This page was made possible with the help of Primare's and Bow Technologies' founder :
Bo Christensen.
The 204 wasn't Primare's first CD player per se, but it was the first actually produced : the player planned for the 928 Series finally didn't happen - enter the 204.
If the first 900 series (1986) was a direct call on early Bauhaus design, the 200 series went for a more inviting Star Wars-ish sculpting of the steel.
Exit the black, too, enter, shiny-ness.
The 200s consisted of the 204 CD player, the 201 preamplifier, the 202 power monoblocks, the 203 FM tuner and the optional 205 remote-control.
Unlike most of today's "ultras", the 204 wasn't only looks and the inside held a reliable and well-built component : a Philips CDM4Pro (aka CDM4MD - aluminium body).
Repairable, easy to find and mostly very long-lasting.
The d/a section is made of two Burr Brown 18bit converters and 8fs oversampling ; only low amounts of NFB were used with many regulations within a "modular upgradeable" construction.
The mechanical structure of the 204 is divided in two : mechanism/servo and digital circuits at the top, analogue audio circuits at the bottom, shielded in a separate copper enclosure.
The puck is gold-plated, the lid, naturally, motorized, and the entire body is made of non-magnetic stainless steel with laser-etched lettering.
The production run of the 204 was set at about 340 or 350. Optionally, one could order a 205 steel IR remote control but all 204s were delivered in a custom steel flight-case - at 1,150,000¥, it was a minimum.
The accompanying 201 preamplifier saw the same run, the 202 monoblocks a bit less at 200 pairs (400 units) and the 203 FM tuner much lower at 50 units.
The 205 remote had a production run of around a 100 pieces, maybe less, so there are at least 300 204 owners and 300 201 owners which haven't got one but desperately want it...
The 204 is a magnificent object in reality more discrete than it may seem at first, and which really should have garnered a design award : among the few well designed audio objects of the 1990s, the 204 stands very tall.