VALVE specialist Icon Audio has just launched its second CD player, the CDX2, which replaces the costlier CDX1. The CDX2 has been “specifically designed to deliver comparable sonics but at a lower, mid-range price.”
The UK manufacturer’s founder and chief designer David Shaw says the brief was to “craft a CD player with real warmth and dexterity… with that magical ‘vinyl sound’, in other words.”
Featured on board is the “latest” 24-bit/192kHz processor, but Shaw says what was more important was designing the output stage to avoid the “mechanical and soulless presentation” attributed to some CD players.
“I wanted a more musical presentation, with more warmth and colour. Something incredible easy to listen to,” he adds.
The CDX2 has an all-triode valve class A output stage that uses T J Full Music or original Mullard valves. The digital and analogue circuitry is hand-wired with high quality components.
The top-loading Sanyo CD transport mechanism ensures better rigidity, while a heavy alloy clamp acts as a flywheel to increase rotational stability during playback.
The CDX2 is available now, priced at £995.
