This is Arcam's forthcoming Solo Neo, the wi-fi-equipped version of the company's popular all-in-one music system. First shown at CES in Las Vegas, it should be in the shops in April or May this year.
From the front there's little to distinguish it from the existing Solo – apart, of course, from the Solo Neo badge – but to the rear the changes are clear.
The new model has both an Ethernet port for wired networking and a Wi-Fi antenna, and can both stream music from network devices and access internet radio stations.
It can handle WAV, MP3, AAC, WMA and FLAC file formats, and also has a USB socket for local hard drives and memory sticks, plus a dedicated iPod interface with control via the company's irDock.
In addition there are FM/DAB or FM/AM tuners (depending on the local market), CD/CD-R/RW playback, five line-ins and a record output.
There's also a set of preouts for use with additional power amps, and a Zone 2 output with independent volume control and dedicated infrared control.
The output is 50W per channel, with passive fanless cooling, and the Solo Neo uses a low-jitter Colpitts crystal master clock, 24-bit Wolfson digital-to-analogue conversion and twin toroidal transformers in the power supply section, with an independent transformer for the microprocessor and standby function.
Arcam says the Solo Neo also has improved audio capabilities, and will replace the existing Solo when it goes on sale.
