Technics SC-CX700

You want outstanding sound quality, obviously. But are you prepared to go to the sort of lengths that demand your audio system must be made up of numerous boxes, need numerous power supplies, and cost the equivalent of a developing nations’ GDP? Or are you prepared to compromise a little?

If the number of audio companies offering self-contained music streaming systems contained in a pair of stereo speakers is anything to go by, plenty of us are prepared to compromise. Not to the point that we’re sacrificing performance in favour of convenience, of course - that’s why quite a lot of the self-contained music streaming systems on the market are so expensive. And now you can add another to the list of ‘expensive compromises’: this Technics SC-CX700.

At the most fundamental level, the SC-CX700 is nothing we haven’t seen before. It’s a pair of compact (313 x 201 x 276mm, HxWxD) standmounting speakers that incorporate amplification (a total of 200 watts of Class D power, in this instance), wireless streaming smarts and some physical inputs for use with legacy equipment. There’s nothing startling or ground-breaking about the concept.

Each speaker features a dual-concentric driver arrangement (the ‘Phase Precision Driver 4’, according to Technics) above a forward-facing bass reflex port. The coaxial drive unit has a 19mm ring tweeter positioned in the centre of a 150mm mid/bass driver - each tweeter gets 40 watts of that Class D power, each mid/bass driver gets 60. 

Amplification is kept separate from the speaker driver in each cabinet in its own enclosure, in an arrangement Technics calls ‘acoustic solitude construction’. There’s an MBDC (‘model-based diaphragm control’) chipset that’s in charge of reducing any predicted harmonic distortions, based on simulations of the coaxial driver’s movement, in order to minimise distortion. And something called the ‘JENO’ engine is intended to eradicate any disturbance in the transmission of the audio signal between the two speakers. This entire arrangement is called the ‘Technics Orchestration Concept’.

As is generally the way with systems like this, one speaker takes care of most business while the other just does as it’s told. So the secondary speaker features an input for mains power, an RJ45 socket for making a wired connection to its partner, and a button to initiate wireless pairing if that’s your preferred method. 

Those three also feature on the primary speaker. But in addition, this speaker features plenty of wired and wireless connection options. There’s a 3.5mm line-level analogue input along with a pair of stereo RCAs leading to a moving magnet phono stage. Digital stuff runs to an optical input, a USB-C slot, an Ethernet socket for a wired connection to your router, and an HDMI ARC input for your TV. A pre-out for a subwoofer completes the physical line-up. Then there’s dual-band wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity with SBC and AAC codec compatibility. 

A wired or wireless connection to your local network means Apple AirPlay, Google Cast and internet radio are available, and the SC-CX700 will be Roon Ready once an imminent OTA update has taken place. Digital content, no matter how it’s received, is supported up to 32bit/384kHz and DSD256 - if the speakers are wireless connected to each other, everything is scaled to 24bit/96kHz whereas a wired connection allows for 24bit/192kHz. 

SOUND QUALITY

First things first: the way I intend to describe the sound quality of the Technics SC-CX700 applies in every respect, across the board. It doesn’t matter if you’re listening via the moving magnet phono stage, streaming some TIDAL content from a smartphone or letting the system take care of digital-to-analogue conversion via its digital optical input, the broad characteristics of its presentation remain admirably consistent. There are differences that can’t be overlooked, of course, especially if you go to the lengths of comparing a pristine vinyl reissue to a 160kbps Spotify stream of the same content - but where the fundamental sound of the Technics is concerned, it’s unbudgeable. 

What it isn’t, though, is in any way immediate. The first listening session or two might convince you that it is a rather undemonstrative, almost dispassionate sound the SC-CX700 deals in, so even-handed is its presentation. Eventually, though, the penny will drop - and you’ll realise this is a brilliantly equitable and objective sound, with (as the adverts used to say) nothing added and nothing taken away.

Everything about the way the SC-CX700 presents music is carefully judged. It’s tonally neutral; it plays no favourites at any point in the frequency range; it lays out a soundstage with such unshowy authority that it’s initially possible to take its scale and rigour for granted. Low frequencies have plenty of body and no little presence, but their variation and straight-edged control means their input is subtle rather than in-your-face. The momentum and rhythmic positivity of a recording is more important to this system than simple ‘wallop’ - no matter how initially exciting ‘wallop’ might be.

Detail levels are high, but not in a fussy or analytical way. Dynamic headroom is considerable, but because the SC-CX700 is no shouter it may not immediately seem to be the case. The insight the Technics has into the minutiae of a recording, the transient information and harmonic variations, is considerable - but, again, everything is always put into proper context. Its time-alignment and stereo focus is beyond reproach, too, but once more the Technics is supremely unfussy in its competence.  At no stage does this system attempt to draw attention to itself - eventually you’ll realise how clever it is, but it would prefer you realised it for yourself rather than be poked in the chest by an overly performative presentation.

Ultimately what the SC-CX700 is ‘musical’. That may seem like a redundant word to use in the context of a stereo music system, but there are enough unmusical alternatives around to make it a valid description.    

LIVING WITH

The first thing you’ll notice about the Technics SC-CX700, immediately they are unpacked, is the way they’re finished. Where the quality of construction is concerned, we’re well up to the standard both the asking price and Technics’ established reputation suggests - but in terms of finish, these speakers exist in a field of their own.

Three finishes are available: terracotta brown, silky grey and charcoal black. The material that covers both sides and the front of each cabinet is called ‘Dinamica’ - it’s made predominantly from recycled polyester and is a soft, textured, almost suede-like substance that offers a degree of tactility that’s extremely uncommon in loudspeakers. Ever wanted an audio system with a nap in the manner of a deep-pile carpet? Your prayers are answered.

As far as controlling the system goes, we’re back on more familiar ground. There are a few physical controls on the top of the primary speaker: buttons for ‘power on/off’, ‘mute’, ‘volume up’ and ‘volume down’, and touch-surfaces to select input. There’s a more comprehensive selection of commands available on the rather humdrum remote control, but absolute control comes via the ‘Technics Audio Center’ [sic] app that’s free for iOS and Android.

In truth it’s no more glamorous than the remote control - if a more austere, monochrome app exists, I’ve yet to see it. And in operation it’s quite leisurely to put it mildly. But for integrating your favourite music-streaming services (Amazon Music, Deezer, Qobuz, Spotify and TIDAL are compatible), running a room-correction routine (‘Space Tune’), saving favourite tracks, radio stations or playlists, fiddling with bass and treble controls, checking on firmware updates and all the rest of it, the app is stable, logical and entirely fit for purpose.   

CONCLUSION

If it’s audio fireworks, a sort of sonic shock and awe, that you’re after then you can buy a similarly specified system that will grab you by the lapels a lot more readily than the Technics SC-CX700. But like a lot of slow-burn systems, once the CX700 has revealed its talents they’re likely to be a lot more satisfying in the long run…  

LISTENING NOTES

A.R. & Machines Station 2: Schönes Babylon

Transient response, the management of attack and decay of fast-moving, blink-and-they’re-gone sounds, the notion of momentum and the discipline of rhythmic expression all get a proper workout in the slice of what might be described as manic Germanic psychedelia   

Fishmans Long Season

A single 35-minute piece that shifts through dream-pop, dub, a kind of mildly aggressive ambient and plenty more besides, Long Season will put the screws to your set-up in any number of ways. If forced to pick a couple, I’d say ‘midrange fidelity’ and ‘detail retrieval’ in particular

Jockstrap Greatest Hits
Between the squelchy analogue keyboard sounds, rattling percussion and sneakily anthemic chorus, Greatest Hits asks plenty of a system. Powers of organisation and powers of resolution, especially, get a real examination

You buy a system like this because we want to combine the convenience of an integrated system with the sonic performance a venerable audio brand is capable of providing. You want to be able to stream music quickly and easily, you want to be able to include some physical media in your system, and you might even want to give your TV sound a big boost while you’re at it. And you buy the Technics SC-CX700 specifically because, as well as all of the above, you find the velvety nature of the speakers’ finish hard to resist

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