10 BEST STEREOS - The Independent, 22 June 2005

As chosen by technology expert Mark Harris

Teac MCDX10 £145
Flat is the new black, as electronics desert their traditional spot in the living room corner and head for the walls. This stylish and skinny CD player/radio combo will look great alongside a widescreen plasma TV. It uses wafer-thin NXT panel speakers plus a separate shoebox-sized subwoofer unit to pump out surprisingly clear, direct sound. The sliding door is a neat retro feature.
Empire Direct (0870 120 1122 ; www.empiredirect.co.uk)

Muji Wall-mounted CD player £80
Japanese superstore Muji is famous for minimalist offerings but this wall-mountable player takes its philosophy to extremes: the only controls are a simple pull-toggle power switch, skip/rewind buttons and a volume dial. If music from the built-in stereo speakers lacks bite, concentrate instead on the hypnotic patterns created by the spinning CD (bold geometric discs work best). It’s eco-friendly too, using the minimum of materials and packaging in its lightweight design.
Muji (020 7323 2208; www.muji.co.uk)

Denon D-M35DAB £380
A small box doesn’t have to mean equally miniscule sound. The bookshelf-friendly Denon packs a hefty 22W per channel punch and uses top quality components for superb audio reproduction. You can program up to 100 digital (DAB) and FM radio stations and see what’s currently playing on a two-line scrolling LED display. The price includes a pair of Denon’s respected SC-M73 speakers.
Denon (01234 741 200; www.denon.co.uk)

Goodmans Micro 1104 DAB £80 --- BEST BUDGET BUY
A micro system at a micro price, the Goodmans nevertheless delivers decent audio quality from its (somewhat flimsy) CD deck and compact bookshelf speakers. It’s small, simple to use and the DAB digital radio reception is particularly good. There are on-screen displays and a full alarm function that can wake you up (or put you to sleep) to your favourite station in crisp stereo sound.
Richer Sounds (0870 900 1000; www.richersounds.com)

JVC EX-A1 £400
At last, a stereo whose bark is better than its bite. The EX-A1 has unique speaker cones made from solid birch wood, softened and shaped to perfection by Japanese scientists using a solution of sake rice wine. While its construction may be gimmicky, its sound quality isn’t, with an especially impressive bass performance from the 30W per channel amplifier. As well as playing the usual CDs, the EX-A1 can also handle DVD-Video, JPEG and DVD-Audio discs.
JVC (0870 330 5000; www.jvc.co.uk)

Bang & Olufsen BeoCenter 2 £2550
The BeoCenter 2’s winged doors slide open gracefully with a whisper, revealing a shiny disc perched like a religious icon on the central spindle. Messy cables and plugs are hidden away in a separate socket panel and it takes just a flourish over the touch-sensitive controls to bring it to life. The BeoCenter 2 may be admired for its looks more than it’s actually listened to but stereos simply don’t come any more self-consciously cool.
Bang & Olufsen (0800 138 0525; www.bang-olufsen.com)

Panasonic SCAK330 £170
Teenagers don’t care about delicate high frequency audio reproduction or complex digital features, they just want sound loud enough to shatter their bedroom windows, and preferably the neighbours’ nerves, too. Masochistic parents will struggle to find anything noisier than this over-powered boom-box, delivering a terrifying 360W RMS of sonic assault from its five-disc CD changer or RDS radio. Earplugs not included.
Panasonic (08705 357357; www.panasonic.co.uk)

Philips MCW770 £300 --- BEST BUY
Beam your music from the study to the living room with this super-smart modern hi-fi. Simply plug in its USB wireless adaptor to your computer, set up some software and you’ll be able to stream MP3 tunes direct from your hard drive to its powerful 150W speakers, anywhere in the house. It also has a five-disc CD changer, FM/MW radio, line in socket for an iPod and an energy-saving stand-by mode that uses less than 0.5W of power.
Philips (no phone; www.philips.co.uk)

Sony CMT-DVD2D £200
This macho micro system doubles up a competent home cinema centre. The CD unit can also play most kinds of DVD-Video media (including home-recorded DVD-RW and VR discs), and can decode Dolby Digital or DTS sound if you have a full set of surround speakers. It comes with a pair of throaty 100W speakers, a fine analogue radio tuner and even an old-school cassette tape deck.
Sony (08705 111 999; www.sony.co.uk)

Arcam Solo £1000 (£1400 with matching Alto speakers) --- BEST LUXURY BUY
The mere idea of squeezing a CD player, tuner and amplifier into one box is enough to send many audiophiles into a towering rage. But the compact Solo combines a faultless 24-bit CD transport, a DAB/FM receiver and a powerful 50W amplifier with twin toroidal transformers. Modern touches include a handy input for your iPod and alarm clock functionality. Sure, it’s expensive, but just think what you’ll save in not having to buy oxygen-free copper interconnects.
Arcam (01223 203 200; www.arcam.co.uk)

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