These four companies ain’t playin’ when it comes to playback
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The death of the disc has been greatly exaggerated. Whether your preferred platters are shiny or groovy, companies are producing new … spins … on how to play CDs and LPs. Just this week, NAD Electronics announced a CD player, while Cambridge Audio and Andover Audio have turntables. Meanwhile, Focal-Naim elevates its immersive connected audio hub, for those audiophiles that have embraced an all-in-one system with expressive Dolby Atmos. Below you’ll find more information on all these discerning digital and premium analog audio accessories.
The C 569 is NAD Electronics’ mid-tier CD player in its Classic Series, featuring a combination of proprietary refinements to get the most from Rush remasters to Olivia Rodrigo. Dynamic Digital Headroom purports to eliminate inter-sample clipping, for more expressive transients. QRONO d2a refines the timing of PCM and MQA-encoded music. And it all runs through an ESS SABRE DAC if you want to use the low-noise, detail-rich analogue outputs with any system featuring an RCA in, or utilize the TOSLINK or COAX digital outputs if you want to pair with an event more premium DAC, like that in the new NAD C 359S Class AB integrated amplifier with built-in BluOS streaming and more. The C 569 will be available late November through NAD dealers/website and Amazon at $999 USD. The NAD C 359S amplifier is available today through NAD dealers for $1,299.
If you’re getting into vinyls, the Cambridge Audio Spira is a ready-to-play, belt-drive, Bluetooth-equipped 33/45 turntable that can work with a traditional two-channel components stack, active speakers, or wireless speakers/headphones. It comes with a pre-fitted and aligned Audio-Technica AT3600L cartridge (upgradeable later to an elliptical stylus), plus a built-in photo stage to ensure it’s plug-and-play. But you can also bypass the phono stage if you want to upgrade to a more refined preamp. The steel platter and adjustable tracking/anti-skate give you stability and control no matter how it’s connected. And it comes in five colors that correspond to the Cambridge Audio L/R powered speaker series. The Cambridge Audio Spira will be available from the brand and partners priced at $499.
The Andover-One DD is a direct-drive turntable that brings together lots of top-notch components in a flagship system. The digitally controlled direct-drive motor supports 33 1/3, 45, qand 78 rpm playback with fractional wow and flutter. It’s a foundation engineered to eliminate high-frequency motor vibrations that impede detail retrieval. Further damping vibrations is the straight tonearm with carbon-fiber armtube and support for catridges weighing 2.5g to 6.2g, and it comes fitted with an Audio-Technica AT-VM520xEB moving-magnet cartridge. Tracking force, anti-skating, and vertical tracking angle controls complete the flexible setup, which sits by the cast-aluminum platter on a matte black MDF plinth. The Andover-One DD Turntable is available now for $999. Pair the turntable with the Andover-One SB (as shown above) for a high-fidelity, feedback-free, compact cabinet of clarity.
The first Naim Audio product to get the premier Utopia designation, the latest Mu-so hi-fi audio hub features the most powerful Naim amplifier ever developed for this type of form factor. Inside, 720W of Class D and A/B power push 15 speakers (7 on the front, 2 on each side, 4 on the top). This 7.1.2 capacity of 3″ ‘M’-shaped drivers and PRISM tweeters (both by Focal) allows for ultra-detailed, no-distortion Dolby Atmos, as well as Sphere Music, Sphere Movie, Sphere Video Game, Sphere Podcast modes that expand stereo content with ADAPT technology that takes into account your room’s configuration. (And, having heard a demo of the sibling Mu-so Hekla at Audio Advice Live in Raleigh this past August, I can confirm it works wonders.) There’s the Naim Pulse Platform for DSP and high-resolution streaming up to 384 kHz / 32-bit (good for Qobuz Connect, though there’s plenty of Google Cast, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, etc. support). TOSLINK allows you to plug in, say, a CD player or a TV, though the HDMI eARC is the preferred input for folks who are going to pair the Mu-so Utopia with a cinematic setup, which it will render well. Also, it’s pretty. The Naim Audio Mu-so Utopia will be available in January 2027 for $6,500 USD, exclusively through the Focal Powered by Naim network of authorized retailers.
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