Leicester-based hi-fi manufacturer Icon Audio has announced the CDX1, an audiophile CD player with completely separate digital and analogue sections.

Icon Audio CDX1

Designed by company founder David Shaw, the new player avoids the potential audio pitfalls of low-voltage valves in the output stage sharing the same circuit board and power supply as the digital electronics.

The analogue section has its own dedicated choke-regulated power supply with valve regulation and valve rectification. The output valves are the long-lasting 6SN7 and the whole valve section has its own hard-wired chassis, completely separated from the digital circuitry.

The digital section meanwhile features a 192 kHz 24 bit upsampling DAC and two digital inputs (optical and coaxial) for offering the CDX1’s high resolution digital to analogue conversion and ‘pure valve’ output stage to other audio sources.

As well as the standard Icon Audio CDX1, there’s also a ‘David Shaw Signature’ version featuring Jensen copper foil oil-in-paper capacitors and premium valves. Both models are on sale now for £1,000 and £1,350 respectively.