The Evoke range has been part of Pure’s furniture ever since the Evoke-1 was launched back in 2002.
The range has expanded over the years to include models of varying sizes colours and features culminating for now, with the Evoke D6 with Bluetooth.
The top Evoke combines DAB, FM and as you’ve probably deduced by now, Bluetooth connectivity.
Build and design
The real oak veneer and white front panel give the radio a light, fresh look, although it doesn’t perhaps achieve a luxury appearance.
Once you’ve powered up the Pure, the autotuning sequence kicks into action. It’s a smooth, painless process and it’s not long before you’ve got a full complement of stations to choose from.
You can store 15 presets each for DAB and FM and these can be accessed through the corresponding buttons on the remote control.
The credit card-sized remote is a classy affair compared to what we’ve come to expect at this level, both ergonomic and easy to use.
When you’re up close and personal with the Pure, your main points of contact are the volume and select dials on the front of the unit. With the latter, you turn it to scroll through menus and push it inwards to select.
It’s simple and straightforward and the radio responds quickly enough. It’s a shame, though, that you can’t switch inputs via the remote. If you want to make the jump from streaming over Bluetooth to Planet Rock, you’ll need to leave your comfy seat.
The screen is a decent size and easy to read. The brightness adjusts manually or automatically, depending on the amount of ambient light in the room.
Features
Other features include twin alarms, which can be set to a station of your choice, and the touch-sensitive Snoozehandle which sits on top of the radio. There’s no Internet radio – for that you’ll need to investigate the Evoke F4 or rival radios such as the Roberts Stream 93i.
Out of the box, the Evoke is mains powered, but there’s always the option of going fully portable. For this, you’ll need to purchase Pure’s ChargePak, which delivers up to 65 hours of listening. Costing £35, it slots into the rear panel, above the 3.5mm auxiliary input and headphone output.
The D6 features custom drive units and a 20W digital amplifier behind the front grilles. Pure offers some of its speakers in a mono configuration, but the D6 fires sound out in stereo, and it’s all the better (and louder) for it.
MORE: Best DAB radios 2015
Performance
There’s a much bigger sense of scale than you get with one of its smaller siblings such as the Evoke D4. To go with the quantity of sound, there’s a decent level of quality too.
Detail levels are fine for the money and the general balance isn’t bass or treble heavy. Push the Pure hard and its balanced approach stops everything from descending into a crashy, brash affair.
Dialogue heard through the studio of Radio 5 Live sounds relatively warm and detailed. It’s easy to latch onto what people are saying.
Stream Daft Punk’s Around The World over Bluetooth (via an iPhone 6 Plus) and the Pure does a decent job of satisfying the demands of the track’s meaty, punchy bassline and sparkly highs.
Despite these qualities, rivals offer greater clarity and insight, and they do a better job of communicating dynamic shifts.
Spend £30 extra on the likes of the Ruark M1 Mk3 and although you jump down from stereo to mono, the benefit is a clear jump in clarity, detail and dynamics across the board.
Verdict
The Evoke D6 with Bluetooth isn’t going to revolutionise the DAB radio market, but it does continue the trend of the Evoke range being a fine option for those looking for a solid, dependable radio.
