REPRODUCEDFROMHI-FICHOICE
resultisso efortleslyrhythmicthatit’s almostimposible to sitin frontofthe SystemOneasadisinterestedobserver.This isnotadeviceforbackgroundmusic. TherelationshipbetweenthePlanar1andio approachessymbiotic.Bothproductsare capableofunfailinglyconvincingtonalityina waythatstemsfromtheabsenceofDSPsor otherwizardrybeingatworkatanystage. Stay within the io’s surprisingly wide operatingenvelopeanditsimplysounds efortles.Eventhepotentandheavyhiting Caged Bird/Imitations Of Life by the CinematicOrchestraconvinceshere.Roots Manuvaisolderandwiserthanhewasinhis earlierwork with the group and that’s reflectedintheperformance.Themased instrumentsbehindhim arecohesive,but have individualcharacterand there’sno shortageofspaceinwhichtheyperform.The Kytesareinstrumentalinthistoo.Thesimple expedientofbeingabletoplacethem a meaningfuldistanceapartfromoneanother ispartofthereasonwhytheycan TheSystem Oneisajoyous introduction to whatRega ofersasacompany produceanexcelentsoundstage,butthere’s moretothem thanthat.Theintegration betweenthetwodriversisuterlyseamles anditlendsthespeakersatremendously enjoyablefluencyandcohesion.Thecamp butgloriousacidjaz ofCorduroy’sHigh Havocisanabsoluteriotfromstarttofinish. The title track hammers along without hinderingthe(surprisinglyhigh)production values and the Kytes prove to be impresivelyhardtoprovoke.Asnoted,the basthat’sonoferhereisn’tseismic,butit’s tunefulandwelintegratedintotheoveral frequencyresponse. Noles importantlisteningtotheSystem Oneasawholeisthatthedemandsitmakes onthelistenertoalowforsuspensionof
disbeliefareextremelylow.Surfacenoiseisminimal andtheCarboncartridgeseemsforgivingofworn presingstoo.Thephonostageoftheioisquietand hasplentyofgain,whichensuresyou’renevershortof volume.Itwould be relativelystraightforward to extractmoreperformancefromthePlanar1,butwhat realysurprisesmeisjusthowlitledesireIhavetodo thatbasedonitsout-of-the-boxperformance.Ithasto besaid,though,whenitdoescometoplotingan upgradepath,theSystem Onestartstomakemost one-boxoptionslookdecidedlylimited.Obviously,the Planar1canhaveitscartridgeandisolationtinkered with,buttheioandKytesaregoodenoughthatyou couldselthemandputthemoneytowardsaPlanar3 (HFC405)andtheothercomponentswouldreflectthe improvement.Infact,I’lstickmyneckoutandsaythat anycomponentofthethreecouldbechangedforone costinguptoagrandandtheother ThePlanar1isaboutassimpleasa turntable can be to getup and running
twounchangedcomponentswouldbeabletobenefit fromthegainsinperformance.Whererivalsoferyou
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