![]() ![]() Since the IZero amplifier offers just eight watts per channel, power output could be an issue. While its lack of power makes it expensive on a pound-per-watt basis and limits its usage to efficient speakers only it sounds absolutely gorgeous – the audio equivalent of smooth rich chocolate! The CD player is especially good, giving a rich warm, yet open tonality that is unusually 'analogue' in nature. The CD/II and AZ-Two speakers are both very fine-sounding products that will easily stand comparison with comparably priced (and dearer) equivalents from other manufacturers. So, whether or not it offers good value is intimately related to how highly you rate its sound quality. Given all this, it's unlikely that anyone will choose the Zero system for 'battleship build quality' or stylish appearance. No grilles are supplied, but these can be bought as accessories for about £60. The AZ Two loudspeakers can be obtained in black ash, rosewood, beech, or cherry veneers and again styling is fairly traditional. Both amplifier and CD player exude a distinct retro appearance and will appeal to those who prefer hi-fi with a traditional look. Each item is nicely finished, but the plain somewhat 'boxy' styling means there's not much 'wow' factor. There's nothing flashy about the build quality. Our review samples came in the former and look understated, but smart. The 6111WA tube is soldered in place and Audio Note claims its lifespan should exceed 100,000 hours.Īudio Note offers its Zero electronics with a choice of fascia plates – silver alloy, or black acrylic. The transport is a modified Philips L1210. The CD player features a single 6111WA tube in the analogue output stage, with a Philips TDA 1543 filterless DAC used without up-sampling. The amplifier employs four ECL82 output tubes (two per channel), run in Class A up to about 80 per cent of their power and then switched to Class A/B. There are additional buttons for volume and input selection that, unfortunately, have no effect on the IZero amplifier.īoth amp and CD player feature tubes. A remote handset is supplied with the CD player and there are buttons for direct track-selection and fast-search, a button to dim or turn off the illuminated display, plus buttons for repeat (one track or the whole disc), random track playback and time – either track elapsed time, remaining time (track or disc) and total elapsed time. Ever.The Zero CD/II CD player is only a little less Spartan: you get the usual operational controls, a single set of unbalanced analogue outputs, plus a digital output. This stand alone Red Book CD player is, to put it mildly, astonishingly good. The CD5.1x uses our own in-house designed and manufactured digital transformers silver wound for the Transport side and copper wound for the DAC side. ![]() The analogue output stage uses a combination of 1 x 5814a and 1 x 5687WB valves, feeding a pair of our world-renowned output transformers, using SHiB cores with copper primaries and secondaries.Ī mix of our own 0.5 Watt and 1 Watt non- magnetic Tantalum resistors are used in all critical areas, as are our own custom Audio Note (UK) foil / Mylar and electrolytic capacitors. The power supply is a valve rectified and regulated design, using a 6X5 and ECL82. The CD5.1x features the top-loading Philips CD Pro 2LF CD mechanism, which we custom modify and improve in-house, bringing the performance of this already excellent mechanism up to a standard that is truly in a class of its own. Never before has it been possible to achieve such quite astonishingly superior levels of digital replay from a single chassis, integrated design. The CD5.1x is a completely new machine which elevates the one-box CD player to hitherto unknown levels of performance. The final machine became significantly more than that. We started with the concept of combining elements of our CDT-Three transport and DAC3.1x/II Balanced DAC with a careful selection of improved components. The CD5.1x is the latest in our line of one-box integrated Red Book CD players. ![]()
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