The review is from Phillip Holmes – normally a digital hater – but in this case he was impressed with the fatigue free and analogue sound of the CDP300 – something we at AudioFlair concur with.

Compact, modern in appearance and well-priced, they integrate with most environments offering a small footprint and work admirably on bookshelves or other pieces of furniture.

What is deceptive, however, is their performance: They image beautifully (excellent crossover design), produce a tight, deep bass which belies their size (thanks to transmission-line loading) and offer a genuine `high end` sound.

I`ve seen a few jaws drop as customers are convinced a bigger pair of speakers are playing.
The bar has now been lifted regarding the level of performance possible from compact enclosures.

The move away from birch-ply to MDF has been cost-led and a very retrograde step as this material, due to its uniformity, stores energy at a certain frequency often leading to a lumpiness somewhere in the mid bass. Actually, chipboard which is more `random` in form sounds more open and natural !  E.g. Mission 770 mk2.

To compensate for this overdamped thickness, stark, metal-dome tweeters are often used which can never match the tone of their bass-mid drivers unless they too are of a similar material. And yet, when `brave new world` matching materials are used for tweeter and bass/mid, they often fail to deliver because although detailed, the result is just not musical.  E.g. most ceramic drivers.

I look out for designs which use birch-ply or go for differing thicknesses in their cabinetry to disperse energy more randomly.

Silk-dome tweeters and paper or hemp mid/bass drivers are often more natural.

Ribbon tweeters are extremely detailed but their coherence with a conventional bass driver often leads to a total mismatch.

It`s not just about detail and using the latest technology, some artistic licence and emotional intelligence is needed to make a design coherent and involving.

It does not `run` nearly as well, it requires much more heat so there is more chance of damaging delicate components.

I can see why some experienced `solderers` consider it inferior to lead.

If the 2 parts of the join are in proper contact and you`re not using the solder as glue, the better flow of lead solder and lower temperature required are surely superior and there`s much less likelihood of dry joints.

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