Ed Selley

Precious metal Monitor Audio's new Gold GX series incorporates many of the refinements pioneered by the more costly Platinum range, says Paul Messenger Monitor Audio began operations nearly forty years ago, but is probably best known for introducing and proselytising metal diaphragm drive units, initially for its tweeter domes and soon afterwards for the cones used in its bass and midrange drivers. Add in some very classily veneered enclosures that were manufactured in its own cabinet shop and the company established a template that still holds good today. Twenty years down the line, plenty has changed of course, but the same core values remain at the heart of Monitor Audio’s more upmarket ranges. The first Platinum series models appeared some four years ago and have been covered extensively in Hi-Fi Choice in recent times: PL100 (HFC 343); PL200 (HFC 330) and PL300 (HFC 301).

Densen B-420XS Naim-esque Dane with a sublime design and stunning remote is high on pace and energy In many respects Densen is Denmark’s answer to Naim; it eschews feature counting, but provides upgradeable 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 so is not a minor consideration. It is beautiful, but a plastic ‘freebie’ could be just as practical in this day and age.

Primare CD32 Sublime Sweede is understated to behold, but engaging, muscular and tactile with recorded music We looked at Primare’s latest CD player and its partnering amplifier the i32 in HFC 344, so it makes sense to see how it compares with the competition. On paper and in the flesh it’s very strong indeed, thanks to a superb OLED display with a crisp Sans Serif style and a stainless front panel with the bare minimum of buttons. The CD32’s natural tendency is to upsample its output to 96kHz via both analogue and digital sockets, but this can be reined in to 48 or 44. 1kHz with the remote handset.

Unison Research Unico CDE Twin This Venetian charmer isn’t cheap, but it’s superbly built and delivers on romance, atmosphere and musicality 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 this 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 which costs £150 if you fit it yourself, but adds £175 to the price of the normal player.