The world"s first audiophile Wi-Fi audio component has been announced by Slim Devices, claiming their new release will provide sound quality that "surpasses even the most exotic CD players".
Transporter costs $1,999 (£1,079) and is designed with sound-savvy, lossless-audio lovers in mind. It will operate on any Wi-Fi network, allowing files to be streamed from a PC in a variety of formats including FLAC and WAV as well as inferior lossy formats such as MP3 and WMA.
Slim Devices" spokesman Patrick Cosson boldly said: "People have not been trained. MP3s are stuff you listen to at the gym. Audiophiles do not see digital music as throwaway music - which is what digital music has become to some people."
Mr Cosson said the key to Transporter"s upmarket appeal was the Digital to Analogue Converter (DAC) inside the unit, which converts the files on a networked PC into analogue sounds usable by a standard Hi-Fi setup.
He described it as a "miracle DAC" and claimed that the standard of converter is more commonly found in equipment costing in excess of $10,000.
Slim Devices are already taking pre-orders ready to ship the unit worldwide on September 18.