the ax and cx series from cambridge
audio
cover a wide range of prices and use
cases we thought it would be interesting
to look at the various models in these
two series to help you understand
which ones might be the best fit for
your system
we've reviewed several of them
individually and you'll find the links
within this video
if you want to read about a particular
model in more detail
you'll also find a link in the
description to our full article
comparing the ax
and cx series now let's get started
[Music]
founded in 1969 by some budding
engineers at cambridge university in the
uk
the company has always been about making
high-value products
that do not alter the sound of the
incoming signal
the cambridge audio team will spend
countless hours evaluating the component
parts
used in their designs to pick the ones
that sound the most
neutral two of their core values have
been to use toronto power transformers
and to keep the signal path as simple as
possible
they pioneered the use of toronto power
transformers with their very first
integrated amp and the audio world
followed suit as
almost all high performance audio gear
makes use of toronto power transformers
cambridge audio also makes great use of
something we
love to see in audio components
trickle-down technology
the engineering team at cambridge audio
was given a goal of making a new line of
the best sounding gear they could
with the price being a distant concern
this resulted in the highly acclaimed
edge series
much of the new technology they learned
when producing edge
was incorporated into the new ax and cx
models
had they never made edge these new
technologies would not even have existed
to incorporate it into the new ax and cx
models
first i'll go over the things both
product ranges have in common
with four bottles in each lineup we
thought it was pretty neat that
cambridge audio decided to give both
series the same cosmetic appearance so
you can easily mix and match them
all eight products come in a new lunar
gray finish and have a floating look
from the front
all of the amplifiers and the receivers
use their classic toroidal power
transformer for better sound
another classic cambridge trait we love
is the way they print all of the labels
on the back both right side up and
upside down
the first time you lean over the back of
a component to try to make a connection
you'll have a great appreciation for
this nuance
the amps and receivers in the cx and ax
series
all use very high quality speaker
binding posts which is pretty amazing to
see on something as
inexpensive as a cxa35 the front panel
layout is also
super clean and easy to figure out and
as we said
not only do they match in color but the
layouts are done in the same style to
make mixing and matching within the
lines
no issue from a cosmetic standpoint
now let's take a look at the different
models to help you find the best match
for your system
the ax models were replacement for
cambridge audio's acclaimed
topaz series which had won tons of press
for being such a great audio value
it got a completely new look and a lot
of tech from their more expensive models
the ax835 is an entry-level integrated
amp but by no means is it entry-level
sound
while this amp is rated at watts per
channel its massive power supply makes
it sound a whole lot bigger than you
would think
this is the perfect product for someone
stepping up in their first separate
analog
audio system there are no digital inputs
on the ax835
but it comes with a very decent built-in
moving magnet phono preamp
you also get four more rear analog
inputs and even record out for those of
you going retro with an old school
cassette deck
the front panel offers up a real
headphone amp and another mini plug
analog input
base treble and balance controls can be
accessed via the menu or remote
this is the perfect amp to pair with a
good set of bookshelf speakers to create
a great starter analog audio system
with plenty of inputs for other sources
you get the great
cambridge audio british sound for well
under four hundred dollars
the two axr units are stereo receivers
which means they are an integrated amp
with a built-in am fm tuner
the axr 85 takes all of the great
features found in the axa 35
and gives you a power section that is
rated at 85 watts per channel
to accomplish this the physical chassis
did get almost twice as tall
so you'll have more space taken up than
the sleek axa 35 does
but you'll get a return better dynamics
and to our ears more base impact
the phono preamp is the same as the one
in the ax835
and the addition of a bluetooth receiver
is a pretty big bonus for streaming from
a smartphone
there's one less analog input on the axr
85 compared to the ax835
and you lose the charging usb port on
the back but the tone and balance
controls remain as well
along with the record outs for a
cassette deck you'll also get the
ability to have two pairs of speakers
connect to the axa
85 with switching for either a b or a
plus b throw in a subwoofer output and
you have
one heck of a receiver for under 400
this unit is truly one of the jewels of
the audio world
with its feature set and classic
cambridge sound
it's so good you can take the money you
save and spend a little more on speakers
to get more bang for your buck
the big advantage of the axr 100 for its
extra hundred dollars is the addition of
digital inputs
everything else is identical feature
wise to the axr 85
it has two toslink and one coax digital
input while it's rated at 15 watts more
per channel we really didn't experience
a huge difference in perceived power
output or performance the dac in the axr
100
is high resolution capable so it's
likely going to sound better than the
digital stage of an older cvd player you
might want to use with it
if your cd player streamer or tvf
digital outputs
we recommend using the dax and the axr
100 for most cases
the bottom line here is if you need the
digital inputs get the axr 100
but if not the axr 85 is the best value
while vinyl sales have now surpassed cd
sales there's still lots of cds out
there in the market
and it's actually getting kind of hard
to find a high quality reasonably priced
cd player
that is one reason why i love the little
axe35
this is a simple to use single disc cd
player with fairly high end wilson dax
and gapless playback it even has digital
out
should you wish to use it as a cd
transport with an even better dac
like you might find in the cx series
gear since this styling matches either
series
you can pair it up with the cx series
and it will look like a matchstack of
components
we challenge you to find a better
sounding cd player out there for under
500
as this unit has a nice warm sound with
no trace of digital edge
next up is the cx series the cx series
has been around in the cambridge lineup
for years
their latest versions offer refresh
cosmetics and internal updates they
learned when they created their top of
the line award-winning edge gear
these units are all about stripping back
anything some might consider
extras to allow their engineers to focus
purely on creating the best
possible sound for the money when you
compare the cxa61 or cxa81 to the ax
series
you get a far bigger power supply and a
much more stout power amp section
these amps can drive just about any
speaker load except for the most
demanding speakers
the cx61 has a lively sound that will
pull you deep into the music
input wise you get four analog inputs on
the rear plus a mini plug analog on the
front panel
there is one coax digital input two
toslink digital inputs
and a usb digital input for computer
audio
the dac cambridge audio chooses for the
cxa 61
is an ess saber es9010 k2m
this is a dac capable of high-res audio
bluetooth gets upgraded to adaptex hd
for better audio
performance compared to the ax series
you do lose tone controls and the phono
preamp
when you get into this quality of an amp
cambridge audio feels you prefer to have
a
separate phono preamp we agree on the
phono preamp but we would have liked to
have seen the tone controls stick around
but they told us they put the money in
those circuits would have cost
towards better components in the signal
path
you'll also get a preamp out subwoofer
out and
two sets of speaker connections for a b
or a plus b
when we first heard the cx661 it felt
just right
you'll experience a much better sense of
dynamics and bass impact compared to the
ax models
and for us the music sounds like it's
coming from a quieter background
the stereo soundstage when you're
sitting right in front of your speakers
is also much bigger and wider of course
this model is twice the cost of the most
expensive ax model so it should be
better
but there is no doubt in our minds if
you have decent speakers you'll
easily hear the improvement the big deal
on the cambridge audio cxa 81 over the
cxa 61 for the 300
jump is a jump in the dax section
cambridge audio chose the ess sabre
es 9016 k2m feature-wise
other than the dac upgrade you get one
set of balanced audio inputs
and an even more robust power amp
section otherwise the units are
identical from an
input output standpoint to our ears the
cxa81 has a warmer more a fine
sound than the cx861 some people may
actually prefer the more
upfront sound of the cx61 but for us
we like the extra subtle details you
hear and an improvement in what feels
like a more effortless sound quality
and there's no question to us the amp
sounds bigger than the extra 20 watts
per channel
this guy has guts and can drive some
pretty difficult speaker loads with ease
the cxc is what is called a cd transport
the difference between a cd transport
and a full cd player
is that a transport does not have a
digital analog conversion section or
analog audio outputs
it simply pulls the digital stream off
of the disk
and sends it to the coax or toslink
digital outputs on the rear of the unit
you may wonder why would cambridge audio
just not go ahead and make a complete cd
player
well if you noticed both the cx
integrated amps have really good dacs
already inside
cambridge made the great decision to put
more money into a better transport
and leave the dta conversion to their
products that already have great dax
cambridge had already developed a
state-of-the-art cd driver
known as their s3 servo for their
high-end azure series
this is the same drive in the cxc
it has levels of jitter rejection and
error correction that you might see in
multi-thousand dollar cd drives
they also designed the chassis to be
very well isolated so that external
vibrations
that could affect performance are
minimized this cd transport is so good
we have many audio lovers that audio
advice
who use it with all kinds of brands of
dax you will just not find a better cd
transport out there for under two
thousand dollars in our opinion
the cxn v2 is a network streamer and is
by far our most popular cambridge audio
component
as it can be used in just about any high
performance audio system
you can pull music files from your
network and attach usb
drive and chromecast or airplay too
bluetooth is an option with an adapter
but with both chromecast and airplay
it's really not necessary
computer audio is also ready to go with
a high-end usb
input the free cambridge audio stream
magic app
has been around for years and it's
continually getting upgraded and offers
a great free interface for your
smartphone or tablet
the cxnv2 also gets you into the high
performance streaming services of cobuzz
tidal and spotify connect built in being
software driven the cxnv2 can benefit
from future upgrades
and cambridge audio just did one we've
been asking for
they made the unit totally compatible
with roon
audio-wise the cx-nv-2 uses dual wilson
wm8740 24-bit dax
to our ears these are even better than
the ones in the cxa 81
but if you wanted to use it as a
streaming source with a
very high-end multi-thousand dollar dac
it gives you both toslink and coax
digital outputs
cambridge audio also understands you may
have more digital sources you want to
run through the unit
so they give you a coax and toss link
digital input
for connecting it to your integrated amp
or preamp you have both
balance and rca outputs the final icing
on the cake is the fact you can set up
the cx and v2 to have either fixed or
variable output
this means you could use it in the fixed
output mode to run into your integrated
amp or preamp
but if you just wanted a digital only
system you can connect it directly to a
power amp
the cx-m v2 is just flat out an
incredible product for the money you can
use with any system
and in a variety of ways we hope this
overview has given you a better
understanding of the ax and cx products
they cover a wide range of prices and
possibilities and we are happy to
discuss with you
which route is the best choice for your
system the ax gear is great for the
music lover just starting out
while the cx gear can easily satisfy
someone looking for even more
performance
we also highly recommend people looking
for great performance to not write off
the cx gear because it costs less
than they would expect to pay for great
sound if you're like us
it will have you grinning ear to ear as
it just sounds so good for the money
thanks for watching if you have any
further questions on the ax or cx series
or any other home audio or home theater
gear
be sure to give us a call chat with us
on audioadvice.com
or stop into one of our raleigh or
charlotte north carolina showrooms we'll
see you next time