The makers of the reasonably priced Squeezebox music streaming solution for the home have decided to go upmarket with what it claims is the first networked streaming solution for audiophiles.

Slim Devices has introduced the Transporter which it boasts, in eye-raising fashion, will be the ‘death of the CD player’. At £1,200, we somehow doubt that. In its favour, the Transporter  - which can be hooked up easily to your PC and stereo system – transmits audio wirelessly, has an in-built DAB radio for receiving thousands of digital radio stations, and supports Pandora's personalised music service and Rhapsody's two-million track collection of online music.

The company has gone all out to create something special in the infant streaming space. Transporter uses the AK4396 DAC from professional audio outfit, AKM, used in many high end CD and SACD players. There is also a gold plated circuit board, arranged to keep digital and analog sections separate, and to minimise jitter by micro-managing clock signals. Power is supplied to the DAC and analog stages by three separate super-regulator circuits and the balanced amplifiers use precision polyphenylene film capacitors.

Sean Adams, CEO and founder of Slim Devices, said:

“With Transporter, we set out to design an even better system by incorporating ideas both from the audiophile community and specialist engineers from around the globe. Transporter is designed not merely to rival traditional high-end sources, but to surpass them in both subjective and quantifiable performance.”

It will ship in September.

music technology audio home digital streaming