A fundamentally pleasing, very non-artificial character which some might nearly call analogue in feel.
An exceptionally developed, open, airy and micro-detailed treble with perfect long-term friendliness.
A three-dimensional sound picture with immaculate staging.
A fleet-footed yet colorful rendition which is tonally a tad on the lit-up or light side.
Immaculate rhythmic fidelity including well articulated bass, the latter somewhat softer in matters of pressurization and extension.
Fetching cosmetics and superb fit’n’finish.
Gary Pearce
.....that’s the obvious difference between most CD players and the Bel Canto CD2; you place CDs on a turntable — I was in love already.
Each component has a real luxury feel to it, like a Swiss watch.
Listening to this system was a joy. The Bel Canto electronics expertly combined warmth and involvement with excellent detail and dynamics — a mix that seems easy on paper but which in practice manufacturers seldom achieve.
a long list of tracks played on and the Bel Cantos kept the Tone reviewer pinned to his couch for an extended session. This beautiful-sounding and styled audio equipment was spellbinding. Combining the warmth of tubes with solid-state slam and dynamics is no mean feat, but that’s just what Bel Canto has achieved. Strongly recommended for those who appreciate fantastic sound quality. [more]
Jörg Dames - Fairaudio
The attacks and decays of the highest notes dying on the air are most carefully drawn. Equally formidable are the cymbal’s flickering star dust and the multi-layer harmonics of the cello gaining in finesse and richness. In a recent interview with violin builder Falk Peters, he called "the harmonic envelope of the violin its most under appreciated aspect".
Naturally, it’s the harmonic content of instruments and voices which encode their individuated aural finger prints. Relevant in this context is how the CD-2, despite its satisfying long-term friendliness,
I found it interesting to come across a player which was equally pleasing as my formidable Fonel and sells for similar coin. No less interesting was the fact that despite considerable overlap—-foremost the exemplarily non-artificial presentation—there also were significant differences. The fleet-footed Bel Canto CD-2 was exceptionally airy and "molecularly particled" in the upper ranges without reducing this prowess to a core character. In matters of midrange and bass meanwhile, the well-balanced Fonel was the more developed and sonorous. Simply put, the very open American is definitely worth a very serious audition. [review
link] [more]
John Potis
The CD-2 is a very interesting piece and one of great utility. If you're just getting into building a system it can get you up and running in no time—just add power amplifier and speakers. Now you can enjoy your music as you get to know your speakers. When the first upgrade bug comes along you can step up and add a Dac3 and not only will you be stunned by just about all aspects of what you'll hear, you'll truly be able to appreciate what it is that you've been building up to. In other words, you won't have to fret that you got something different; you'll know that you got something better—because you did. This is what system building is all about. The CD-2 gives you a clear upgrade path that won't have you equivocating or splitting hairs trying to decide if you just made the right move. At some point if you decide that you'd like to add a second source to your system, then and only then may you find it advantageous to add a preamp and you haven't lost any of the performance you'd paid for with the CD-2/Dac3 combination. It's all still there.
If, on the other hand, you've got a fully developed and mature system, the CD-2/Dac3 combination is a system that I can highly recommend both in terms of absolute performance as well as on the basis that it represents a very sound value. Not only does it improve upon my digital separates, it does so at a savings of roughly 40%. In terms of use and ergonomics, this is just the icing on the cake. It doesn't take up much space and it's extremely easy to use. It's most stylish, too. That's what I think anyway. I don't care what your budget is, go and get an audition of the Bel Canto e.One Dac3 and CD-2 player/transport and let me know if you disagree. [more]
Features:
1) Burr Brown PCM1716 24 bit DAC
2) CD display can be turned off for improved sound quality.
3) Highly optimised audio output circuitry with multiple stages of supply regulation.
4) Large toroidal power transformer with separate windings for CD transport mechanism and audio stages.
5) Employment of a high-stability crystal clock reference and dedicated, improved power supply regulator for the transport and audio stages to ensure low jitter performance.
6) High quality double-sided PCBs for optimum layout and screening.
7) Improved all-aluminium casework and extruded front panel to control resonance and stray electro-magnetic fields.
8) Full-function remote control.
9) Seperate IEC power cord
“The 2010S CD player is up there with the best in its class. Fabulous treble, great dynamics and a weighty yet solid bottom-end make for a superb CD player.”
The Exposure 3010S CD Player is British made hifi, the company hailing from Portslade in East Sussex. Exposure are an audio engineering company at heart and have been established on the British hifi scene since 1974.
Our Comments:
The latest 3010S CD player is said to benefit from a large toroidal transformer with separate windings for the transport and audio stages, a new custom-made CD transport, Burr-Brown DACs, a discrete output stage, and a high-stability crystal clock reference and power-supply regulator for the transport and audio stages that are said to result in very low jitter.
Features:
1) Customised transport and control software
2) Twin Burr-Brown PCM 1704 24-bit mono DACs
3) Highly optimised audio output circuitry with multiple stages of supply regulation
4) Large toroidal power transformer with separate windings for CD transport mechanism and audio stages
5) High capacity supply for audio stages
6) Low jitter crystal clock and dedicated power supply regulator for transport and audio stages
7) High-quality double sided PCBs for optimum layout and screening.
8) All-aluminium casework and extruded front panel to control resonance and stray electro- magnetic fields
9) Full-function remote control
10) Seoerate IEC power cord
Wayne Garcia
In short, these Exposure electronics do what great audio should—step aside and let the music do the talking. But to suggest that they merely “get out of the way” does injustice to Exposure’s efforts. The 3010S CD player and integrated amplifier make listening to music so intensely involving that it borders on an addiction. [review
link] [more]
HiFi World
"The electronics have a really musical gait to them which digs deep into the recording and lets the flavour flood out. I loved its ease of use, directness and overall musicality. Flare-flapping bass, a detailed and well lit midband and crisp, spry treble were all on offer, an enjoyable listen!" - HiFi World, February 2009.
TAS - The Abosolute Sound
"A highly articulate CD player, Exposure's 3010S possesses impressive breadth and depth, and good air and detail... a musically natural presentation capable of reproducing bloom, complex harmonics, excellent rhythmic pace, and deep, authoritative bass that's always easy and effortless sounding.
TAS 2008 Editors' Choice Award Winner.
Exposure website
“In UK reviews, the original 3010 range was lauded for being rich, dynamic and juicy in terms of bass. The sound has been refined to be a bit tauter in the lower-end and more open in terms of treble, without compromising on the richness of the mid-range.
The sound quality of the 3010S series is now closer to that of Exposure’s higher-end products. Moreover, the amplifiers are now even more capable of driving sophisticated speaker systems, especially in bi-amping mode (wherein the integrated amplifier can be wired to drive the tweeters while the power amplifier drives the woofers).
You could say that for the new 3010S series, we raised the bar for performance without raising the price.”
Exposure's 3010S Series strikes the perfect balance between high performance sound and affordable quality kit.
The 3010S series is situated between Exposure’s budget 2010S series and high end Classic series. The 3010S offers most of the Classic’s higher quality components and construction techniques but with a few exceptions and some costs saved on cosmetic considerations. Thus the 3010S offers Exposure’s ‘best bang for the buck’ in terms of sonic performance.
The new 3010S CD Player features a new custom-made CD transport mechanism, servo unit and control mechanisms, as well as twin Burr-Brown PCM 1704 mono 24 true multi-bit DACs, discrete output stage and large toroidal power transformer with separate windings for CD transport and audio stages. A high stability crystal clock reference and dedicated power supply regulator for the transport and audio stages ensure very low jitter. This all results in a surprisingly high resolution CD player for the money.
The Exposure 3010S CD Player is British made hifi, the company hailing from Portslade in East Sussex. Exposure are an audio engineering company at heart and have been established on the British hifi scene since 1974.
Our Comments:
The latest 3010S CD player is said to benefit from a large toroidal transformer with separate windings for the transport and audio stages, a new custom-made CD transport, Burr-Brown DACs, a discrete output stage, and a high-stability crystal clock reference and power-supply regulator for the transport and audio stages that are said to result in very low jitter.
Features:
) Customised transport and control software
2) Twin Burr-Brown PCM 1704 24-bit mono DACs
3) Highly optimised audio output circuitry with multiple stages of supply regulation
4) Large toroidal power transformer with separate windings for CD transport mechanism and audio stages
5) High capacity supply for audio stages
6) Low jitter crystal clock and dedicated power supply regulator for transport and audio stages
7) High-quality double sided PCBs for optimum layout and screening.
8) All-aluminium casework and extruded front panel to control resonance and stray electro- magnetic fields
9) Full-function remote control
10) Seoerate IEC power cord
Wayne Garcia
In short, these Exposure electronics do what great audio should—step aside and let the music do the talking. But to suggest that they merely “get out of the way” does injustice to Exposure’s efforts. The 3010S CD player and integrated amplifier make listening to music so intensely involving that it borders on an addiction. [review
link] [more]
Exposure's 3010S Series strikes the perfect balance between high performance sound and affordable quality kit.
The 3010S series is situated between Exposure’s budget 2010S series and high end Classic series. The 3010S offers most of the Classic’s higher quality components and construction techniques but with a few exceptions and some costs saved on cosmetic considerations. Thus the 3010S offers Exposure’s ‘best bang for the buck’ in terms of sonic performance.
The new 3010S CD Player features a new custom-made CD transport mechanism, servo unit and control mechanisms, as well as twin Burr-Brown PCM 1704 mono 24 true multi-bit DACs, discrete output stage and large toroidal power transformer with separate windings for CD transport and audio stages. A high stability crystal clock reference and dedicated power supply regulator for the transport and audio stages ensure very low jitter. This all results in a surprisingly high resolution CD player for the money.
HiFi World
"The electronics have a really musical gait to them which digs deep into the recording and lets the flavour flood out. I loved its ease of use, directness and overall musicality. Flare-flapping bass, a detailed and well lit midband and crisp, spry treble were all on offer, an enjoyable listen!" - HiFi World,
TAS - The Abosolute Sound
"A highly articulate CD player, Exposure's 3010S possesses impressive breadth and depth, and good air and detail... a musically natural presentation capable of reproducing bloom, complex harmonics, excellent rhythmic pace, and deep, authoritative bass that's always easy and effortless sounding.
TAS 2008 Editors' Choice Award Winner.
Exposure introduction
“In UK reviews, the original 3010 range was lauded for being rich, dynamic and juicy in terms of bass. The sound has been refined to be a bit tauter in the lower-end and more open in terms of treble, without compromising on the richness of the mid-range.
The sound quality of the 3010S series is now closer to that of Exposure’s higher-end products. Moreover, the amplifiers are now even more capable of driving sophisticated speaker systems, especially in bi-amping mode (wherein the integrated amplifier can be wired to drive the tweeters while the power amplifier drives the woofers).
You could say that for the new 3010S series, we raised the bar for performance without raising the price.”
In a world that often confuses change with progress, it’s reassuring to encounter a design which transcends the shallow modes of fashion by having the quality to be timeless. Universally acclaimed in its own right and perfectly in tune when combined for instance with the I30 integrated amplifier, CD31 disc player offers you the purest Primare design heritage and fidelity.
The CD31’s blend of purely balanced low-noise circuit design and scrupulously regulated power offers you the gift of astonishingly natural music reproduction. The signal is fed directly from the transport to a digital receiver which reduces jitter to ensure that the four Burr-Brown PCM 1704 D/A converters - two per channel - receive as clean a digital signal as possible. Each pair of DACs carries the same signal but with opposite phase. Noise and distortion, which are common to both signals is then cancelled during conversion leaving only the pure original signal. Power is supplied to the different parts of the player by a precision-made R–core transformer with separate windings for each part. Balanced (XLR) and unbalanced RCA analogue outputs are provided together with professional AES/EBU, SPDIF and TOS-link digital outputs. 132 words 841 characters (with spaces).
Features:
Dual Mono DAC Reference CD Player.
Audio Outputs: 1: Unbalanced Stereo (RCA),
1: Balanced Stereo (XLR)
1: Digital Output (Coaxial), 1: Digital Output (Optical), 1: Balanced AESEBU Digital Output XLR
CD Drive: DVS Ultra Silent Mechanism
Digital Conversion: 4: Burr-Brown 1704 K DACs
Dual Mono Mode Architecture
24-BIT 8 x Over Sampling 96 kHz
Frequency response: 20 Hz - 20 kHz (+0/0.2 dB)
RS232 Control
Discrete IR Input
Full Remote Control
Dimensions: W 430mm x D 385mm x H 100mm (With Feet)
Weight 10.5 kg
David Vivian - Hi Fi Choice
The Right Stuff:
There are flashier looking CD players. Flashier sounding ones too. But there aren’t many with the sonic integrity of this Primare. It does everything a digital source should with none of the nasties.
What Hi Fi? Sound & Vision Awards
CD31 is "What Hi Fi?'s" Best CD Player £1500-£2000 (NZ$3000-NZ$6000):
For the second year running, the CD31 is a big favourite with What Hi Fi? The Awards 2006 issue says “You get lashings of detail, well-balanced tonality and superb dynamics. We also love the fact that the Primare makes listening to music fun.”
What HiFi Awards
Best CD Player £1500-£2000 (NZ$3000-NZ$6000):
‘If you want an elegant, superbly built top-end player, Primare’s CD31 is an excellent place to start. It sounds fabulous and is built to sky-high standards.’
Hi Fi Stars Germany
Reviewed with I30:
"An ideal combination of detail and additional power is what an owner of the large Primare combo gets." Hi Fi Stars Germany, March 2010
Brent Burmester - AudioENZ
Born to be alive
Introducing the Tri CD4SE player to its amplifying team-mate shifted the game to a new venue. This player features 24/192 upsampling and a valve in its output buffer for improved impedance matching. While an excellent unit in isolation, seldom have I head a source and amp combination from one manufacturer work so harmoniously together. They were very hard to fault, giving highly expressive accounts of everything they were fed. [review
link] [more]
6Moons - Marja Henk
Calmness and space remained the primary qualities but there was something extra. The sound had more body. As listeners, this made us much more involved with the tunes.
This TRV-CD4SE plus TRV-A300SE is a combination that is musical and involving.
You can listen for hours without getting tired and when the evening falls, the tubes spread their special glow in the darkness.
The TRV-CD4SE offers a lot of musical pleasure for everyone who likes a calm non-fatiguing digital front end. [review
link] [more]
Forum quote
"One player I have been auditioning over the last few days is the Tri CD4 SE. Now I'm not kidding but this is the most musical player I have ever heard! It's got a massive tastey sound stage with plenty of air, its neutral to slightly warm for those cold winter nights, and it can dance very fast when asked to! The build quality is excellent and it comes with balanced connections as well. If anyone is looking for a musical, nicely balanced (sonically), with excellent PRaT, this valve CD player should be auditioned. You won't find anything about it on the net cause it's only just been released."
WOJCIECH PACUŁA
The Tri system showed the difference between the discs instantly, but it did also show the similarities: dense atmosphere and incredibly silky, but also detailed drawing of the instruments.
If we place it next to devices of the same price level, then everything will fade.
In general it can be said, that we get a Japanese tube device (I am talking about both devices) with incredibly well led sound, nice looks and a headphone amplifier for free. If this is not enough, then this is your problem, and not mine… [more]
Gary Pearce 
John Potis 
Wayne Garcia 
Exposure website 
HiFi World 
