DEAL OF THE MONTH

This month I'm setting out to demonstrate something that frequently gets lost in audio - that great sound need not cost an arm and a leg. Not that more expensive equipment doesn't do more; we all know that wide frequency response, speed, transparency, dynamic range etc have to be paid for, but the core values of music may be had relatively inexpensively.

So what are the core values? Well most of the music for a start. Inexpensive speakers with a useful frequency range from 50 Hz to 20KHz are commonplace nowadays so they are going to leave out very few of the actual notes. Instrumental timbre can also be well expressed by the best of inexpensive kit, as can a realistic sense of musical flow. Put these three together and you should have a system that will provide long term listening pleasure and where the bits that are missing will not be missed too much because the essentials are right.

All well and good, you say, but how do we avoid the nasties of cheap audio. The grainy, overbright screamers? The booming bass and the muddy midrange? Well, by taking the usual precautions. Pick brands with a long track record of making good kit, match them carefully (or let your dealer advise) and listen carefully to the results. Simple, yes; but not quite as easy as it sounds. So let me make a few suggestions.

We'll start with NAD, the past masters of good inexpensive audio. Well, present masters too as the reviews of their BEE range of electronics has been nothing short of ecstatic. Their C315BEE integrated amplifier (40 wpc) and C515 BEE CD player not only match cosmetically and are small enough to place easily, but generate a sound way, way above their price level.

So what do we match them to? Well, my suggestion is the Opera Mezza speaker.