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Cambridge Audio Azur 640C Version2

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Cambridge Audio Azur 640C Version2
More about Cambridge Audio

Average Rating: 4 out of 5
No. of Reviews: 4
RRP: £250
Year: 2005

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Description: Budget CD Player with Optical and Coaxial outputs.

REVIEWS

1 to 4 of 4 reviews, to post a review you need to be a member - Join now.

Mark Slater

Posted: 05/12/06

'FOR THE PRICE I AM VERY HAPPY'

Strengths:
Value - I didn't hear anything else as good for my budget. Remote feels like something you'd get with a high end B&O style system

Weaknesses:
Still a budget component

Overall:
have been a fan of Cambridge kit since bought CD4 in 1995 - damn thing wouldn't break! Wanted cyrus system but wife intervened! This has certainly eased the pain. Sounds great. Listening to Damien Rice "O" as I type and it is sounding great. All the detail is there - sounds warm and inviting.

Even my wife now prefers music to the TV - result. If you are on a budget this has to be first one you listen to.

Performance		80%
Build		60%
Value		80%

Overall Rating

73%

Christopher Lumb

Posted: 24/11/06

'VERY ACCOMPLISHED CD PLAYER'

Strengths:
Excellent build quality. Twin DACS at this price! The open clarity and added detail is a joy to behold. I've picked up on things in familiar CDs which I've never heard before.

Weaknesses:
None really at this price!

Overall:
A sweet sounding spinner at an uber competitive price. Audition one.

Performance		100%
Build		80%
Value		100%

Overall Rating

93%

Benchan

Posted: 28/05/06
Updated: 05/07/06

'VERY, VERY CAPABLE CD PLAYER FOR GBP250 BUT...'

Strengths:
It is amazing how the quality of budget hifi equipments has improved over the last few years(, thanks to investment in Chinese factories).

One thing you notice straight away when you play a CD on this player is, its clarity and detail. I played backed the unit through my Audio Analogue Bellini and two Roksan Caspian power amps driving a pair of B&W CDM1SEs and I have to admit I was mildly shocked - five years ago you probably would have had to pay GBP500 or so to get anything that sounded remotely close to this machine in terms of 3D imaging. It doesn't sound as musical as an Arcam 7 CD player from a few years back but then the Cambridge doesn't do anything wrong at the price. Oh and did I mention calrity and detail?

I had the unit on demo for a week so I can't comment on it's reliability. However the unit is slim, reasonably sturdy, and stylistically appealing with just the right number of buttons.

Weaknesses:
During the demo I compared the unit with my aging Sony ES player - CDP-XA50ES and I have to say the Cambridge player did come very close to beating it. In fact, when playing pop music I preferred the exaggerated punchiness of the Cambridge to my Sony.

Unfortunately for Cambridge Audio, I mainly listen to classical music and when it comes to playing large scale orchestral music things start to turn a bit messy with 640C V2 - you no longer can differentiate the various sections of the orchestra.

Sure it has two of Wolfson's 8740DAC chips and that's great for marketing but what matters to me is the sound and the 640 just didn't tick for me.

Overall:
May be it's not fair to compare this player with something that cost four times more about eight years ago but having read all the rave reveiws on the reputable Hifi mags I just had to give it a go.

I decided not to purchase 640C V2 - I'd probably spend the money I saved on upgrading the clock /power supply of my Sony. Besides, it'll probably be playing CD's long after the Cambridge'd expired...

Verdict: An extremely capable GBP250 CD player. (The point I want to stress is that it's a GBP250 player after all)

[Update 05/07/06] I downgraded the build quality to "2" as the CD quite often gets jammed in between the tray and the unit. Once this happens I have to open up the lid to "push" out the disc.

Cambridge Audio should have thoroughly tested the player's usability before releasing the product - after all not everyone's going to place the disc perfectly lined up, 100% of the time.

I am alreayd worried what is going to go wrong next...

Performance		80%
Build		40%
Value		80%

Overall Rating

67%

Patrick Gallagher

Posted: 18/10/05

'Quality and value'

Strengths:
Features coming out of it's ears for the price

Weaknesses:
Nothing obvious

Overall:
Having owned a version 1 of these and having to replace it after it broke down, I'll reserve judgement on it's reliability.

In terms of sound I'm very pleased.

You can hear the silence in between like I've never done before - it's almost deafening.

So, first point is that the reviews I've read fall over themselves to congratulate Cambridge Audio on the handset. It does compare favourably to many others at the price. Worryingly for me, when you shake it, it isn't the snuggest of fits and the looseness inside leads me to suspect there could be trouble ahead. Otherwise well laid out and thought out.

The loading mechanism appears smoother. Long may that continue.

You can dim the display to three brightness settings. I doubt whether this will make a discernible difference with the type of kit it would usually be paired with. I couldn't tell the difference, but I stand to be corrected.

My version 1 had an optical out, whereas this has a coaxial output as well. Useful for those using an external DAC or recorder.

There are other bells and whistles - it appears to support the integration of the machine to a multi room set up. Couldn't really comment on it's effectiveness.

Back to the sound. To my untrained ears it has lent a little more sparkle to acoustics, you seem able to tell when a string is chord or metal. I don't remember version 1 doing it quite so effectively.

Vocals don't sound better, just ever so slightly different. It's the instruments acoustic and others that seem to jump out at you a little more - they seem to have a little more sheen.

Performance		80%
Build		80%
Value		100%

Overall Rating

87%

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