By Roy Gregory
In a field where market dominance can be measured in months and product shelf life often seems little longer than that, Neodio’s Origine CD player has been a rare and welcome constant, setting musical standards that few of the far more costly and complex products that have followed it onto the market have been able to match. The Wadax Atlantis and Reference models might have eclipsed it in my own system, but since their arrival the Neodio has been by turns my second choice digital replay solution and (at considerably less than €20,000) by far the most affordable machine capable of serious high-end musical performance. It was also by far the best-looking CD player – EVER! Along with the outwardly identical A2 amp it made for a compact and strikingly elegant system solution – and it still does today. Indeed, if the Neodio had a problem it was that it was too cheap for its own good, with too many customers simply assuming that a more expensive, multi-box solution just had to be better – for no other reason really, than its price.
Well, the Origine S2 and the matching A2 amplifier are no more. Neodio has announced that it is ceasing production, a decision driven by the rising costs of materials and parts and the need to retain sufficient transport mechanisms to cover any warranty or repair issues on units already in the field. We’ll likely never see its like again. Instead, with new, high value product designs on the way, designer Stéphane Even has decided to switch his emphasis to the more affordable market sector, with an impressive budget amplifier and his first speaker design already on the way.
Meanwhile, there is a small stock of CD players and the equally excellent A2 amps remaining, along with several demonstration units, giving a limited number of lucky people one last chance to grab one of the all-time audio bargains. Machines can be configured for 230V or 110/120V and prices and availability are available from:
E-mail. seven@neodio.eu
Tel. +33 556 401 950
