There's no doubting that the best part of 1700 pounds is a lot of dosh for an amp and a CD player. And these two finely crafted boxes are no different from the top-end kit that came before them. This is hi-fi that wouldn't look out of place in a particularly stylish person's house, in fact.
Perceived quality is also abundant when it comes to lifting the amp and player out of their boxes.
Really heavy, especially in the case of the amp, which features gold-plated connectors at the back and a power transformer the size of a very large doughnut. You need a big, metal frame, and one that's got high level of isolation for each of the components. Turning the amp on and firing it up to play music is a two-tierd process. The main problem with the amp is that it's so easy to play really, really loud. It just keeps on pouring out the music, perfectly clearly, supremely confidently, and so you just want to keep on turning the thing up towards its 70 watts per channel limit.