Verdict
Cambridge ’s CXA81 integrate amplifier better upon the gratifying if blemish CXA80 with Modern feature article , place in an important performance . It ’s presently the well integrated amplifier you may purchase for around £ 1000 .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Cambridge CXA81 was the top - of - the - line integrated amplifier in itsCX2 range of hi - fi separate , replace the CXA80 and bemuse several new feature into the mix .
They must be work around the clock at Cambridge Audio at the moment , the troupe having launched a plethora of new products recently . Another product to gain the online and brick and trench mortar stores is theCXA81 MkII , which goes on sales event May 2024 , replacing the CXA81 reviewed before you .
The CXA81 still shack as a top - of - the - line desegregate amplifier , so if you ’re interested in getting one , there ’s no metre undecomposed than the right way now .
Design
There is n’t much find on the outside of the CXA81 to suggest the Cambridge engineering team has ripped up its blueprints and started again . The unostentatious yet handsome fascia has been tidied up , thanks to the removal of balance and tone ascendance , and is now coloured a sort of noncommittal grey as it ( ostensibly ) floats above its recessed plinth .
Other than a volume control , stimulant option dominance , a king on / off button and a 3.5 mm headphone output , there is n’t much here at all . If “ minimal ” is a design language you admire , you ’ll make love the feel of the CXA81 .
Features
If designing - smart it ’s more - or - less business as usual , Cambridge has been severe at workplace under the bonnet . Much of what transcend as the “ junkie and bolts ” of such a Cartesian product has been subjected to a hard stare , and as a consequence there have been numerous changes .
The most obvious , and most headline - grabbing , is the introduction of ESS Sabre ’s ES9016K2 M digital - to - analogue convertor . This is adeep - breathing DAC , capable of dealing with 32 - bit/384kHz and DSD256 digital files ( at least via the USB socket on the rear panel . The twosome of digital opthalmic inputs top out at 24 - bit/96kHz and the coaxial input is trammel to 24 - bit/192kHz ) .
In addition , where the outgoing CXA80 bank upon a wireless dongle , the CXA81 include integratedaptX HD Bluetoothreception ( to a 24 - bit/48kHz standard ) . Plenty of the crucial - but - unglamorous component such as capacitors and op - amps have been elevate in the name of improved audio performance .
As well as those digital inputs , the CXA81 has four unbalanced RCA parallel comment and a balanced XLR pair , too . Also included is a entourage of the sort of ins and outs so beloved of the impost install industry .
So , in terminal figure of connectivity , all that ’s missing is a phono stage for a turntable . Cambridge will undoubtedly ( and reasonably ) bespeak out a ) its splendid ( but now discontinued)Alva TTrecord player has an integrate phono stage ; and b ) it has an extremely well - see range of off - board phono stages in its product line - up .
Control is via Cambridge ’s system remote , which naturally features an excess of buttons beyond that ’s want to change the CXA81 ’s input or alter its mass . It ’s a bog - standard handset that does n’t really feel classy enough to be accompany a grand’s - worth of amplifier .
Sound Quality
There ’s no point in being demure when it comes to the CXA81 ’s speech sound . This is a brightly accomplished amplifier , one that pays close attention to every single view of music replica and serves it up in an entirely convincing and enjoyable manner . And this is unfeigned no matter the source of your music , nor its genre .
item degree are as dependable a place as any to begin , and the Cambridge reveal an absolute flood of detail . Juana Molina ’s Eras is only pack with information , and it ’s give away with absolute limpidity and confidence .
Whether it ’s the just there squeak of a fingertip on a guitar string , or the palate noise as the singer prepare to deliver the next line , the CXA81 lays it out for you . Not in a showy way , mind – everything the Cambridge reveals is in proper context of use , with no unreasonable emphasis being drawn to any element of the recording .
This form of finely judged balance holds reliable for tonality throughout the frequency scope , too . An all - court test such as spiritualize ’s Come Together illustrates the point dead . There is unnerving power and plug to the low relative frequency ( although it ’s fearsomely command ) , wide - open commodiousness to accompany the heady detail floor in the mid - range , and assertive levels of attack at the mellow end .
Integration throughout the frequency range is seamless , so the impression of performance unity ( even in a premix as cloudy and dim as this Spiritualized tune enjoys ) is absolute .
The CXA81 can turn its hand to moderately much anything . trade down a notch or two with a listen to Billie Holiday ’s You ’re My Thrill and the Cambridge handles the lugubrious tempo , as well as the peerless vocal , well . Step it up again with Amon Tobin ’s Get Your Snack On and there ’s all the energy , all the dynamism and all the propulsion the song require .
At no point does the CXA81 sound anything other than entirely in charge of the music it ’s work . It ’s enthusiastic and dynamic when the music is excitable ; it ’s composed and reckon when the music is spare .
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Should you buy it?
There ’s plenty of competition from the likes of Rega and Arcam , and the Cambridge pips them for carrying into action
The CXA81 will be replaced by the CXA81 MkII in May 2024 , so you may want to contain off on a purchase
Final Thoughts
You ’re not short of options with efforts from other brands such as Rega and the Arcam both engaging and persuasive amps . But discover them against the CXA81 and , although the differences are just Nox and day , there ’s really only one adenosine monophosphate on which you ’d be happy to pass your money .
Rega ’s Elex - R , for instance , has plenty to entice . It ’s a positive , nimble listen with a respectable heart for item – and it has a very capable phono leg on board too . However , it lack for both might and digital compatibility next to the Cambridge – there ’s no DAC , no Bluetooth and , ultimately , it ca n’t quite contend with the CXA81 when it comes to across - the - board fidelity .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every amplifier we look back thoroughly over an prolonged period of time . We utilise industry stock tests to compare feature properly . We ’ll always tell you what we discover . We never , ever , accept money to review a intersection .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics insurance policy .
FAQs
Yes , Bluetooth is mix with this amplifier , so you could pour from your earpiece over a Bluetooth aptX HD connection
Full Specs
