Arcam Solo The superb one-box system from Arcam! Stereo Amplifier CD player DAB tuner FM tuner iPod docking port Clock and alarm RRP - £999 includes our 2 year Guarantee

"The Solo isn't just a one-box system at all: it's serious hi-fi in disguise." T3 magazine Bags of detail, weight and composure...A CD Player, DAB/FM tuner and amp for £1000 is a bargain in anyone's books." Hi-Fi Choice

Optional Extra

Arcam rDock - iPod dock for the Arcam Solo! The best sounding iPod dock around! Control iPod from Solo remote High quality line level audio connection with Properly buffered audio output with high performance op-amps and low noise double regulated power supplies Display iPod info on Solo display Video output from either S-video or composite Charge iPod whilst connected just add £129 to the Hot Deal price!

Arcam rLead - connect your iPod to the Arcam Solo! Control iPod from Solo remote Display iPod info on Solo display High quality line level audio connection Charge iPod whilst connected just add £59 to the Hot Deal price! NB. Your Solo will need to have software version 2.1 or above for this lead to work. (The Software version is shown on the shipping carton of the Solo)

I saw a TV programme recently, on which Tom (The Voice) Jones recounted an incident that happened to him when he was performing in Las Vegas. Apparently, he was in the middle of one of his blockbuster numbers, when a group of female admirers surrounded the stage and, in customary fashion, hurled their underwear at him. As he gyrated tastefully towards the group, to acknowledge their presence, Tom noticed that one of the ladies (rather unusually) had her husband with her. Intrigued, Tom finished the song, then bent down and said to the guy in question "Doesn't it bother you that your wife has just thrown her knickers at me?" Cool as a cucumber, the bloke replied "Tom, you pump up the tyres, I'll ride the bike!"

I suppose the moral of the story (if there is one!) is that there are conventional and unconventional approaches to any situation - it doesn't really matter which you take, as long as you get a good result!

In our audio world, the conventional approach has always been that if you want good sound, then you have to wear the 'Hi-Fi hair shirt'. In other words, you've got to have a stack of ugly black boxes, more cable than the national grid and a pair of speakers that look like they've come straight from a Status Quo concert. Thankfully, this masochistic approach has been kicked into touch recently, as more and more companies utilise the full potential of modern circuit board miniaturisation, to produce Hi-Fi that packs real separates performance into compact, gorgeously styled units.

Arcam's excellent Solo is a good example of this exciting new breed of Hi-Fi: even though it is a comprehensively equipped CD, DAB / FM radio and amp, it doesn't look like a conventional Japanese system. The 'button count' has been kept to a minimum, thus avoiding the 'Stars Wars' look that seems to be so popular amongst its competitors. Build quality is impeccable, with heavy duty, multi-layered, solid aluminium, used throughout. In an age when most 'all in one' systems would fall over if you sneezed on them, it is refreshing to see a unit that is so well put together.

But this engineering goes more than skin deep, because the stylish Solo has exactly the same sort of internal circuitry as its world-famous 'big brother' Arcam separates. No expense has been spared to give this little system a sound that is way beyond anything we've experienced in its class.

Do I think there's a better system for the money? Well, let's put it this way; I think there's more chance of Tom Jones turning gay!!