Get rid of that stylish red and grey record player our parents bou ht you back in the 805, an de ve into the worl of the modern sound system. Words: Jack Mottram
MARKET
LUXURY VINYL
VINYL Rega Planar3
. £350 (includin Mitchell Gyrodec SE cartridge) 9 £775 (from £1100 with tonearm and cartridge) For a firm that never The original Gyrodec hit the High Street over a decade ago, and has . advertises, Rega has sold conSistently ever Since, so the Special Edition had to be, well, . . . managed to find itself in special. Boffins wrll thrill to the benefits of a separate power supply more than a few starter and beautifully balanced Sub-ChaSSIS. The rest of us can drool over
h i b b d b systems. This is thanks to tasty deSign matc ed on y y taut ass an super noflonsense deSign that stereo imaging.
allows for gripping, high quality reproduction at low prices. These days, the formerly sensible Rega designers have gone colour crazy, so you can get one to match your iBook.
a LOUDSPEAKERS
Blueroom Mini ods CD PLAYER £250 9 Naim Audio CDX They’ve been around for a while now, £2250 but the 'pods have aged better than Okay, two grand and change might seem a bit steep, especially when most examples of the 905 fad for
pseudo-organic forms. As well as looking a treat and matching the curtains, a pair of these are an ideal way to give your midi system a bit of a boost: the speakers that came With the package are likely to be an afterthought on the manufacturer's part, and
no match for other components.
Naim reckons yOu need its CDPS offboard power supply to really make the thing Sing. But this is hi-fi With the emphaSIS on hi, and if you want a CD player that av0ids the pitfalls of the medium, and can handle anything from Darude to Debussy, you could do worse.
SYSTEM SVSIEM
Teac Reference 100 System gfégmmh' soundSpace 5
around £800
If your mini is showing its age, and the world of separates seems a bit daunting the best route is to assemble a tailor-made system from one manufacturer’s range. To start With, Teac’s CR-HlOO does the work of an amp, tuner and CD player in one box. Add the MD-HTOO MiniDisc Recorder, and all your hi-fi needs are sorted.
The antidote to those horrible Bang & Olufsens that graced the walls of 80s bachelor pads, Nakamichi’s lifestyle system is sleek, sexy and even allows you to co-ordinate the speaker grilles with your decor. Oh, and it plays music too. The main unit houses a three CD multichanger and FM/AM tuner, and, Since Nakamichi is best known for high-end separates, it has spent as much time on little touches like individual power amplifiers for each speaker as it has on getting the brushed aluminium Just so.
,, i 1,“, my Q71" x ,Wi . .i_"~1l. «In, " firm“ ‘-~. i“ “M. 371"”? .‘ ' ~ - i./.il."za..Mu Mam 'm
114 THE lIST 3—19 Oct 2000