A reference audio system is not assembled by selecting the most expensive component in each category and hoping they work together. A reference system is built by understanding how each component interacts with the others — electrically, mechanically, and sonically — and choosing combinations where the whole exceeds the sum of the parts.
Three Tiers, One Philosophy
The Cadence Audio Group portfolio contains everything needed to build a reference system from source to loudspeaker, at three distinct performance tiers. What follows is not a prescription but a starting framework — the kind of system architecture that the Audio Lounge team discusses with visitors during private listening sessions.
Entry Reference
The first tier is an entry into serious high-fidelity, using components that represent the accessible end of the Cadence portfolio without sacrificing the engineering principles that define the Group’s manufacturing brands.
Source: the SME Model 6, the most accessible turntable in the SME range, paired with an SME M2-9 tonearm and a quality moving-coil cartridge. Amplification: Exposure Electronics from the Cadence India distribution portfolio — the 3510 integrated amplifier offers musical performance well beyond its price class. Loudspeakers: the Spendor A1, a compact standmount that delivers Spendor’s signature natural tonal balance in a form factor suited to smaller rooms. Signal path: Crystal Cable or Siltech at the entry level of each range. This system delivers the core Cadence experience — precision source, transparent signal path, natural loudspeaker voicing — at an investment that represents the beginning of a journey rather than the destination.
Core Reference
The second tier moves into mid-reference territory, where each component steps up in capability and the system begins to reveal recording quality differences with forensic clarity.
Source: the SME Model 15 with an SME Series V tonearm — a significant step in bearing precision, platter mass, and vibration isolation. Amplification: Nagra from the India distribution roster, or a high-quality integrated from the UK distribution portfolio. Loudspeakers: the Spendor D7.2, a floorstanding design that pushes resolution and dynamic range beyond what the A1 can achieve. Signal path: Siltech Classic Anniversary interconnects and speaker cables — fifth-generation conductor technology with decades of refinement. The D7.2’s ability to resolve fine detail places proportionally greater demands on the upstream components, and the Model 15 delivers the source quality to meet those demands. The Siltech cables ensure that what the turntable extracts reaches the loudspeaker without loss.
Ultimate Reference
The third tier is a statement system — the kind of installation that occupies a dedicated listening room and represents the full capability of the Cadence portfolio.
Source: the SME Model 60 with an SME Series V-12 tonearm, alongside a Garrard 301 Advanced for listeners who want the idler-drive character as a complement to the belt-drive SME. Record care: the Loricraft PRC-6 — at this level of resolution, record surface quality is audible and a clean groove is not optional. Amplification: Boulder or Nagra at the reference tier. Loudspeakers: Sphinx Audio Element 5 or Rockport Technologies — both designed to operate at the absolute limit of current loudspeaker technology, with different engineering philosophies and sonic signatures. Signal path: Siltech Crown or Crystal Cable Future Dream — S8 silver-gold alloy or monocrystalline silver, the most advanced conductor technologies in the Cadence portfolio.
What a Statement System Reveals
This system does not merely play music. This system disassembles recordings into their constituent elements, presents them with spatial accuracy that approaches the three-dimensional distribution of the original performance, and reproduces dynamic contrasts from the quietest room tone to the full force of an orchestral climax without compression or strain. Play an SME Music recording on this system and the original engineering intention is audible — every decision the recording engineer made, every microphone placement, every balance choice is there to be heard.
Your System, Your Session
Building a reference system is a personal process. These three tiers represent starting points, not templates. The Audio Lounge team in London, Mumbai, and Pune can demonstrate any combination and adjust the configuration to match the listener’s room, musical priorities, and budget. The Cadence portfolio provides the components. The listening session reveals which combination works for the individual.
