With its heavy, polished wood speakers, gold-plated terminals and an amplifier loaded with valve tubes, the Philips system is the swankiest micro system we’ve seen in aeons.

Slip in a CD or DVD and you’ll see it’s got the skills to back up its unquestionable style. Music is beautifully detailed and warm, while the HDMI output with 720p and 1080i upscaling ensures you get a perfectly pristine DVD picture.

There’s little in the way of extras, although you do get a radio, as well as DivX, MP3 and WMA playback via CD-R. With audio this good, you’ll spend considerably more time listening to CDs than wishing it had a built-in TV tuner anyway.