REVIEW

gard to finish and build at this kind of price. Yep, the remote is a bit workaday but it’s as good as I’ve seen on some units costing a lot more than this.

Sound Quality

The huge majority of people are going to buy this CD player and, as I did for the most part, put it straight into an amp or pre via the RCA or XLR line outputs. You know you are listening to a lesser machine when compared to a digital source through our Lampizator DAC but like most things, there’s not thousands of pounds worth of difference in real terms…ie the TAGA is not 20 or thirty times worse sounding. Nowhere near!

Yes, in comparison to our LAB 12 DAC or Lampizator DAC there is a clearly “softer” and less incisive element to the sound of the TAGA, but in the real world you don’t sit switching between sources and I’d be well pleased to sit in front of this CD player and enjoy my tunes…very much so!

Overall and looking really critically at the TAGA I’d say that it doesn’t have the low-end balls and slam that I’m used to and, again, I want to say that the sound is slightly rolled off at the bottom end and as well as the mentioned tops.

Through the mid-band there’s not the same level of detail that I’m used to either, but at this price I think the TAGA behaves itself impeccably (it never skips a beat) and that it certainly punches above what you will have to fork out for it I actually think it’s a little bit of a bargain and I would say it is on a par with the little Leema Elements player we have here…and it is faster to load once the CD is inserted.

The TAGA is certainly sure-footed and whilst a little softer than I’m used to, bass is solid and deep with a good impression of what drum machine and what effects are being added on electronic music. There’s slightly less shimmer on hats and but, again, this is nothing to write home and complain to Mother about.

Speed and timing are excellent and I found the TAGA to be rhythmic enough to allow me to get really into the music I was listening to – whatever the genre –though it’s not as dynamic a performer as the LAB 12 DAC or the Lampi. Apples and oranges, I know. To be less critical against the machine, I certainly found myself tapping my foot along to the music on more than one occasion.

I did play a load of different music ranging from Luke Slater to Kasia Mos and Aukso (a great record that was gifted to me at the Warsaw Show if I remember correctly). On this latter CD, I found that the feeling of the live performance was excellent with the vocalist sitting bang centre and a little forward in the mix and with strings and piano being present and correct, though the separation of elements in the mix were not as great as I would be used to. Whatever, I could clearly see musicians laid out before me and I would say I was sat a little way up in the circle during this recording. Perhaps my only criticism would be that the midband may be being pushed a little with regard to absolute balance, but this is no bad thing given what this CD player is likely to be partnered with.

I’m not going to go into this recording and that recording as I think I’ve said about the character of this machine to suggest that I think it is very good sounding and represents very good value for money.

Niggles

There’s no inputs to use the onboard DAC.

Critically speaking the TAGA isn’t the most accurate player I have experienced, but it’s nowhere near bad so don’t read into that something that is certainly not implied!

Conclusion

Some might say that the days of the CD are over, but I would heartily disagree and it would seem that it’s not just TAGA and I that think this given the number of high-end CD players we have seen coming out. There is certainly a whole load of product out there, both new and used.

Is this CD player the last word in Fidelity? Of course it isn’t, it’s a five hundred euro or so machine! However, for that five hundred or so Euros I think it performs excellently and I think it demands that you take a look at it should you be in the market for an excellently priced CD player. Even for those with higher-end systems but for those who CD is not a main source, I still think this is an excellent buy –buy it and use it for the odd time you play an old