Hey, this is Chris coming to you from our Montgomeryville Showroom
to give you an inside look at the all-new Cambridge Audio turntable, the Alva TT V2.
Equipped with a built-in phono preamp, a moving coil cartridge, and Bluetooth aptX
HD, this new model is the direct replacement for the original Alva TT that was released in 2019.
Before we dive deep into the Alva TT V2, here's a brief history of Cambridge Audio. Cambridge has
been producing high-end audio components for over 40 years. All their gear, speakers, amplifiers,
preamps, and receivers are found at the top of many audio enthusiasts' must-have lists. But
believe it or not, the original Alva TT was their first turntable ever. It had a huge buzz because
it introduced aptX hi-res Bluetooth audio to the turntable market, as well as just being the kind
of turntable you'd expect from Cambridge Audio. The kind that makes your records sound great.
I've had the pleasure to take this turntable for a spin myself the past few weeks, and I've
been absolutely smitten by it. Before I even talk about the sound, I must commend Cambridge Audio
for an excellent unboxing experience. We'll get into what the turntable comes with in the box a
little later, but I had the Alva TT V2 unboxed and playing in about 10 minutes. Well done, Cambridge.
They clearly put a lot of thought in design into this plug-and-play nature and made the turntable
that not only sounds great but is also accessible to every level of record enthusiasts out there.
The sheer amount of options you have in terms of how you can listen to this turntable
is something many other manufacturers don't even come close to. Designing a turntable that can work
right out of the box with almost any system out there is hard to do. But in my opinion,
this is a golden example of how to do it right. In the box, you'll find everything you need to
get this turntable hooked up and ready to go. You get the turntable itself, the platter,
and a dark gray dust cover. The moving coil cartridge is already attached to a removable
headshell and packaged nicely in bubble wrap in its own little box. For cabling, you get a pair
of RCA cables, a ground, and two options for power cables, depending on where in the world you live.
And my favorite piece, that I so dearly wish came with more turntables, an Ortofon scale
that is used to balance the tonearms to get the correct tracking force of the cartridge.
While this is a simple design, it does the trick. Getting your tonearm balance is key to getting
a good sound out of your records. Too little downforce in your tonearm will bounce around with
high dynamics, not tracking properly. Too much, and you will chew the crap out of your records.
I know I'm making a big deal out of such a small thing, but Cambridge really did pack
everything you need in here to set this up on your own. And no need to buy another device,
cable, gizmo, or doodad. In terms of the design and looks of the Alva TT V2,
nothing has changed. Like its predecessor, the Alva TT V2
has a simple and sleek vibe. A simple engraved logo, and only a couple of buttons on top. The
brushed aluminum case feels solid and the dust cover moves smoothly. It's uncluttered and clean,
and if you're using Bluetooth, you can put it anywhere you want in your space. It's also heavy.
I mean, super heavy and dense. A lot of turntables will go in two directions for the plinth. Rega,
for example, will go with the super low mass and high rigidity design,
and others like Cambridge here will go with the high mass and density. I had this turntable about
6 inches away from my right channel while it was plugged in and never once had any resonance or
distortion induced by the plinth vibrating. So you might be wondering what is new with the
V2. Let's get into it. The Alva TT V2 improves on the original Alva TT in a few important ways.
The original had a one-piece tonearm, but the V2 has a removable cartridge and headshell.
So you can swap in your favorite cartridge easily. The original Alva TT only had line
out. So if you had a phono preamp that you really wanted to use, you were out of luck.
The V2 has a switchable phono preamp section. So you can run phono level signals into a preamp of
your choice or use the line-level out into an amplifier directly. This will integrate into
just about any home stereo setup. The Bluetooth LED indicator on the back has a new blinking mode
that lets you know when you've connected your Bluetooth-capable wireless device.
While there is no display on the turntable to signify what Bluetooth device you're connected to,
the album will remember the last connected device and will pair automatically back to that device.
It was super easy to connect my headphones to the V2, but when swapping to another device,
you want to make sure to fully power off the last Bluetooth device the V2 was connected to.
You can even turn Bluetooth off entirely if you're wiring the TT V2 directly into your audio system.
The pre-install cartridge is a moving coil as opposed to a moving magnet.
Typically, a moving coil cartridge tracks more lightly than a moving magnet. But it
also has a lower output, which usually means you need a preamp that supports moving coils,
as not all do. The cartridge on the V2 is designed to have a high output,
matching that of a moving magnet cartridge. So you get the benefits of both types.
The built-in preamp is based on Cambridge Audio's existing preamps and it's designed to match the
output of the moving coil cartridge so you can hear the full audio range in your LPs.
The headshell and tonearm are paired to the moving coil cartridge as well. So it has an
effective mass of 19.6 grams. Effective mass is the spec that measures the resistance at
the very endpoint of the stylus, not just weight. That means the Alva TTs tonearm
and stylus will treat your records gently while bringing out the best sound in every groove.
If you're going wireless, the most important spec is the 24-bit 48-kilohertz hi-res audio that you
get from streaming with aptX HD. This may not look like a huge difference, but compared to
16-bit 44-kilohertz CD quality, your ears will notice a ginormous improvement in audio quality.
This is highly dependent on what type of Bluetooth your playback device supports, however.
The original Alva and the V2 both use a high-quality direct-drive design. A lot of
turntables of this caliber opt to use a belt drive. I actually asked Cambridge directly
about this choice. It uses an 8-pole 3-phase DC motor measured to achieve 0.06% wow and flutter.
You can expect excellent pitch stability. Cambridge noted this is particularly noticeable
with sustained notes, complex passages of music, or anything with higher dynamics.
This also means that you don't have a belt to worry about drying out or breaking or slipping.
One more thing that carried over from the original to this V2 is the polyoxymethylene platter,
which is an absolute mouthful to say, in which Cambridge agrees and abbreviates as P-O-M,
or POM. This is a high-grade thermoplastic used in a precision engineering situation,
is incredibly stiff, and has a solid heft to it, ensuring excellent stability in playback speed.
You can also place your records directly on the platter without the need for a cork or felt mat,
unless, of course, you get one of ours. Now, let's talk about how I tested this
turntable. I've had the Alva TT V2 hooked up to my personal setup in my living room with a Phono
Tube Preamp. The most immediate difference I noticed coming from my personal turntable,
the Debut Carbon EVO, was a much warmer sound. If I could describe it with a single word,
it would be velvet. I do a fair amount of high-res digital music listening, both at home and here in
the showroom. And this is probably the best way to critically listen to your favorite music.
But the warmth I felt wrapped in while listening to Touch by Daft Punk, was something I haven't
experienced before. It was buttery and smooth with no drop in clarity at all. And I got that
with every record and every track I put on. Now I know what you must be thinking, that tube
amp must be warming the sound. And while that is true to an extent, when I switched to using the
built-in preamp of the Alva TT V2, I lost a little bit of that warmth but gained even more clarity in
the high-end. Given the choice between the two, I prefer the color the tubes added to the system,
but the Alva can clearly stand on its own. I like to compare it to flavors of ice cream.
Some people like chocolate and some people like vanilla. It's a subjective experience. And I'm
glad the TT V2 lets me try both. In regards to the Bluetooth connectivity, while it's not my
personal cup of tea, I think it's a great feature that many people will find use out of. I tested
this with a few setups. First, my pair of Sony wireless headphones, which do not support aptX HD.
Pairing the two together was simple enough, and the sound quality was about what I expected. There
was no distortion or drop-off in clarity, but there was less dynamics, which is to be expected.
When I switched over to using my speakers in my office, which do support aptX HD,
I noticed a distinct increase in sound quality. Bluetooth gets a bad rap sometimes and has really
come a long way. Being able to support up to 24-bit 48-kilohertz playback, it borders on
the threshold of perceivable difference to humans when comparing raw analog sound to digital sound.
I can barely begin to count the number of times I've been asked in the showroom, can
I connect this turntable to Bluetooth? And then having to give the disappointing answer of no.
This is an excellent feature to support and it gets a pass in my book.
If you're in the market for a do-it-all, no compromise turntable, this is it. You can
have your cake and eat it, too. If this is your first turntable ever, it has everything
you need to get started. Just add speakers and an amp. If this is your third or fourth turntable,
know that it will not disappoint if you have it hooked up to your favorite stereo at home.
To summarize, the V2 comes with the same great features as the original. A moving coil cartridge
already installed, a super stable and silent platter, an incredibly precise direct drive motor,
a built-in phono preamp, and that great groundbreaking aptX Bluetooth support. No matter
the situation, the Alva TT V2 is a great fit. Thank you for joining me for a review of the
Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2. You can learn more about this online at worldwidestereo.com, or if
you're in the area, you can stop by our showrooms in Ardmore or Montgomeryville PA. We offer 60-day
returns, free shipping on all orders, and we're authorized dealers for everything we sell.
If you have any feedback or questions, leave them in the comment section below,
or you can call or email us at any time. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and
hit that notification bell to stay updated on our latest videos. This is Chris from World Wide
Stereo. Thanks for tuning in.