1995 Cambridge Audio A1, Mk 1, 'Mike Creek' Designed Amp

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1995 Cambridge Audio A1, Mk 1, 'Mike Creek' Designed Amp - Set Up & Sound Test

Рет қаралды 9,924

Күн бұрын

Ever since buying a turntable ( • Audio Technica LP3 Tur... ) I've wanted to get an amp with a headphone socket as my active speakers ( • COR BLIMEY😮! Edifier S... ) do not have this capability. I've tried a few options ( • £10 Bluetooth 5, USB, ... ) but none seem to fit the bill. So I bought a 1995 Cambridge Audio amp, Mk 1. This amp had some great reviews when it came out but has it still got what it takes 26 years later?
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Пікірлер: 48

@scrunts666 2 жыл бұрын

I had an 80's Creek, it was amazing, super thin but wow, the sound was amazing !

@jugodejazz 7 ай бұрын

I really enjoyed the video. You explain very cleary and with a good dose of humor. Thanks, go ahead!

@freemenofengland2880 4 ай бұрын

I'm in the market for one of these - just missed one this afternoon with an added Bluetooth module for £70 - Love your videos mate, always on the money! 👍👍

@Paul-sx4bz 3 жыл бұрын

I have just bagged one of these on Ebay tonight although it is the mk3 version for £18 and it comes with the phono card fitted by Richer Sounds. Cannot wait to get my Pro-ject turntable plugged in (another bargain from Ebay). Thanks for the quick overview of the amp.

@UTILITARIANTVUK 3 жыл бұрын

Great that you managed to get an A1 with a phono for so cheap!! Absolute bargain!

@pastalavista5754 Жыл бұрын

A real giant killer! I've just upgraded all the components and volume pot on one of these and wow, it sounds just as good as my two £2K amp set ups (Naim/Arcam). It images better than the Naim and much more detailed than the Arcam. The mid-range for vocals is just exquisite, it's slightly lean on the bottom but I have a Rel sub I can dial in for the 20-40hz range. I'm seriously thinking of selling the expensive amps now and going with a smaller set up.

@ianwrees8377 3 жыл бұрын

Great. I have bought one of these amps. And I found your video. I'm itching to try it out.

@sergeymihaylov2135 Ай бұрын

Когда то давно, в 1995 году купил усилитель Cambridge Audio ATAC3, который изначально был без фонокорректора, но родной фирменный MM фонокорректор можно было отдельно приобрести и установить в усилитель. Это я сразу и сделал т.к. имел небольшую коллекцию виниловых пластинок и проигрыватель для них. Вот уже 30 лет мой Cambridge Audio ATAC3 исправно работает совместно с колонками KEF Coda 9 и звук мне нравится. Несколько лет назад поменял свой старый проигрыватель виниловых пластинок на новый Sony PS-HX500 у которого есть свой встроенный MM фонокорректор. Сравнивал звучание фонокорректоров на проигрывателе и усилителе и ни какой разницы не услышал.

@CraigyBabyJ 2 жыл бұрын

What a nice guy

@user-xg6zz8qs3q 10 ай бұрын

It's funny how similar the internals are laid out compared with the Creek 4240. It's a spitting image with the small circuit board in the middle with the heatsink and toroidal transformer on the left. The dimensions look the same. The case looks the same, although with a different faceplate.

@andymouse 3 жыл бұрын

I just bought the A2 for 30 quid, was kinda hoping that there would be a phono card but sadly not !...cheers.

@valentineborges7320 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the video, given a choice between this one and a Pioneer SX-203 RDS, which one should I buy? They are from a thrift store and are tested.

@rogerhardcastle6019 3 жыл бұрын

My friend has just bought one on Facebook Market Place for £25 !

@janixinski7526 2 жыл бұрын

Mam taki piecyk, bardzo fajnie gra, monitorki technicsa. Super!

@aethikv 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for great video. I now have a Denon pma520ae. Like to improve sound with a nice vintage look. Think this is worth trying?

@drstew1 7 ай бұрын

Your China, Japan giggle is funny, how ever these two countries are about as familiar and similar, as Lagos Nigeria and Putney, West, London

@UTILITARIANTVUK 7 ай бұрын

At least China and Japan are in the same continent. 😄

@TrillianXIII 9 ай бұрын

I just got an ATAC 3 really similar to the A1, and wharfedale Diamond 9.1, 6 ohms, would I be better off connecting the speakers in series or parallel?

@utredutredson1686 8 ай бұрын

I've just bough a Cambridge audio CD player, listened to it briefly through the headphone jack with Sennheiser 560s open back. Listened to parachutes by Coldplay and was astonished by the clarity and hearing things I'd never heard before. Prior to that i'd listened streamed through an Audio lab q dac attached to a cheap PC. I have and Audio A1 0.3 on the way. Need some cheap speakers if you have any tips . I was wondering why the older Cambridge kit it's so cheap if it's so good? I paid about 20 for the CD and 25 for the amp

@UTILITARIANTVUK 8 ай бұрын

The Cambridge Audio s30 are pretty good. They're small but pack a pretty decent punch.

@iano5957 Жыл бұрын

Hi UTV, I picked one of these up recently to get my son started (he's got hold of a turntable) with his vinyl journey. I had no idea about the phono board side of it - just assumed it would play once the turntable was attached... Did you get around to putting a board in? was it easy? thanks!

@UTILITARIANTVUK Жыл бұрын

No I ended up getting a phono preamp instead.

@FunAllDayLong4353 3 ай бұрын

Bought an original A1 just like yours last week for £27 on ebay. Mine was clean inside as well, but I'm getting some interference from my PC when I move the infra-red mouse. It actually seems a little too powerful for my vintage Celestion DL6 Series Two in near field listening. Any suggestions about the interference? I did ground/earth it to a radiator pipe but that didn't fix it.

@UTILITARIANTVUK 3 ай бұрын

What have you got connected to it and what cables do you use?

@FunAllDayLong4353 3 ай бұрын

@@UTILITARIANTVUK It's connected to a PC with an Asus Xonar DX2 soundcard using the RCA connectors. Pretty standard cables and connectors that came with the soundcard. Never had an issue before and I've used maybe 5 different amps. Currently I'm using an Azure 540R to get away from the interference. 👍

@UTILITARIANTVUK 3 ай бұрын

@@FunAllDayLong4353 I thought it might have been poorly insulated interconnects but if the azure is operating fine, i'm not sure? You could try an AV Ground Loop Isolator and see if that works?

@FunAllDayLong4353 3 ай бұрын

@@UTILITARIANTVUK I fixed it!!! It was the infrared mouse - guess they didn't have such things in 1995. Thanks for your help.

@michaelfaraday7388 3 жыл бұрын

You really can't go wrong with cambridge audio. Can I ask which bluetooth headphones you were using in this?

@UTILITARIANTVUK 3 жыл бұрын

Anker SoundCore Q20s

@michaelfaraday7388 3 жыл бұрын

@@UTILITARIANTVUK Haha I thought I recognized em! Good quality pair for the price.

@UTILITARIANTVUK 3 жыл бұрын

Yes, you get a lot of headphone for the price!

@danielboff2313 3 жыл бұрын

Great video! I've got a small Chinese lepy 2024a amp. Would this be better in your opinion?

@UTILITARIANTVUK 3 жыл бұрын

I'm not familiar with the Lepy but I'd imagine the Cambridge amp would be considerably better.

@anderswaltereriksen5579 5 ай бұрын

Sounds more like if it was made by AMC. Not sure.

@robinbrum 2 жыл бұрын

I just paid £45 for one of these on Ebay and thought I had got myself a bargain... now I'm thinking I paid over the odds!!!

@UTILITARIANTVUK 2 жыл бұрын

They normally sell for around £50 to £60. I just got lucky.

@Dano831 3 жыл бұрын

I got one at a thrift store for $20 Canadian. I’ve compared it to many different much more expensive amps since, including a Cambridge Audio cxa-81, and none of them sound any any better, so I sell the new one and go back to my $20 thrift store A1. Go figure 😊

@UTILITARIANTVUK 3 жыл бұрын

That's a absolute bargain! Did you get the mk 1 or a later model?

@Dano831 3 жыл бұрын

@@UTILITARIANTVUK Mk 1 ...just had to apply some contact cleaner to volume pot and it’s being going strong for 3+ years. Love it.

@UTILITARIANTVUK 3 жыл бұрын

Glad to hear that it was just good as the cxa81. That's a highly rated amp!

@DriverFirst-547 Жыл бұрын

Hi! TDA1514A?

@NoneYaBiz200 Ай бұрын

Yes I believe that’s what it has

@maximwright5742 3 жыл бұрын

I’ve just bought the A1mk3 will it work with my phone ?

@UTILITARIANTVUK 3 жыл бұрын

You'd have to get a Bluetooth Receiver/Transmitter like this amzn.to/3mnyZqf or if your phone has a 3.5mm jack you can get a 3.5mm to 2-Male RCA Adapter Cable amzn.to/3rTbLt8 I've done a video on the Bluetooth Receiver/Transmitter here kzfaq.info/get/bejne/e9eZZKqVuafIeqM.html

@svenneskovic1553 4 ай бұрын

Cuculele😮

@Matthew-fm8vn 11 ай бұрын

Connecting a sub is confusing me. Wether to use the tape out or one of the speaker terminals. I think ill buy a powered sub I brought the Mk3 with a pair of Mission 70 Mkii for £50 the vocals are beautiful ans crisp. But the bass is a little ermmmm (not a hifi nerd) tight and i need a sub to like give it some umph 😂😂😂😂

@UTILITARIANTVUK 11 ай бұрын

You can use a tape out but it's a fixed volume. You'd have to turn the volume up and down on the subwoofer as the amps volume wouldn't do anything. Better to connect via the speaker level inputs. I did it here at 2:15 with a Wharfedale Sub kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bNJ2i7llxrHQh2g.html

@Matthew-fm8vn 11 ай бұрын

@@UTILITARIANTVUK haha I was flicking through your videos. And watched that video. Thanks bud really helpful!!