 "Hi-Fi Choice Recommended."
Hi-Fi Choice Buying Guide - December 1999
"Award of Excellence."
Audio Accessory - November 1999
"Conclusion: Stereo's test results have been fully confirmed during our workshop. In the end it was a clear 4-0 in favour of TAG McLaren Audio, which destroys all the rumours that they are simply 'old wine in new bottles'."
(The workshop compared the CD20R, CDT20R, DAC20 & 60iRv directly with their predecessors.)
Stereo - August 1999
"It certainly looks stylish, with silvery aluminium knobs and a blue LCD display (which may be switched off). It also
feels incredibly solid, and has obviously been manufactured to very high standards."
Goldfish Guide - Hi Fi Separates - April 1999
"There were times when it seemed to outperform all comers with its presence and sparkling vitality, and others when it
was frustratingly dry and constrained, the loss of air in the treble dominating with good live recordings. In the end
it must be seen as a success, and it rates a Recommendation because it clearly does what it sets out to do so well,
and because it is built with the precision, and probably the longevity of a Swiss army knife.
"This rigorously-engineered player stretches the technical performance of all its parts to the limit-hence the glowing
barchart! A 'no compromise' approach has produced settled distortion and low jitter. But is it too well engineered?"
Hi-Fi Choice - March 1999
"There's never any shortage of drive and slam, and this ensures that the CD20R punches out rock and dance tracks with
alacrity. It takes no prisoners with rough or shoddy production, revealing compression or harshness all too readily,
but produces serious impact and attack with a well-produced disc."
What Hi-Fi? - November 1998
"On this evidence, improvements in sound quality are manifestly quantifiable, and justify TAG McLaren Audio's
speedily-executed modifications to the stalwart components of the former Audiolab range.
"On sound, the TAG McLaren CD/amp ensemble is characterised by its transparency, lightness of touch and a lovely
delicate treble. It's a lucid, undemonstrative, easy-breathing delivery, notable for its smoothness and absence of
fatiguing effects.
"A word about the packing and presentation. It's the best I've ever seen at the price (and some way above)."
Hi-Fi Choice - November 1998
"The metamorphosis from Audiolab to TAG McLaren Audio has given this audiophile diamond the final perfection. They
should now be even more unbeatable in this price class. Is this not High-TAG?
"Music is more transparent and more differentiated than the former Audiolab product. The ability to reproduce voices
within a chorus has significantly improved... Excellent... highly recommended."
Stereo - November 1998
"The CD20R needs to be a bit special and it starts well on looks alone. As with the (60iRv) amplifier, the machine may
look familiar, but within the circuitry has been completely reworked."
What Hi-Fi? - November 1998
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