them to operate in balanced mode. So, 'balanced' operation occurs throughout the signal chain – from digital through to analogue. Usefully, the Cipher can play DVD-R data discs – though not, it seems, DVD-A discs.

Prior to the launch of SACD, one or two small audiophile labels released audio-only DVDs with a sampling frequency of 48kHz. These provided better-than-CD sound quality and very long (over three hours) continuous playing time.

As an aside, EMI issued its 2005 three-CD set of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde as a special limited edition, with a bonus audio DVD containing the complete recording on a single disc lasting three hours and 47 minutes in 5.1 DTS Surround Sound. The Cipher proved able to play this disc and could even deliver the DTS information. So, if you have any music DVDs, you'll be able to listen to them via the Cipher (most SACD players can't do this).

Another slightly unusual feature is the provision of user-selectable output filters; two for CD, and four for SACD. These alter the out-of-band frequency response and output gain.

Confidence-building

The Cipher features all-aluminium casework. Being non-magnetic, aluminium is a good material to use for hi-fi casing, reducing the effects of magnetic eddy-currents. It costs more than steel, but can be relied on to deliver a smoother, more open and natural sound.

Finish is excellent, and the 'Cipher' centre panel looks very attractive. There are about thirty small press-buttons on the front panel – something that appeals to the inner geek in all of us – giving the Cipher a complex 'techy' look.

Fortunately, the button layout is logical and intuitive, so you instinctively find the right one. The buttons have a nice solid feel and operation is smooth and confidence-building.

At a cool £12,255 (including VAT) the Cipher is not cheap. Although well made and beautifully finished, we'd not say it offers 'battleship' build quality. However, excessively heavy build is not always advantageous. From the standpoint of resonance and energy storage, a light but solid case (as here) is often best.

Sound quality is likely to be the determining factor when it comes to deciding whether or not the Cipher justifies its hefty price tag. But give it a good SACD and it delivers a quality of sound that even the finest CD players cannot equal.

Smooth tonality

The Cipher's exceptionally lucid presentation is notable for amazing clarity and astonishing fine detail. Musically, the sound is open, lean, and crisp – not the least bit warm or romantic. At the same time, there's impressive refinement and (despite the sharpness) a smooth neutral tonality.

Playing SACDs on the Cipher forcibly demonstrates the limitations of conventional Red Book CD. SACD offers a transparent openness, plus a wealth of fine detail that even the best CDs can't match. There's a predictable 'sameness' about CD that SACD eliminates – the latter has a far wider range of tone colours and dynamics.

If anything, the Cipher widens the sonic gap between SACD and CD. On difficult, demanding SACDs, the extra detail and information being delivered over CD is really apparent. Yet, despite this, CD via the Cipher proves very listenable – especially when judged on its own terms and not directly compared.

We had another SACD player on standby to provide a comparison point for the Cipher and this cheaper player made the sonic gap between CD and SACD seem less apparent. While SACD always edged it over CD, the difference between the two is much less than it was with the Cipher.

Via the latter, we experienced levels of detail and clarity that no CD player could approach. The Cipher's ability to separate-out individual voices and instruments is almost uncanny, making CD sound 'closed-in', bland, and predictable by comparison. Impressive stuff!

Stereophonically, the Cipher images exceptionally well, creating a broad precisely defined soundstage notable for the solidity of individual voices and instruments. On the right SACD, you get a holographic, almost 3D effect, with impressive width and depth. SACDs sound cleaner, too.

Playing CD, the Cipher minimises that slightly 'furry' coarseness you tend to get on massed violins or heavy brass, delivering a very clean end result. But SACD sounds noticeably fresher and more alive, with crisper transients and a wider range of dynamic contrasts. The top end is more open-sounding, without a trace of tonal hardness. In comparison, CD sounds a shade muted and not nearly as transparent.

Despite these limitations, the Cipher makes a pretty good fist of playing CDs, so that – while never quite as good as SACD – you're still able to listen with pleasure and enjoy the music.

Well-heeled audiophiles

Krell's new Cipher is an exceptional digital front-end, giving state-of-theart replay of conventional CD and SACD formats. It's via SACD that it really shows its mettle, delivering results that combine stunning clarity with amazing dynamics, plus impressive naturalness and refinement.

It would be equally at home in a purist twin channel system, or a multichannel surround set up. While only the most well-heeled audiophiles will be able to consider purchasing, the Cipher certainly delivers the goods and offers results that will be hard to better, regardless of price.

For less than the price of the Creek Evolution 2 CD player, you can buy a universal disc player that handles all the various flavours of digital discs, reproduces moving and still pictures as well as audio and generally makes this machine look a bit lacklustre. So what's the point?

If you didn't already know the answer, you probably wouldn't even be reading this review, but there's more to it than simply knowing that the player has been optimised for one task alone.

Just before reviewing this, we had some time with a Blu-ray (etc.) player and there were times when we could cheerfully have heaved it out of the window. Too many options, you see! Get on with it! Perhaps one day some kind of ultra-flexible (computer-based?) system will know instinctively what to do, but until then, there's a lot to be said for having a single-purpose player that just plays CDs.

It loads discs faster than any SACD player (5-6 seconds), has the usual basic transport functions and, er, that's it. Practically all digital music discs are CDs anyway, and SACDs will play in a CD player, just not in high-res. There's nothing to set up, just the usual audio leads to plug in to the usual sockets, though you can use a DAC if you want, or connect a digital recorder.

Cut above

It's clear that a significant portion of the budget has gone on making this player a smart, desirable piece of kit, rather than just another faceless black box.

The front panel is thick, solid aluminium, while the top is made of steel. Nor has Creek stinted on the internals, which include a good-quality modern DAC chip (one of a few changes from the original Evolution model) and two different types of op-amp, each selected for its precise application.

Passive components are high-quality, too, while the power supply is based on a relatively large transformer.

The Evolution system remote control is a cut above your average with a metal top-plate.

Beauty from inside

Of course, a player can offer all the looks and ease of use in the world, but if it sounds unpleasant or boring it's an ornament at best.

What we really liked about this player was not its exterior, but the beauty it consistently brought out from inside our favourite recordings. It's a trait we've found before in Creek equipment, a highly convincing way of playing music without fuss or artifice, but with honesty, commitment and more than enough detail to convince and beguile any listener.

It's a potent combination, though one that may not always get the quickest sale in a dealer's dem room, as it takes a little while to make its mark. For instance, we tried a well-loved orchestral recording of some Rachmaninov, which seemed more immediate and dramatic on another CD player. As the track progressed, however, it was the Creek that kept our attention with a carefully graded build-up of tension, as the composer intended, while the other player seemed to have given its all near the beginning and was less successful at keeping our interest.

Lots to like

In terms of basic tonality it's hard to criticise this player, though to be picky one might suggest that its bass doesn't quite have the reach of a few upmarket alternatives.

Treble is lovely, clear and open with lots of detail, and the midrange seems highly neutral. Stereo imaging is excellent, with width well delineated and depth unusually specific.

It's hard to buy a bad CD player these days, but this one stands out in its price range as particularly fine.

Shanling's new CD-T2000 CD/SACD player shares the stunning aesthetic of the former CD-T1500, but, although superficially similar, the two players are, in fact, quite different.

The CD-T2000 is a Red Book CD player constructed around a high-quality Sanyo HD-850 transport. It also features a Burr-Brown PCM 1792 24-bit/192kHz upsampling stage, but no solid-state analogue output.

There are actually two 12AUX7 (ECC 82) tubes per-channel (four tubes total), because the player offers the option of single-ended or balanced operation.

USB-compatible

Like many new CD players, the CD-T2000 features a USB socket, enabling you to use its DAC with computer-based music storage systems. It also has a digital input (and digital output) via RCA phono sockets.

Two sets of variable analogue outputs are provided – single-ended via RCA phono sockets and balanced via XLRs. Output voltage levels are claimed to be 2.1V and 4.2V for unbalanced and balanced respectively.

The volume control is a digital-type and, having variable output, allows you to connect the CD-T2000 direct to a power amp – though the unbalanced output voltage of 2.1V may be a bit low for some power amps.

There are three power transformers: two for the analogue outputs and one for the digital side of things. To retain the smooth classic lines of the earlier player, while offering various switching options, three of the four corner posts feature selector switches: power on/off; output volume and a CD player/USB input switch.

The Sanyo transport is a high-quality device that's virtually silent during operation. There are no audible whirrs or clicks – important for an 'open' player like this, as there's no case to reduce the noise. The transport offers fast track access and reasonably speedy fast search – certainly, better than the CDT1500, which was very slow.

Shanling's SCD-T2000 (SACD/CD player) had a solid-state output with the option of a tube buffer stage to add a bit of valve warmth. However, this player has a proper tube output stage and no solid-state option.

One slight grumble is the way the CD-T2000's volume control automatically defaults to -40dB once power is switched off. While, useful if you're connecting directly to a power amp, it means you have to turn the volume control clockwise about 2.5 turns (or use the remote) to get back to maximum output again each time you switch the player on.

Battleship build

Like most Shanling products, the CD-T2000 offers 'battleship' build quality and a very high standard of finish. The entire chassis is made from solid aluminium panels around one centimetre thick and sits on four corner turrets. It weighs in at about 11kg, which is remarkably heavy for a CD player and whether or not its substantial build affects performance is debatable.

But the sound certainly has a 'solid' quality to match the look and feel of the player. While the chassis dimensions are more or less the same as earlier Shanling players, having the feet at each corner has effectively made the player wider. Indeed, so wide, it only just fits onto a 'normal' 46cm-width hi-fi equipment shelf. Ideally, you need one with a width of about 50cm.

If this product were manufactured in the USA, it would probably cost three or four times what Shanling is asking here and at just under £2,000, makes it a veritable bargain. You can buy it secure in the knowledge that few products anywhere at any price will match it for build quality and finish.

Comparable to SACD

Before auditioning the CD-T2000, we'd been enjoying the sound of the SCD-T2000 SACD player. When playing SACDs, the latter delivers a very open, detailed sound that's very natural and the difference between CD and SACD on this player has been fairly marked (but that's what you'd expect given the technical advantages of a higher-resolution format like SACD).

With CD, however, the CD-T2000 sounds better than the SCD-T2000 and while the latter delivers a very open sound – it lacks that slightly hard 'closed-in' tonal balance you almost always get with CD. This difference is very noticeable on instruments like cymbals. Via the CD-T2000, cymbals reproduce with a lovely breathy openness that sounds like good analogue. Transients have crisp attack and there's plenty of body and shimmer.

But what's unusual and remarkable is the lack of tonal hardness – something that really lets you experience the sound of stick on metal – or metal to metal when orchestral cymbals are crashed together.

Playing the recent Boulez recording of Mahler's orchestral song cycle Des Knaben Wunderhorn, we were forcibly struck by the truthful natural quality of the sound – the pure uncoloured timbres and spacious naturalness produced. Had we not known otherwise, we'd have thought we were listening to an SACD rather than a CD – there was a comparable purity and 'rightness' about the sound.

With no pressing copy deadline, we spent many hundreds of hours listening to the CD-T2000 on all kinds of music recorded over a vast period of time and always the sound had a pure, open naturalness that seemed like an open window on the music. If the aim of high-fidelity is to reproduce the original without adding or subtracting, then the CD-T2000 gets pretty close to that ideal. It's a player that satisfies your needs without leaving you hungry for more.

As good as SACD

This is an unusually good player – one that sounds as good as it looks. It delivers a smooth, natural, well-balanced sound that lets you hear the music as it was originally recorded. Considering our enthusiasm for the SACD player, the prospect of a player that could make CDs sound almost as good as SACDs might still prove too much to resist.

And anyway, the thought of going back to something 'inferior' once the review period was over was just too depressing to contemplate. Hearty recommendation, as I think you'd agree.

Unison Research Unico CDE Twin: Overview

Italians seem to love valve equipment. As a nation they produce a broad array of stylish glass-powered electronics; it must be something to do with the romance that valves bring out in music! Unison Research makes a number of amplifiers and three CD players, of which the Unico CDE Twin is the top dog.

In fact, it's slightly higher than that because it's the upgraded DAC-OP2 version of the Unico CDE. This is an optional upgrade to the standard CDE that costs £150 if you fit it yourself, but adds £175 to the price of the normal player.

It replaces a single Crystal DAC with a pair of Wolfson convertors, albeit leaving the Crystal in place (which allows you to switch between the two via the front panel), a unique if not entirely essential feature.

The CDE runs a TEAC transport through a Crystal digital interface to the Wolfson 24-bit/192kHz DACs, which run in dual-differential mode.

The glass can be found in the output stage, which has four ECC83 double triodes in a parallel cathode-follower arrangement. There is little chance, therefore, of running this thing in standby with less than a Watt.

On/off switching is placed on the right hand side of the case which seems perverse but keeps the bead-blasted facia minimal and with only four buttons, it's hardly busy. What gives it a bit of sparkle is the large backlit LCD display, which can be switched off if required.

Unison Research Unico CDE Twin: sound quality

Lab report

Having to keep voltages on the valves means this unit consumes a lot of power, even when it's not in use; 30 Watts are consumed while idling and up to 46 Watts during playback. There is no standby option and the power switch is in an awkward location on the side of the unit. A 30-second 'valve warm up' timer on power-up is a nice touch, though the manual recommends allowing 10 minutes for the system to warm up to its optimum operating conditions.

On investigating the better-than-expected distortion results we see a predictable second and fourth harmonic making up the majority, giving that 'analogue warmth' is so desired by analogue's fans. This, at the cost of the dynamic range, it seems. The third harmonic measured nearly as high as the sixth, so under gain the sound may become rather rough.

Sound quality

The Unico clearly exerted its charm on the listening panel, two thirds of which were very taken with it, while even the most critical managed to find something positive to say. It's valve complement undoubtedly inspired comments such as "very musical - more sense of ambience" and "good sense of liveness and atmosphere".

The bass is usually where such designs come undone, but even here it found a lot of favour, the panel noting that the, "bass is light but not low on energy" in one case and "good bass, tight but not the deepest" in another.

About the most critical point raised was that it's "not exciting" and "controlled yet timid", but that seemed a unique view as there were more comments along the lines of, "piano sounds like a piano" and "good projection into the room with a big 3D image".

Further sighted listening generally backed this up; the Unico has a very natural presentation that suits acoustic instruments to a tee, thanks to a very transparent midrange and a generally musical style. It lacks the precision of the some other CD players in both detail and imaging terms, the latter seeming quite vague by comparison and the bass is clearly not as well extended, but these factors have little or nothing to do with its remarkable degree of vividness.

The Unico is a fairly expensive player, but it combines exotic build with an engaging and revealing sound that most music-lovers will have difficulty resisting.

Stello is part of Korean company April Music's roster and we've seen a variant of the DA100 DAC before when Russ Andrews modified it and sold it as the DA-1 alongside a matching pre/headphone amp and power amp.

The solid, half-size brick construction remains with this pairing, the Stello CDT100 CD Player and DA100 DAC, which by virtue of its two-box nature has a varied array of socketry.

The CDT100 must be the most affordable top-loading transport in the game; it's well-built, with a shiny magnetic clamp and acrylic cover that doesn't need to be in place in use. What differentiates it is the provision of an I 2S digital output on a mini DIN socket. This allows the transport to send a separate clock-sync signal to suitably equipped DACs alongside the digital bitstream.

In the days before re-clocking DACs, this was a good system for reducing jitter, but it's very rare nowadays. The CDT100 can't tell when you've put a new disc on so you have to inspire it to read the thing by pressing 'disc' before it will play.

The DA100 Signature convertor naturally has an appropriate input for I 2S and accommodates all the more popular digital interfaces as well. It can't tell you what the incoming bit rate is but it can upsample to 96kHz or 192kHz, and it will accept up to 96kHz on all but its USB input, which is restricted to 48kHz.

Lab report

By a small margin, the best measurements were taken with no 'upsampling' on the DA 100. Jitter became a factor with the upsampling engaged at 1363.5ps at 24-bit/96kHz and 1683.5ps at 24/192.

Distortion also rose to 0.08 per cent with the unit in it's 24/192 setting and the dynamic range fell by 0.3dB. These figures don't look or, perhaps, amount to much, but you would be forgiven to expect them to go up.

We measured a +14dBr gain above standard line level from the DAC when injecting a 0dBFS test tone from the generator and receiving +14dBr on the balanced analogue outputs; +7.6dBr unbalanced. This could potentially generate when connected to a sensitive power amplifier stage.

The CDT100 delivered textbook results for a CD transporter when measuring it's digital output. Test tones and sweeps all tracked perfectly.

Sound quality

One unusual finding was that the upsampled output was notably darker than the standard result, such changes don't usually elicit an obvious tonal change. Overall, the panel preferred the non o/s result, which has some vivacity to it. In all instances we used the supplied mini-DIN I 2S cable as digital interconnect for listening.

This pairing got a mixed reception from the blind-listening panel; one thought it rather timid and reserved with slight sibiliance in the high frequencies, whereas another enjoyed the quality of image, strength of ambiance and timing on Walk on the Wild Side.

Our third listener was less impressed noting a "lack of perception of the instruments" with a La Folia piece and a lack of 'air' in the highs of a Sarah McLachlan track.

Further listening did not greatly enhance these impressions; there is a lack of transparency to the midrange and in timing terms, it likes to take its time; this works with some material but can seem a bit lugubrious with more sedate pieces. It's a pity because the build quality is excellent and you get a lot for your money.

We suspect that the DAC, at least, is beginning to show its age and might not be helping matters. The Stello transport, however, is something of a rare find.

A well-equipped transport combined with an equally well-made DAC that has a powerful, but slightly dark sound.

Hanss Acoustics made its debut here with the T-30 turntable, one of three high-mass, multi-motor designs that it produces. Despite the presence of phono stages and even a record-cleaner in the range, it's not just an analogue company, as the CD-20 CD player proves.

Like the turntables, the CD-20 is a substantial beast with high build and finish quality for the asking price. In fact, the all-metal remote, which is styled to match the player, is extremely attractive.

Compared to other CD players on the same price range, it's low on features, but has all the essentials in the RCA phono and XLR analogue outputs and a lonely coaxial digital output. Optical outputs have their uses, but not many audio enthusiasts make them a first choice.

The CD-20 has switchable upsampling from the remote to a whopping 705.6kHz which is 16 times the standard 44.1kHz sample rate of CD, but only four times the 176.4kHz produced by the pair of Burr-Brown PCM1792 DACs it houses. Hanss uses four Burr-Brown op-amps in the output stage to produce the balanced output available on the XLR connections.

Interestingly, the quoted distortion figures for this output are considerably lower than those for single-ended outputs, suggesting that these RCA phono connectors are hooked up to a valve output stage.

Although no mention is made of the fact in the spec, the ventilation holes under the box piqued our interest sufficiently for us to take the lid off and reveal a pair of ECC85-equivalent 6N1 double-triode valves.

Lab report

With no way to select between the different outputs (apart from when a balanced line is connected and the unbalanced outputs are disabled), it is likely that the unbalanced outputs are derived from one-half of each differential pair of the balanced lines. This would explain the performance of the unbalanced outputs, which are very lacking.

We measured 2.5 per cent THD+N over a 1kHz test tone at 0dBFS, while the balanced outputs achieved an exceptional 0.004 per cent. The frequency response suggests that the two stages are separated after any audio-band filtering, while the distortion figures suggests the unbalanced output is fed at the last possible point and with minimal or no noise filtering.

Maintaining a high standard on the unbalanced output has proven too costly or difficult to engineer in addition to maintaining a well-balanced output stage.

Sound quality

The blind panel heard the CD-20's single-ended outputs as it did for all the other players and having auditioned the two options side-by-side, we suspect it's best that way.

The tubes on the single-ended side have a distinctly mellowing effect, which helps the CD-20 to produce a fluid and relaxed, if slightly dark, sound that's a little short on energy. Initially, the panel reported an "open and airy" sound with a "wide soundstage" and "good bass that's tight and full".

This impression didn't continue throughout the programme, however, and after a while the novelty seemed to have worn off, with complaints that the sound was "flat with no sense of depth".

The results weren't significantly more consistent the second time around, where a panellist enjoyed its musicality. But not everyone was so positive and there was some dissent regarding a "lack of bass weight" and "poor image-projection".

In its defence, this isn't a particularly expensive one-box machine, and it can clearly make music if your tastes are for the acoustic rather than the electronic.

In many respects Densen is Denmark's answer to Naim; it eschews feature-counting, but provides upgradable power supplies on its amplifiers and emphasises that audio components should be all about enjoying the music.

We couldn't agree more with that sentiment, so the question is; does this latest version of the company's midrange player provide enough entertainment to warrant its asking price?

One factor that you have to consider when it comes to price is he remote handset. The Gizmo, as its dubbed, adds £150 to the cost of the player, and so is not a minor consideration. It is beautiful, but a plastic 'freebie' could be just as practical in this day and age.

The player is attractively hewn out of aluminium slabs - quite sharp-edged ones at that - and the styling is very chic in a minimalist Scandi-style.

The XS suffix indicates that this is a replacement for the B-420+, with the main changes being the addition of a digital input and the option to add one of Densen's external NRG power supplies. The player runs a modified TEAC transport mechanism and has a shielded 24-bit DAC that can be bypassed via a switchable digital output on a BNC connector.

Being an amplifier maker, Densen goes to some lengths to suggest that the power supply in this player is of power-amp quality, scaled down one assumes, to preamp levels for the six-watt output stage. Needless to say, it 'goes large' on supply regulation and parts quality.

Lab report

The outputs from the Densen were very well-matched at 1.991Vrms left and 1.990Vrms right. Our results point to a very well-mirrored layout within. However, a disappointing jitter result is likely, contributing to an overall rather disappointing performance with crosstalk in the range of 75dB and dynamic range only reaching 92dB.

The low-level distortion figure of 3.4 per cent tarnishes an otherwise very good result as well. The frequency response only drifts by 0.21dB at the extremes, but a high-performance amplifier and true full-range speaker system will noticeably lack detail in the extremes due to the phase errors occurring.

Power consumption may become a consideration for anyone ecologically, or economically inclined as the unit in standby uses six Watts. A solid CD player, although by no means anything special beyond the build quality and aesthetics.

Sound quality

Much like its Salisbury-based counterpart, Densen components have a sound all their own. So our panellists had two main gripes, one being the lack of image depth, which was variously described as "flat", "small-scale" and "flatter", and the other being a tonal thinness that showed up as "voices lacking in character" and "lacking bass weight".

In fact, the most generous thing anyone could bring themselves to note down was that Walk on the Wild Side was "very relaxed", but even this was counterpointed by comments suggesting it has too much attack and "seems compressed"!

The issue of attack is what really differentiates Densen components and causes the polarised response to them. If you are after a pacy sound with plenty of emphasis on leading edges, there isn't much competition (even from Naim, whose electronics are a bit more sophisticated these days).

Our panellists didn't respond positively in our sighted listening tests, but you can't deny that this player does what it says on the tin; music should be fun. If you can listen through the balance and aren't too concerned about imaging qualities, this is a genuinely air-guitar-inspiring player, and that can't be a bad thing.

Densen goes to great lengths to build high-quality components and makes first-class casework for both components and the Gizmo remote. This goes a long way to explain the cost of the player, and for individuals with a penchant for rock, the B-420XS is worth auditioning.

Audio Analogue's Maestro range represents the pinnacle of its achievements: the Special Edition power amplifiers that carry the same badge cost in the region of £20,000.

The Maestro CD player is the penultimate Audio Analogue disc-spinner, second only to the SE version which comes in at twice the price.

Our test model is the second revision of the design, or CD192/24 REV2.0 as they call it in the technical dept. It differs from its predecessor in having a TEAC CD-ROM transport mechanism, chosen for its sturdiness and low-jitter output.

The display has also been changed to a high-contrast VFD-type (vacuum fluorescent display) that uses white dots to produce a fairly small description of what the player is doing. This, combined with the lack of any direct track access from the remote, makes selecting specific tracks a little tricky.

The handset also looks very cool in its jewel-like metal case and is appealingly solid. The buttons on the player's front are artfully arranged, but have very small legends. After a while, however, you remember that the one at 11 o'clock opens the smooth-action drawer and the central one instigates play, which is all you really need.

Connections are pretty much par for this price area; a pair of good-quality RCA phono sockets sit alongside XLRs and a single digital output.

Sound quality

The Maestro is an exceptionally refined solid-state player and also quite expensive. We particularly liked the quality of its high notes, which avoid the very fine grain found with most transistor designs and allows it to give a detailed, yet natural sound.

It's also strong on timing, thanks to a degree of precision in the midrange that allows you to hear into each mix with considerable clarity; it could almost be a valve-based player, but has a touch more edge-definition and stronger bass than most designs.

While we were not entirely in agreement about the Maestro, overall it proved to be the most popular player on the day. In fact, there is a lot to like, an "open and airy" soundstage that is well projected into the room and the "best image with wide-crowd ambience from the live Kraftwerk track".

There were also a number of comments along the lines of "quite musical, good timing especially in the bass" and "good sense of acoustic, you can hear the hall this was recorded in" with regard to our La Folia piece. It even appeased the most critical panellist who clearly enjoyed the latter track, describing it as, "delicate, open and airy".

This is a high-quality player in all respects and the only one that can combine superb detail-resolution with genuine musical fluidity. Timing is excellent, as are dynamics and these are the qualities that bring the music to life.

Musical Fidelity has returned from its latest period of reinvention on something of a roll and the rapid release of new products shows no signs of abating. Following on from the headphone and integrated amps, this is our first experience of the new range of digital products from the company.

The M1 DAC has been on sale for a few months now, but has recently been joined by the partnering M1 CDT. This is a brand new product and is, perhaps, the more unusual one of the two.

With the general consensus apparently being that all DACs being sold are for a future of computer and streamed audio, the release of a dedicated CD transport into the market might seem an unusual one. Together, the two products make a £1,000 CD player so naturally we elected to review them as a pair to see if the two-box approach still brings something to CD replay that one box players do not.

Neat touches

The £400 M1 DAC is, at first glance, relatively conventional, but proves to contain some neat touches. The half-width chassis contains four inputs selectable from the front panel. The optical, coaxial and USB inputs are expected, but the fourth, an AES balanced input, is more unusual at the price.

This, combined with the matching balanced analogue output, allows the M1 DAC to operate in a balanced mode which, if not an absolute guarantee of good performance, is usually a sign that the internals are of reasonable quality.

The internals comprise a Burr-Brown DSD1796 DAC chip (supported by a SRC4392 chip) that allows all digital material the M1 DAC receives to be upsampled to 24-bit/192kHz. Another positive feature is that the rear panel features a full-size IEC mains input, rather than relying on a wall wart power supply.

While the internal PSU of the M1 isn't especially large (not that it needs to be), the result is neater for installation and the unit proves totally silent in use.

The £600 M1 CDT is an identical size to the DAC and together the units are the equivalent of a single full-width component.

Its rear panel is conventional enough, but features the matching AES output to feed the DAC as well as more conventional optical and coaxial feeds for other DACs. The mechanism is an inhaler-type drive and is the same specification to the M3 CD, although the mechanisms for the transport are apparently handpicked for the purpose.

The result is an elegant-looking unit, although like all drives of this type the M1 CDT will 're-inhale' a CD partially ejected and left poking out of the front if you do not remove it relatively quickly – which can be an annoyance if you have mislaid the box.

Like the DAC, the CDT also features a full-size mains input on the rear panel. A remote handset borrowed from the M3i allows for track selection and volume control of Musical Fidelity amps.

Impressively solid

The fit and finish of both units is good. The front panels are attractive and well laid out, and they both feel impressively solid. They make an interesting comparison to the current crop of CD players fitted with digital inputs.

Combining the DAC and CDT via their AES connection gives you a CD player that is fitted with optical, coaxial and USB inputs for additional sources. In addition, the two boxes can live side-by-side on a shelf, be stacked, or indeed be placed a considerable distance from one another.

Come the need to upgrade, the two-box layout allows for one box to be upgraded at a time. The only downside to this is that two mains sockets will be required, but otherwise, the combination exhibits considerable flexibility as a pairing and has to be considered good value at £1,000.

Listening to the units connected via the AES connection and via the balanced output of the DAC show that the pairing is sonically competitive as well. The overall impression is one of even-handedness and there is a sense that the M1's main ability is to get out of the way of the music and let the disc speak for itself.

This seems to be largely down to a flat presentation with no discernable lift at any part in the frequency. This may not sound desperately exciting, but the ability of the duo to bring as little of themselves as possible is great for anyone seeking either a neutral system or wanting to introduce colouration via their amplification or speakers – in other words, at a point where all sources would benefit.

Low-end weight

The bass and mid bass reproduction is extremely adept. There is considerable low-end weight to proceedings, but the bass avoids any sense of being overblown or overbearing.

Orchestral pieces, in particular, benefit from a fabulously natural low-end presence that greatly aids realism. Tonality with vocals and instruments is also very good with excellent decay to plucked strings and piano notes.

This is further helped by an excellent and convincing soundstage that usually gives performers space to breathe. The unforced naturalness that results makes this a very easy source to listen to for long periods.

When compared to competitors such as Audiolab's extremely advanced 8200CD, the Musical Fidelity combination is less detailed and revealing, but in many ways more natural, as well as being more forgiving of poor recordings.

Timing is assured, but the pairing does not inject additional vitality into recordings; this is because Musical Fidelity amps need no help in this regard; but if you are partnering with another amp that is equally neutral, you may find the pairing lacks a sense of excitement. Others will appreciate the extremely even-handed nature of the performance.

Main influence

Listening to other inputs on the DAC, via other CD and DVD players, as well as USB from PC, reveals that the M1 DAC is the main influence of the sonic signature and has to be considered something of a star for the £400 asking price.

The same natural, unforced presentation comes through from all inputs and the DAC treads a fine line between being revealing enough to bring details to the forefront, while ensuring that compressed material stays listenable.

The unbalanced RCA output of the DAC – once you have adjusted the levels – has the same qualities as the XLR output; although, we preferred the balanced one, if only because both amplifiers we tried it with also work better over XLR.

The M1 pairing impressed us greatly. This is a well-thought-out and capable duo that stands comparison to any £1,000 CD player we have tested recently.

The performance with CD via the CDT is excellent and the performance of other equipment connected to the M1 DAC is equally strong. The DAC is the more cost-effective component of the two takes some beating for £400. As a £1,000 CD player, the addition of the CDT makes for an engaging combination with considerable flexibility in performance.

There is no shortage of competition at or around the £1,000 price point and there will be people who prefer to buy a single box and be done with it, but if you are looking for a player which artfully combines a very natural presentation and brings very little of the character of the electronics to the performance, the M1 system demand an audition.

Monrio is an Italian company with a refreshingly honest aim, "Our pretension is neither to bring a real listening experience to your house – it is not possible to do it – nor to imitate the reality but to represent it in the best possible way."

Few companies have the strength of character to be this open about their approach. It does, of course, grant Monrio founder Giovanni Gadzola licence to make highly personal products, but the fact that he has been selling them for over three decades suggests that his tastes are not unique.

The Top Loader 2 is Monrio's penultimate CD player and quite a stylish conglomeration of aluminium and acrylic it is too, the question is does it sound as good as it looks?

More substance

Gadzola started out in the seventies making amplifiers and has subsequently grown the range to include phono stages, DACs, pre and power amplifiers and four CD players.

Most of the low-power circuits that Monrio builds incorporate valves and this is true of the penultimate disc player that we have here. And as is the Italian way, the styling is very strong on this machine. But this does not always tally with great ergonomics, a situation that was slightly exacerbated by the non-arrival of the remote handset.

The Top Loader 2 was built for customers who want the qualities of the company's best player, the Top Loader 3, but without the cost, so the casework is more traditionally shaped and the electronics simplified. The case is still pretty substantial and beautifully finished – Monrio is keen to keep resonance at bay and so builds heavy and strong using aluminium extrusions for maximum rigidity.

The TL 3 has two valves protruding from its flank and these same valves can be found inside the more affordable player. They are 12AU7 triodes with high-voltage transistor regulation fed by a 'generously rated' toroidal transformer with separate windings for the various sections of the player.

It has twin Sigma/Delta DACs and uses an I2S bus to keep audio signal and clock data separate prior to conversion. Analogue output is via single-ended or balanced connections and a digital signal can be output from the single coaxial connection.

The unusually slim control buttons look good, but are rather short on tactile response, there is little or no give when you press them. Doing so elicits a response, however, and after a while you learn not to press too hard.

The larger control on the right of the facia looks like it might revolve to select tracks but only seems to be a standby switch. It's a solidly built machine in all respects, except for the acrylic cover that slides over the disc bay.

It looks good with its blue tint, but doesn't operate all that smoothly. Discs needs to be held in place with a magnetic puck and the player spins up when you close the cover, a system that does mean you can stop playback by merely sliding the lid back, which makes for button free disc changes.

On the tin

This is a great-looking machine with strong design and a lot of flair for the money. Its appearance is slightly undermined by the ergonomics, but disc cover aside, most of these are less of an issue if you have the remote.

It's not big on features, there's no digital input as is the prevailing fashion, so you can't attach a streamer or PC and there's certainly no USB input for maximum flexibility. This is a CD player pure and simple, albeit one with a pair of valves inside, not many glass-powered players are all that feature-rich.

Build is generally good with decent casework alignment and an encouraging solidity. The feet look fairly mundane but are, in fact, spiked with a padded foot to avoid damage to the supporting surface.

At this price there is quite a lot of competition for Monrio. For example, we very much liked Denon's DCD-2010AE, a £1,700 machine that may not have the style on offer here, but it plays SACD and has plenty of support for your iPod. Naim's CD5 XS (£1,825) offers openness, as well as fine quality timing on top of the marque's strong reputation for musicality. The only machine we've seen in recent times that competes in terms of style is the Consonance Droplet CDP3.1 (£1,995), which is even more extravagant in appearance and also has valves under the skin.

Open and shut

In the listening room we hooked the TL2 up to Townshend's new Glastonbury Pre, a pair of Mark Levinson No.53 monoblocks and PMC's fact 8 loudspeakers. If it doesn't sound good through this lot it never will.

Fortunately it does, but with a distinctly relaxed demeanour that tallies with Monrio's musical experience rather than attempted realism philosophy. It does this very well, thanks to a good sense of timing, calm presentation and high musicality – once a good track is playing there is no inclination to turn it off and move onto the next and even with high-end players this isn't always the case.

While the valves make it a little too relaxed to be considered a pace, rhythm and timing style player, its strong sense of involvement puts in contention with that type of machine. Next to a Leema Antila you can hear that it is distinctly lacking in spatial resolution; the Leema sounds extremely open, has a lot of depth and a greater sense of realism. The Antila is a more expensive machine, but there are more closely priced players that deliver a similarly open sound.

Leading-edge definition can be enhanced with the right choice of interconnect – we tried some TMS Pulse B in place of the usual Townshend Isolda DCT100 and this enhanced the sense of speed, but undermined the Monrio's ease at high levels. There aren't to our knowledge, any cables that can make this player sound really open but if you can live with that this is a very engaging disc-spinner with its heart in the right place.

Centre stage

Very easy to live with from a sonic point of view, the Top Loader 2 is a good-looking player that is also very strong on charm. It doesn't have the transparency or urgency of the best at this price but it does make you want to listen to your music and that's a fundamental quality of good hi-fi .

It gets very close to offsetting its limitations with its ability to focus the listener on all that's transcendant in the music, but whether you will feel it gets the balance right is a matter of taste and for that matter system-matching. But if you aren't listening enough it could well have the power to put music back in your life.