FOR Style a-plenty and performance to match; no other system looks like the Aphrodite or is built to these high standards

AGAINST Unless you’ve just gone ‘Four and a half GRAND???, nothing

VERDICT The Aphrodite/Calliope system/speakers combination may be ‘reassuringly expensive’, but then it has both the sound and the looks to match that eye-watering price. Gorgeous!

Aphrodite? As befits a goddess of love, she’s been around a bit. In fact she’s been seen, in stages from prototype to production-ready, at every show in which TAG McLaren Audio has participated. And every time she’s proved an attention-grabber, thanks to brick powder-room build and that stylish, swoopy shape fashioned from metal and finished in a range of striking colourways. Even the remote comes with a metal cover/stand. Clearly aimed at the Bose/Bang & Olufsen market, the Aphrodite is designed for those who feel that their hi-fi systems should be as much an indicator of their lifestyle as the watch they wear and the car they drive. And like all statement products, this system doesn’t live by style alone. Performance is just as important, and the Aphrodite delivers. After all, its based on the same technology as other products in the TMA range, from the three-band tuner (complete with full RDS EON functions) to the precision CD transport. Add to that the 128x oversampling single-bit DAC and the superbly logical remote control interface, not to mention the onboard 50W-per-channel amp with preouts to allow bigger power amps to be added, its clear you’re looking at far more than an upmarket mini.

What to drive with Aphrodite? It’ll handle most speakers, but the obvious choice seems to be the Calliopes, another example of this company’s design. Colour-coordinated to Aphrodite finishes, these speakers use a 15cm mid/bass unit with glass fibre cone and a silk-dome tweeter, and can be used on shelves or,as here, bolted onto matching 500 pounds stands. As for speaker cable, we settled on Nordost Flatline Gold.

First impressions, with the system cold from its boxes, are of the 4000 pounds! Oh gawd, what have I done? Kind; the set-up sounds bass-light, a bit shouty and uninspiring. Let it play for a few days, however, and things change totally, the sound taking on a relaxed quality that’s nevertheless packed with detail and real warmth and clarity. True, there’s not quite the bass richness and extension one might expect from a similarly priced collection of seperates, but in the context of packages of this type and price the TMA system can’t fail but impress.

The presentation is direct, and what failings t has in terms of extension are soon overlooked as one sinks into the sound with minimal exertion. Of the three systems here this one demands the least allowances to be made by the listener, whether with the crisply remastered Shining like a National Guitar  Paul Simon set, some snap and drive stuff from Moby’s Play disc, or some classical music courtesy of the big romantic sweep of Barber’s Symphony No 1 (RSNO/Alsop on another of those stupendous Naxos budget discs). Timbres sound natural and as unforced as they are unrestrained, the pace and drive of music emerges inact and the ability of the combination to create credible, deep soundstage pictures is never in doubt.

The radio performs as well as the CD section, and though it does lack the DAB reception available in other TMA products the presence of a ‘DAB’ button on the remote may hint at a forthcoming plug-in upgrade. For now, however, the FM reception will do very nicely, clearly drawing on the T20Rfor its prowess, making this a system to enjoy day in, day out.

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