Review from The Absolute Sound, April/May 2008

by Wayne Garcia

"The first thing you need to know about the Exposure 3010S CD player and integrated amplifier is this – yes, you will very much enjoy listening to music with these items. They deliver the goods by beautifully balancing detail with warmth, rhythmic precision with lyricism, and delicacy with power.

Founded in 1974 by John Farlowe, a designer who once worked with Pink Floyd, The Who, and David Bowie, Exposure had a spotty history in North America until Canada’s Bluebird Music took over distribution in 2005. Since then, Exposure has been getting a lot more of same- and so have Bluebird’s other brands, which include Chord Electronics, Van den Hul, and Neat Acoustics speakers.

What this brief technical description cannot tell you, however, is that Exposure's 'Proudly Made in England by Music Lovers' tagline isn't just marketing BS. It's clear that the people behind these products know what music sounds like and are able to design components that bring music's emotional and intellectual power alive in a way that makes both standouts in their price class.

Although I listened to them separately, it quickly became apparent that these 3010S components were designed together, and as good as they are on their own they have a special synergy when paired.

The real magic began to happen when I placed the integrated amplifier in the system.  Lingering electronic artifacts on Frankenstein!! started to vanish, leaving a highly natural-sounding and easy-not the same as mellow-sonic presentation, from the bloom of a harp to the taps of a timpani to the rhythmic thrust of cellos and basses to the ear-splitting brightness of a toy whistle. Gruber's expressive vocal remained intact, but he now sounded that much more believably 'real', and the overall tonal balance was rich and warm, but not overly so. Again the word 'natural' sums it up best.

In short, these Exposure electronics do what great audio should- step aside and let the music do the talking. But to suggest that they merely 'get out of the way' does injustice to Exposure's efforts. The 3010S CD player and integrated amplifier make listening to music so intensely involving that it borders on an addiction."

- Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound, April/May 2008.

We will post a PDF of the full review which you can download in the near future.