Metronome
Le Son Vrai – The True Sound
Metronome
100% Made in France
Founded in 1987 in a small town north-east of Toulouse in the south of France, Metronome are a long established brand, whose audiophile credentials were deservedly earned during the 1990s with a brilliant range of CD transports and CD players.
Fast forward to today Metronome have evolved and grown, driven by a serious passion for music and all things hi-fi and with over 30 years experience their expertise and reputation is unparalleled.
Disc replay is having somewhat of a resurgence and there and undoubtedly been an increase in demand and enquiries for CD players over the past year or so. Metronomes extensive range of products embraces the modern age of streaming and high performance DACs, but also puts huge emphasis on CD replay with 3 CD player and 3 CD transports.
The Metronome product line up is comprised of 3 different ranges of products.
The “Digital Sharing” range is their entry level group of products, there are 3 models in this range. They are a compact design with excellent build quality and performance, there is a CD transport, DAC, Network Streamer and Network Server.
The Classica range is arguably Metronomes most recognisable group of products. This range offers excellent performance and is value for money is very strong. There is a DAC, Network Streamer, CD player and CD transport.
Le DAC 3 is the newest product from this range, launched in the Spring of 2026, this model is a standalone DAC out of the box, but it can be ordered with a streaming module which turns Le DAC 3 into a fully fledged single box streaming DAC.
The standalone streamer from this range is called Le Streamer and this has been a popular model here at Audio Therapy, with customers adding it to all manner to DAC’s, not just Metronome models, Le Streamer has AES/SPDIF and I2S outputs. The front panel is adorned with a single blue LED, any feedback as to what is playing is down to the control point you use, whether is is J-Play, M-Connect, Roon or Audirvana. It may not have the same bragging rights as many streamers that have large bright colourful displays, but the reality is those displays are not really needed and certainly heavily contribute to cost of a product and also have a detrimental effect on overall performance.
The CD player from this range is Le Player 4+, this model is a hugely capable product offering excellent performance, it also has 4 digital inputs (USB B, Optical, AES-EBU and RCA) so flexible for those who want to connect another device (like a computer or Melco). The same streaming card that is available for Le DAC 3 is also available for Le Player 4+, £2000 if specified with the product or £2200 to have it retrofitted at a later date.
The AWQO range is Metronome’s flagship series of products and it comprises of 4 models – a DAC, 2 CD players and a CD transport (all 3 CD devices play SACD). If the Classica range is high end AQWO is truly world class and is a real signature suite of products, the build quality is elegant and understated, the top loading drawer of the CD player oozes sophistication and quality.
The AQWO 2 CD / SACD offers digital inputs and streaming as well if you give it a network connection, the AQWO 2+ offers the same feature but with enhanced performance and an external power supply, the AQWO can be specified with a tube output as an option at the point of order.
We keep the AQWO 2 on permanent demonstration.
