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Price: £1,200
More info: Primare Systems
Size (WxDxH): 480x385x110mm
Weight: 8kg
Power output: 2x 75 watts, 8 ohms (Class D)
Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz +/-0.3dB
Inputs: 3 x line, line input (front, 3.5mm socket)
Outputs: Analogue preamp out, digital S/PDIF coaxial out, TOSLINK optical out, 44.1kHz from CD, 48kHz from DAB or line inputs, 3.5mm headphone socket (shared with line input) for all inputs/sources other than front input.
Disc formats: CD, CD-DA, CD-R, CD-RW
Radio: DAB receiver Band III + L-band, 10 presets, FM tuner, 40 presets, inc RDS
Finishes: Satin black or titanium
Plus points:
Compact, lightweight, yet surprisingly potent and refined one-box stereo system
Minus points:
Ergonomics could be improved, only ten DAB presets, no USB input
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The product category to which the CDI 10 belongs was pretty much defined by Arcam with the Solo, an attractively straightforward hi-fi system housed in a single box, which can be used with Arcam's own or most third-party loudspeakers.
There are a number of micro systems that do more or less what this one does too, but mostly they offer fairly low sound quality, and come with cheap and cheerful speakers, and there isn't usually enough wherewithal under the skin to make upgrading worthwhile. Nothing to do with high fidelity in other words.
This Swedish-made Primare CDI 10 however is a one-box system which includes a CD player, FM and DAB tuners, an amplifier and spare in and outputs which make it possible to use up to four external source components. And it places an emphasis on sound quality too.
What sets the Primare apart from others is that instead of a conventional Class AB amplifier, the one included here is a Class D design, which is used here with a switch mode power supply - generically the same as the power supplies you'll find in computers.
Class D amplification is often mistakenly described as digital. In fact the circuit uses analogue circuit techniques, and converts the standard single-ended signal internally to balanced mode which is used to reduce noise and distortion. It then produces an output chain of pulses whose width is proportional to the frequency and amplitude of the music signal.
This circuit is often more correctly known as a switching or PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) amplifier. There are a lot of subtleties to the design, which is unique to Primare, but the main benefits are much higher than usual efficiency, and lower than usual heat dissipation (which means reduced electricity bills), while the switch mode PSU is much lighter than transformer-based supplies.
The result is an amplifier that can pump out 75 watts per channel into eight ohms, and approximately double that into four ohms, and a unit which with the disc player and tuner included is both compact and weighs just 8kg. And it barely gets warm in use, even when driven at ear splitting levels.
The CD player uses the same key components (eg DVS DSL710 mechanism, PCM1738 D/A converter) as Primare's well-liked component CD players. The FM tuner is equipped with RDS (programme type, Radio Text, Clock Time, frequency, mono/stereo), and DAB, which has similar features as standard, operates on the L band as well as the familiar Band III, which could prove to be a useful piece of future proofing as the number of transmissions increases and Band III gets more and more compressed. As yet, however, no decision has been made to use L band.
Operationally, the CDI 10 is very straightforward. One of the inputs is a 3.5mm front panel socket which is intended for use with the line or headphone out socket of an MP3 player. A USB input would have covered more bases, but perhaps that will come with version 2. Another minor criticism concerns the two displays, one of which is on the front panel, and the other on the top which makes it impractical to place the unit at or above eye level - what were they thinking?
Performance
Class D amplifiers have not traditionally had an unblemished record for audio excellence, but there have been substantial improvements of late, and for this price the CDI 10 is nothing less than sensationally good. As well as using notionally price-matched loudspeakers, we tried the Primare with some very high performance loudspeakers that would not normally be considered with any amplifier at this price level, never mind a complete system. They included Mordaunt-Short Performance 6, Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grand and a 2.1 channel system consisting of Eclipse TD510 and the new TD725SW subwoofer - the top of the line models from this marque.
Of the sources available, the CD Player is clearly head and shoulders ahead of the others. It is palpably a smooth, yet refined and detailed player which made short shrift of some of the best recordings to hand. The FM radio is good too, with DAB trailing as usual thanks to the low data rates which generally make it sound like an MP3 or iPod: lacking in fine detail, with a somewhat cardboard cutout quality.
But where the source material allows, from the CD player, and external players connected using one of the rear panel inputs, the Primare's amplifier ensured that the system sounded refined, highly detailed and expressive. Transparency is of a high order, while coloration is low - Class D amplifiers usually fail at one or the other.
The CDI 10 also avoids another common trap, that of sounding 'digital' (perhaps the reason why Class D is often mistaken for digital amplification). Instead there is a ripeness and grace about the sound which comes as a real surprise, though a gratifying one.
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The long and the sort is that this is an elegantly packaged system which is easy to configure and to use, and which from CD in particular performs well out of its apparent class. A great fuss-free system you can use anywhere.
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