Our story starts with Exposure’s 3010 integrated amp, launched a decade or so ago. An unassuming black box – very much in the ‘cottage industry’ hi-fi mould – it proved endearingly popular in the mid-price integrated category. This was due to two things. Firstly, it came from a company that made smooth, musical-sounding affordable amps so had very good provenance. Secondly, it sold to a particular demographic of audiophiles that didn’t want fancy, feature-packed amps with displays, DACs, streamers, etc., built-in. It was, in other words a quintessential Exposure amplifier.
Over the years, the 3010 got a Series 2 update, and then the option of a DAC card that expanded its inputs. In this guise, it became the mid-price integrated to beat in value-for-money terms. No pressure then, for its…