UK Headfi enthusiasts who want to add a bit of tube goodness to the amplification must look across the pond to their American friends with more than a little envy. While a number of specialist makers cater for the US market, options in the UK and even Europe are rather more limited. The surge in models from China provide an alternative to the US, but once you factor in the cost of shipping, the inevitable import duty/tax, and the question of what to do if there’s a problem, the attractions of a home-grown product become obvious.   Until recently...

Until recently I would have said stay well clear of this player. I bought mine in June from a fellow Headfier. Sound was good but the UI was poor. Worse, the player app crashed regularly (read daily, virtually every session) and it had a couple of very frustrating flaws - most importantly if you changed track manually, the sound for the first second or so would be quiet, ruining the start of many songs. Buggy would be a polite way to describe it. I tried a whole range of fixes but nothing worked.   But, the sound was good, very good actually. It...