My Top 5 Amps under £1,000 & Cambridge Audio CXA81 Mk2 Review

Hi Tarun. Am thinking of getting the new Acoustic Energy AE1 Active Mrk 2. Or, an amp (undecided- ideally Advance Paris Apex 8) with Neat Mystique speakers.

What rack are you using??

I'm considering some "forever" hi-fi speakers from Audel in Sicily. I've never owned anything high end, but my local store is one of a handful of dealers in the US. I had a chance to go to the Audel listening room while on vacation in Sicily a few weeks ago and met the owner, Walter Carzan. Beautiful, great-sounding speakers, but the price, I admit, is scary! Buy once, cry once? I'd also at some point consider adding a DAC to my system, which is primarily H/T at this time.

I think that the conclusion that some amplifier has a "better dac" than the other one is wrong and leads the decision on the purchase in the wrong direction.
In the entire musical chain, the sound is influenced not only by the dac chip, but also by its environment, the architecture of the entire Dac assembly... Many times I had the chance to hear a D/A converter with a "lower quality Dac" that plays better than another with a "better Dac"... This should be kept in mind when choosing, and not taken into consideration by just reading the specifications and numbers.
Listen brothers and believe your own ears, rather then the reviewer's. 😉

Здравей, Тарун! Какво мислиш за стъпалото на MF M6PRX?

Good stuff. I'e had Cambridge 350A and 840A MK2 amps, latter being particularly nice if neutral is your thing (ended up being too neutral for me).

I do wonder though just how much the game and development has really moved on since then in amp terms. It would be really interesting to compare some equivalent amps from the same manufacturer over time.

On another note - you mention John Westlake. Everyone in the industry should look at the Pink Fish Media on him for a less positive insight in to the man and his behaviour.

Great video Tarun

As an owner of the MF B1XI I can assure any that are interested, its a superb amp with old skool vibes and a very slight touch of modern requirements (arc).
It has such a clear presence in its sound that is so welcoming without being too warm or clinical.

One of the standouts for me is how cool it runs, unless driven really hard it barely kicks out any heat. Would I recommend any to purchase one, absolutely for sure.

Setup with Fyne Audio F501E speakers, what a matchup.

You haven't made any comparison, at least sonically, against CXA-61 or even its biggest brother EXA-100. It would be useful for anybody thinking an upgrade. My CXA-61 is still making a match for a some speakers that I have tried on (Quad S-2, Dali Spektor 2). Even on a pair of Dynaudio Evoke 50. Now it is driving nicely a pair of Triangle BR10. Only with Quad Revela 2 didn't matched due to the warmthness of both. Audiolab 9000P matched match better. Based on what I have auditioned I can easily recommend any Cambridge or Audiolab amplifier. One for having a warm, I would dare say tube like sound. The other for a more clean and tight bass. I cannot say that for an Arcam one having heard an A25.

I have gotten a Musical Paradise mp701 mk III tube preamp. It is not in my system yet. But once it is I am going to upgrade tubes and capacitors and fuses and whatever else is upgradeable, to get the most out of it. I think Cambridge should make a version of this amp with more beef and just leave out the digital part. A future proof amp because it lacks ageing digital tech. Pure analog perfection.

Hi Tarun my main system is a Yamaha A-S701 with a pair of Wharfedale Evo 4.1s and Diamond 5.3 Floorstanders and a BK Elec Monoloth Downward facing Sub...electronic music listening mostly in a dual stereo config.

Spotted a great sale price for Emotiva XT1's - Floorstanders for my office and I'm now looking at a suitable amp with enough power to drive them as they are quite hungry speakers. I keep coming back to Yamaha on a value/watts basis, pure direct sound basis i.e...any reccomendations welcome..

Cambridge sound signature is extremely bloated and bass-heavy. All their gear is an eyesore too. Tell the truth, Tarun

An excellent review Tarun, as always.
I picked up a Peachtree Carina 150 class D amp on offer last year for £1k and have been delighted with it, especially it's performance at lower listening levels.

My is Fosi ZA-3. :)

I've owned this amp for a couple of years and am pretty happy with it. Because I move around a lot, I use digital only sources and have a Bluesound Node Icon to which I've recently added a Fiio K13 r2r as an external DAC (incredible upgrade for the price). I agree with Tarun's comments about the uninspiring design and lack of display, something Cambridge have carried over into the EXA100, unfortunately. The internal DAC is disappointing at best. The sound created through my Spendor A2s by this system is exactly as described; beautiful, precise sound staging, overall warmth but not the tightest bass. I've always appreciated Tarun's precise and consistent use of language which adds a lot of objectivity to his reviews (contrast with the Huff, Andrew Robinson et.al.) and it's great to see this further validated with a review of a component I'm very familiar with.

Thank you Tarun. Great stuff as always.

Hi Tarun…..great review as usual. I just inserted a Rogue Sphinx v3 Magnum integrated into my office system. Solid state w/ a Tube pre. It is wonderful driving my Dali Minuet SE with a Node X . It’s a tidy little system and the phono pre is decent when I hooked my vintage table to it….comes with a nice headphone amp also. Would love to hear a review by you. Thanks for a great channel.

Hmm, 5 of the best. @1k or less. Thats some wow compilation/ round up review.❤ btw for giggles try: One night in Paris 10cc for a sound test.

In due course I am considering the Denon PMA-3000NE amp. Reason - in a high SQ youtube demo it clearly beat the esteemed Luxman L507Z on all discernible parameters - bass dynamics, midrange fullness and treble separation of cymbals.

I think I burned out the upgrade bug for a while with a pair of ModWright kwa99, paired with my Benchmark DAC3

Thought you would include the rega mk 4

I choose Yamaha RN800A as my starting point amplifier.
Currently AB testing Arcam A25 and Musical Fidelity M5SI.
But I am now intrigued with Cambridge Audio to listen how it compares.

I love all of your videos, especially the ones where you show us the 'innards' of an amplifier. All well designed amplifiers, DACs and streamers should have clear tops! lol

Great review as always Tarun. I will share my attempt to upgrade from a Yamaha A-S301 to a Cambridge AXR100 to add some warmth and body. It definately did but compared to the 301(in pure direct mode) it sounded more congested, less dynamic and less resolution. When turning off pure direct on the Yamaha and using slight tone adjustment, I could get the Yamaha to sound like the Cambridge but could not get the Cambridge to sound like the Yamaha in pure direct mode. For this reason I sold the Cambridge. The Musical Fidelity B1Xi would be at the top of my list for next amp. I would be interested to see a review of one of the Yamaha amps (301,501,701) as I think they would have to be the best bang for buck option out there.

Its Saturday morning here in Australia when i see your uploads ..as a kid my favourite was the banana splits so i am glad to report that as an older kid and with no current version of banana splits that you have taken that honour....along with opening music suggestions on Tidal and the like 🥳

I would answer the question of the day but the response at this stage would be soooooooo wide deep and dynamic that anyone might only read if they had time for a venture around our galaxy...ill return in a brief history of time with a summation....great review

Hello Tarun, I very much enjoy your reviews. I have a question. I recently acquired a pair of ProAc Response 1SC and they are identical to yours! I was wondering which two or three amplifiers are your favorites to pair with your ProAc 1SCs?

I remember when they made the mk2 to raise the price of the unit. The reviewers at the time didnt hear any difference in so called sound quality.. I wouldn't want to see this kind of unnecessary "upgrades" in the market. Not heard this myself though.

Cambridge Audio CXA81 Mk II 80 Watt Integrated Stereo Amplifier - $1,799.00 CAD$

Thanks for the review. The MK1 was very popular here.

I'm considering upgrading from the Exposure 3510 separates to something less noisy, something that doesn't have the crooked channel balance, and something that can play at quieter volumes.

I have this amp paired with the Cambridge CXN100, CXC Cd transport along with the Project debut evo carbon 2 with Ortofon blue and the Dali Rubikore 2 speakers. Absolutely love the set up. Sometimes wonder if the speakers could do with a bit more oomph behind them.

I own the CXA80 (has tone controls). I went with the CXA80 over the original CXA81 because of the tone controls. The CXA80 uses the Wolfson WM8740 DAC which I quite like. I bought it from Cambridge refurbished for $400 in 2020. It sounds great and has worked like a champ. I also bought a CXN the same way for $400 (same DAC as the CXA80). Cambridge has pushed out updates to the CXN as recently as this year. At retail, they are great products. At what I paid for them, outstanding.

Great list, Tarun.

How do you find Arcam's Class G amps? I've seen folks say they pair well with Monitor Audio and Triangle, while others don't seem to like the Class G topology.

But the upcoming Arcam A50 Signature looks like a sweet unit with its HDMI.

Always enjoy your reviews Tarun. I've been considering replacing my Klipsch Cornwall IV's, which are very sadly, a bit too large for my current listening space. My shortlist has come down to ProAc D2R, Harbeth SLH5plus XD2, Epos ES14N, ATC SCM20ASL or MoFi Source Point 8. The issue I have is I may also need to upgrade my Sugden A21 Sugnature amp to properly drive some of these speakers. A lot to consider.

Great honest review as usual

Thanks for sharing. As an Atoll SDA-300 owner I prefer Atoll products. The Cambridge is good though. One needs to choose on what they really want or need. As you scale up in the Atoll line things are even better. All the best.

I wouldn't call it a dark horse, but though at a price level further up I think the Arcam A15+ is slightly overlooked, if you'd care to review it.

From this group though I'd be inclined to go with the Audiolab as I'm digital first.

Hello Tarun; thanks for this useful review; I have saved it; I wish you a happy evening and weekend; bye Tarun.

Thanks for this new informative video, Tarun. Personally, i'd leave the Cambridge as last choice of the 5 and the Atoll as nbr. 1. As my late father always said -- and having your wonderful Exposure 2510 amp in mind -- the more components, the more distortion and possibility of component failure. In fact, given the <1,000 budget, i'd pick something like the NAD C316BEE V2, which already has a very good phono stage inside, and add a decent external DAC that has USB-C, HDMI and Toslink inputs. My humble 0.02, obviously.

Arcam 50 signature to replace my Arcam alpha 10

My Cambridge CXA81 mk1 has blown the right channel twice. Cambridge quality?

Nice to see the great Rega Brio mentioned here! Along with the upcomming turntable reviews, it would be great if you could include a review of the (price appropiate) Technics SL-100C. And if you manage to get a hold of the (ProAc Tablette inspired) Falcon Acoustics F50 speakers, I suspect they might just become the new sub 1k reference stand mount speakers :-)

The bigger Transformer the less capacitance you need. Ideally have no capacitance and just having the Transformer is the better way

Very useful review. I have the previous generation CXA81 with a CXNV2 and Cambridge Audio's Solo phono stage. I really like it but if I upgrade, I'm going up north of $2K. Next upgrade are my speakers, looking to go to towers and away from my Polk R200 Reserve series bookshelf speakers. This pairing sound good to my ears. Great for Jazz and Blues music. When it gets to more complex music styles like metal and orchestra, I feel there could be some more improvements made. Anyway, nicely done as always.

I have an earlier version of the CXA. Pretty disappointing that the only functional difference seems to be that they replaced the aluminum face plate with grey plastic and got rid of the tone and balance controls. If I were in the market for that amp, I would check the used market for the older Version (CXA 80)

Great video sir!!! One thing I’ve done when purchasing gear that comes with a horrible plastic remote. I purchase heavy duty all metal universal learning remotes from Ali Express. Remote controls that could literally cause one severe pain for $30-40 USD. it’s definitely worth it to me to get rid of plastic devices.