I've never been too bothered about the physical appearance of hi-fi. "If it sounds right, it generally is right" has been my basic philosophy and I still stand by it. OK, so I'm in a bit of a minority I realise that the WCF (Wife Compatibility Factor) can count a lot in a persons' selection of the perfect purchase, but compromising sound quality for marginal aesthetics in my opinion, is a bit of a cop out. That's not to say that I can't appreciate a stylish bit of kit. I can! I quite often drool over the Helios Stargate CD player, and who could possibly resist the superb designs of some of those frighteningly expensive Italian valve amps? However, in most of the sub-£1000.00 CD player market, I've noticed that if you want style, you tend to lose sound quality and if you want sound quality the style tends to go out of the window. Yes, there are a few exceptions, but on the whole, as with most consumer products, mass-production budget restraints dictate that style levels remain minimal.

I own a Trichord Genesis, and I can confirm that this theory is born out admirably Based upon a Pioneer PDS505 (not exactly the most beautiful CD player in the world), Tom Evans adapted, modified and improved the sonic qualities to an amazingly high level, then stuck a paper label on the front panel where it used to say Pioneer. Sure, turn the lights out while you're listening to it and it certainly sounds beautiful, but in daylight it just looks like another bit of cheap Japanese hi-fi. That's OK with me - I still love it! Wouldn't it be great if someone could come up with hi-fi that could be aesthetically adaptable as well as sonically acceptable?

I've got news for you - Sugden have, and it's called the 'Audition Compact Disc Player'. The Audition CD single box player is designed to complement the 'Audition' series of amplifiers, the 'T' and 'C' integrated amps, and the imaginatively named Pre' and Power' combination. And complement is the right word. A British CD player which looks good, and doesn't cost a fortune! - £650.00 to be precise. I am not going to say any more about the amplifiers at this point - it's the CD player I'm interested in for the purposes of this review. Suffice to say that the whole range has a visual synergy that is a cut above most equipment in this price area.

The unit that was supplied to me was a typical British standard 17" wide box finished in a deeply anodised, sexy glossy black, though I was delighted to discover that Sugden can supply various front panel finishes, most usually all black or all silver, though the combination that caught my eye was silver top and bottom, with a grey centre. And what a front panel! None of your flimsy cost-effective paper thin aluminium pressing here. The Audition front panel is a substantial, solid, machined slab of aluminium. Together with the rest of the casing, it makes up probably the most solidly rigid housings I have come across in CD players at this price.

Visually the front panel is simply, yet effectively styled. The drawer mechanism, situated on the right hand side is neat and tidy and the display panel is small but easily sufficient to give the required information (in green LEDs). The six control buttons (open, play stop, previous, next and standby) are discrete, and the functions are well laid-out, both on the machine, and on the accompanying remote control unit. The rear panel consists of a standard IEC mains supply socket, a power on/off switch (this allows the machine to be left permanently powered up and left in stand-by mode), and gold-plated output RCA sockets for both analogue and digital coax modes.

According to the brochure: "the machine uses a short loading version of the CDM12.1. Sugden remove the D to A conversion and digital output stages on the original unit, and the digital filtering, noise shaping, and analogue conversions are carried out on an original Sugden circuit board using the latest generation hybrid conversion IC. This DAC operates with 18 bit, 4 times over-sampling to develop the necessary wide dynamic range arid high linearity required for good audio reproduction. It has unique bitstream and continuous calibration modes, which take advantage of the respective low and high frequency performances of both concepts. The final analogue output stage includes a low impedance voltage reference stage to improve stability and discrete component output buffer stages. The final output buffer stage has zero feedback, and incorporates discrete components to guarantee the smoothest musically reconstructed waveforms. There are no fewer than seven regulated power rails employed in the overall circuitry ensuring minimal mutual inducement of spuriae from the digital elements to the analogue output section. The latter is kept perfectly clean of glitches and spikes, which can cause a brittle and grating musical performance."

So There!

From this (and with help from the 'Idiots Guide To Electronics') I deduced that Sugden have spent a fair bit of time tinkering about with the insides, and that I could look forward to a 'smooth-sounding' audition (no pun intended).

As the machine I was supplied with was brand new, I gave it a fairly long run-in period of two solid weeks continuous play before attempting to give it a serious listen. During this time I carried out one of my usual hi-tech user checks on the player to determine its normal running temperature. I didn't burn my hand, and from this I deduced that the machine only runs at 'nice and warm' on the scale of 'cold' to 'Ow Bugger!' (technical term) and therefore would be quite at home in my (and most people's) hi-fi environment. So, on to the important bit - what does it sound like? I connected it up to my home system - Shearne Audio Phase 2 Integrated amplifier and Rogers LS3/5a loudspeakers using a Nordost Solar Wind interconnect between the CD player and the amplifier, and van den Hul CS122 speaker cable, let it warm up for a few hours, and sat down with my favourite CD's.

On opening the CD drawer, the impression of classy design was maintained. It operated quickly smoothly and almost silently The assembly whisks the disc into the machine with a satisfying, well-engineered quality. First track up was 'Born To Be Blue' by Steve Miller on the 1988 album of the same name (Capitol CDP7 48303 2). Don't be fooled. This is Steve Miller taking a holiday from rock and showing an accomplished hand at being a cool jazz guitarist/vocalist. Forsaking the usual Steve Miller Band line-up, he appears here with Ben Sidran on keyboards, Billy Peterson on bass, and Gordy Knutson on drums. MiIt Jackson supplies vibraphone on this particular track, and it's a classic. A silky sexy slow blues that's so laid back it's coming back the other way! And the Audition handles it very well. I was slightly 'wrong-footed' by the smoothness of the sound, then I began to notice the depth of soundstage. Cunning! A smooth jazz/blues track was an ideal first choice. The bass line of the track seemed to walk effortlessly through the air, and the vibes chimed hypnotically The vocal line appeared dead centre-stage and anchored the song into an almost luxuriant realism.

The next choice was 'Music For Airports' Brian Eno's ambient classic. Not the original electronic recording however, this particular performance is by real musicians in the form of the American group Bang On A Can (Pont Music/Polygram 536 847 2). Once again, the smoothness of the Audition seemed to accentuate the hypnotic qualities of the work. The opening bottom register piano chord was deep enough to dive into, and, though I'm not heavily into ambient music, I could not help but be impressed. Anyone who has read any of my previous literary output will be aware that I am the sort of person who much prefers a 'live' sound to a 'comfy cuddly' one, but this CD player is different. Though rich and warm, the details were allowed to shine through and draw my attention into the music. Plenty of information without sounding obvious.

This feeling was reinforced on my next choice - 'The Downtown Lights' by The Blue Nile from the album Hats (Linn Records LKHCD2). Another hypnotic piece, though we're starting to get a bit heavier with an insistent bass line which drives the song along at a good pace. The same effect as the previous track. Soft edges on a solid foundation with top frequencies that shimmer rather than cut. The vocals were never quite swamped by the slightly overdone synthetic strings. From the original song to the superb cover by Annie Lennox on the album 'Medusa' (MCA 74321331632). In my opinion a far superior performance and production (by Steve Lipson). Sonically more dynamic with a deeper, cleaner bass line, and the string sound replaced by 'block' vocals. Again the Audition performed admirably but though the soundstage was impressive, I felt that some of the music's 'bite' was lacking.

I decided to give the CD player a severe test with some awkward classical tests. I loaded one of my first choice test discs, Verdi's Requiem by the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, and the Montiverdi Choir conducted by John Eliot Gardiner (Philips 442 142-2). Track2, 'Dies Irae' (God's Anger). This piece always sorts out the shortcomings of systems. It's not what I would call merely dynamic, it's more of a complete explosion of sound, which should burst into the room. Which it did - sort of. The arrival of the massed choir, orchestra, percussion, etc. gave the Audition a bit of a shock. I'm used to an almost physical impact, where as, with the Sugden, whilst it definitely happened, it was a bit over there rather than right here. To be fair, it was a stiff test, and the machine performed really well, especially considering its price. I had a faint suspicion that the really deep notes were struggling slightly but the mid and upper frequencies came through loud and clear, and most important of all, the performance was convincing. With a lot of the warmer sounding players on the market you can almost hear the missing information, lost in the comfy thickness that clogs the sound. The Audition isn't a bit like that. It's devoid of glare and any form of nastiness, which tends to set the sound away from you slightly. The music's all there, it's just that the Sugden doesn't fire it at you. That makes matching critical, and sleepy speakers, lazy amps or padded cables are all to be avoided. What you need is a clean, open system which will make the most of the player's considerable strengths.

One of the areas where this machine excels is with solo instruments, especially piano. I like Debussy. So does the Audition. I started out just to listen to one or two pieces from the Suite Bergamasque by Pascal Rage (Debussy Piano Works, Decca 443 021-2) and ended up listening to the whole thing - two CD's! This particular recording, though ADD, gives, in my opinion, one of the best interpretations of the music available. The playing style is paced to perfection, giving a superbly wistful air to pieces that other musicians always seem to hurry. The Audition certainly does its bit here. The space and depth of sound was uncanny and with the lights out and supplied with a quantity of liquid refreshment, I happily spent two and a half hours of my life wrapped in sonic silk. Without effort, the Audition allowed the subtleties of the music waft around the room. The final item on the album is 'Reverie' (daydream), and believe me, I did! All the aspects of light and shade and the bits in between were quite beautifully reproduced.

So there it is. A British made CD player that looks good and performs well, at an affordable price point. Sugden have always been highly regarded as a manufacturer of quality and the new Audition range offers a something that has been missing from British hi-fl - sound quality and a choice of superb finishes. It's about time too! OK, there's always Naim, Linn, Cyrus etc., but there's a bit of a difference in budget to contend with. In a price area that is already congested with black boxes from all quarters of the world, it's good to find something British which stands out from the crowd. I cannot find anything to seriously fault the Audition CD player. It looks and sounds very good. It's a bargain at £650.00, and if you like smooth, you'll love it.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Revel Ultima Gem
Maximum Power Consumption; 53W
Output; 1.95V
Frequency Response; 20Hz - 18kHz -0.25dB
Signal to Noise; > 80dB

Price; £649.00

Manufacturer:
Audio Synergy Ltd
Valley Works
Station Lane
Heckmondwike
West Yorkshire
WF16 ONF
Tel: (44)(0) 1924-406016
Fax: (44)(0)1924-410069
Email: audiosynergy "at" easynet.co.uk

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