Today I hooked up a Rotel A14mkii and a CXA61 to three different sets of speakers and tested them back to back for hours, and here are my observations: The CXA61 has no tone controls, so it's gonna play as it was voiced by Cambridge, and news flash, it wasn't voiced to be neutral, it was voiced to be pleasing to most people's ears, i.e. they put listening enjoyment over accuracy. That's the bad news, the good news is that they picked a really nice sound for the amp, mission accomplished, it sounds wonderful! Also realize when amps have different DAC's, that's going to effect the sound to a pretty significant degree, in all these auditions between amps he's not eliminating the DAC, that's huge. In order to even the comparison I hooked both amps to identical DACs with identical cables. Next, in order to "voice" the Rotel similar to the CXA61 I adjusted the tone controls until I got a perfect match. Guess what, you can make the Rotel sound EXACTLY like the CXA61 by doing this (the Rotel lacks a "mid" tone feature, so I was somewhat limited in my adjustments, but for practical purposes I had these two sounding 99% identical). In my test I hooked each amp to one speaker and was able to flip instantly back and forth between the two in order to match the sound perfectly. And of course the tone adjustments for the Rotel were different depending on the speakers, but eventually I was able to perfectly mimic the CXA61 in all three speakers. (I was really surprised by this end result!) Moreover, you've got variations in room acoustics and types of music, etc. etc., the variables are endless. So why did I take the time to write all this? Like you, I always want to answer for myself, how should I spend my money? I think the answer (for me anyway), is to buy something that has a good build quality and has the features you'll use. Consider whether you need a phono stage, or whether you prefer external DAC's (and you can ignore the internal) or internal (because you get what you pay for, cheap amp, probably cheap DAC). Consider your source quality, (if you're mostly streaming spotify then your equipment is the least of your problems lol!) In the end, I think you are best to get something that leans neutral and accurate but has tone controls so you can adjust for speakers/rooms/personal taste. There's nothing wrong going with a brand that colors the sound a little if that's what you like it's fine. Rotel leans neutral for sure, before I adjusted the tone controls it sounded a little thin and flat relative to the CXA61, but once I dialed in the tone, the extra power of the A14 ultimately showed through as the advantage over the CXA61, as they say, there's no replacement for displacement! (That extra power gives you a "full" sound that's hard to describe, but it's definitely there). My opinion is you are better off with as much high quality power supply that you can afford (within reason), I prefer the sound of class A/B but good quality class D is fine as well (class D quality varies widely, be careful). Brands off the top of my head that are affordable, well built, and I think lean neutral are Rotel, NAD, Arcam. When you get into the big box stuff (Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha, Marantz, etc.) it often leans colored, but they still make good products if you go to the right spot in the product line. Anyway, hope that helps all who are obsessing. The bottom line is the speakers and your room acoustics make a WAY bigger difference than the amp you pick, so don't think the amp decision is all that critical relative to other factors in the system.

Awesome trial between two awesome units. Thank you

6000a is king over alot of amps even priced over 2000 in my experience. I own 6000a and 9000a and I prefer the 6

I own Audiolab 6000a And the reason i love it is because of the neutral signature and every change you make in your setup makes a huge difference and it keeps the hobby existing You can play around and find what you like It always delivers excitement in a different way

I prefer the Audiolab 600a, to me less forward sounding with more separation! Better mid-range as well, Thank you for sharing!

Cambridge win for me

Thanks for this test ! At first I was quickly convinced by the Audiolab, then on the last song, I prefer the Cambridge, it's more dynamic. It's a shame it doesn't have a phono input. I think it's 2 very good amp, but which can be better than the other on a very specific type of music.

Audiolab👍🏼

Cambridge👍🏼

Audiolab is livelier and engaging. Cambridge is mellower and refined.

Thanks again for this comparison video. I gotta say you kinda read my mind- i was looking for such a device within 1000EUR bracket. I can't help but notice quite some differences sound wise. CXA sounds warmer a bit vshaped, while the Audiolab seems so detailed and flatter sounding and perhaps brings the soundstage further to the front. Which one do you prefer with these speakers? By the way what speakers are they?

The Cambridge tried to caress me, with seducing tonality, and it did, but the AudioLab grabbed me by the collar and rammed the music in a most unapologetical and unabridged way into my earholes, with all the beauty and warts present. Totally gobsmacked! Well, between the two, I would have bought the AudioLab on the spot! Thank you, sir, for the video! 😊👍🍺

Thanks for the comparison. I have the CXA60 with some Dali Zensor 3’s. I actually can’t fault it for the money, especially as it’s used more for film and TV audio, but I’m wondering how much better a £1500 amp and £1500 set of speakers would sound by comparison.

Great demo! Which one of these amps will pair better with Dali Oberon 3 in your opinion? And which amp in general you liked the best with Oberons? Thank you in advance for answering, cheers!

i own cxa61 and sf lumina 1 speackers and they sound amazing together

Nekem jobban tetszett az Audiolab. Mindenből többet adott szerintem. U.I. Tetszenek a videóit. Köszönöm

Thank you for this test I've the 6000A and happy with it. I would like to know which set of bookshelves is used here?

Overall I prefer the Audiolab for it's detail and 'neutral' presentation, owned one too. Voices and guitar 'pop' , with clarity, and good pinpointing within the soundstage. However, it isn't the most dynamic amp and dislikes less sensitive speakers. Btw, didn't know the speaker brand, but they sound quite good.

I must have missed it but what speaker brand model was used here? Can you also share the speaker cable and power cable used for the cambridge audio? Thanks in advance.

Audiolab seems to be more neutral and more midrange, opening the stage, even if itś a bit less controlled on low frequencies, but absolutely it don't perform well with metal. Remember a bit the tube sound to me, probably very good for jazz or similar. Then, Audiolab has a phono stage but not USB type B port, while Cambridge has USB B but not the phono input, With both of these one have to purchase either some external apparel if both are used. Thanks for the comparison test :)

Hi, I love your sound of your speaker. What brand of speakers where you using if I may ask

which speakers?

As usual with Audiolab for me it's all there but comes over as if any musicians are not very interested in what they are doing just going through the motions, as if to say ''well there it is take it or leave it '' and over the years the presentation seems to be the same, mind you i haven't heard their present range of amps in the flesh as it were. But I've nearly always finished up looking round the room at demos interest being lost. I once listened to the Planet Suit at a Demo using their amps playing Mars the bringer of war it came across as so matter of fact nobody was in the mood for a punch up, back at home on my rather more modest system with small stand mounts playing the same thing it sounded like the Martians were really out to give someone some grief. So the Cambridge gets the thumbs up at least it tried.

I have to give it to Audiolab.

I prefer CXA, it sounds balance. Audiolab sounds a little bit boomy and bright.

Probably a stupid question, but how did you get your TV to show what's playing?

Sorry but do you really believe that with this set-up of the loudspeakers (much too close to the side walls and the rear wall, distance between both speakers to narrow in relation to the listening position) even a halfway realistic sound judgement would be possible? I doubt this very much...By the way, it is also not the best idea to stream music via Spotify to show sound differences, because Spotify still does not offer lossless audio.

The Cambridge is significantly better, fuller, punchier, more natural and musical, more detailed, better imaging and soundstage, and the Audiolab just sounds thinner, more closed in, more artificial, more veiled, and more like a recording and less like real music.

Audiolab 💪🏻

Cambridge!👈

From what I can hear, the vocal seems to be more forward on the Cambridge vs on the Audiolab, can you confirm this :D just wondering if this is true from a real listener perspective.

Witam ile kosztują te głośniki?

El Cambridge es un poco más impactante y el Audiolab me suena algo más natural. Podría vivir con ambos.

the magic is from your power cord I noticed that there's a thick cord in the outlet.

Audiolab takes it all the way!

Audiolab - Vocal, Jazz. Cambridge - rock

for my tastes, clearly audiolab.

On Disco, Jazz/Rock, and Female Voice, AudioLab 6000A is way, way better than Cambridge CXA61. On the last heavy metal song, CXA61 was better, I mean, I liked it more, which proves the point that I make on the audiophile forums that there are no universal amplifiers, there are no amplifiers that sound the best on every musical style, even if from an electric point of view, it should be. All the best!

no matter. the audiolab is far superior. more image, space, cleaness

Thanks, George, for going into great lengths with these comparisons which are always interesting. Equally are the evaluations of the listeners. As far as I am conccerned, I preferred the Audiolab, but would have to listen to both amps under real conditions to make an ultimate judgement. While listening to your sample of "You and Your Friend" by Dire Straits on the computer, I thought I'd like to listen to the record on my living room system. Mark Knopfler is one of my favourite composers, guitar players and especially arrangers. My system consists of a Linn LP12 with a Goldring Ethos MC (replaced a Linn Klyde and took an eternity to run in), a Naim Nait 5i amp (which is getting on a bit), a REGA Fono MC Mk4 pre-amp, and Linn Saras (the orignials and I love them). I hadn't listened to "You and Your Friends" for quite a while and was blown away. The bass rendition, the detailing and separation, the room-filling volume without being overly loud: simply fantastic!. I then decided to download the tune from Tidal and have it played via the Bluesound Node X- still with the Naim Nait 5i etc.- and was a bit disappointed by the lack of body, three-dimentionality and depth compared with the tune played on vinyl. "Brothers in Arms" and "Sailing to Philadelphia" played via the Node X had sounded fantasttic. This leads me to the conclusion that "CD quality (Flac 16/44.1)" streamed isn't the be-all and and end-all.

Audiolab is better with these speakers.

audiolab is clearly more musical!

Hello. Cambridge is better! The audiolab lifts up the upper middle and sounds brighter.

I think for metal audiolab is better... and more cheaper.

Sorry to say but no optimal speaker position, speakers tend to boom and rumble unprecisely due to be positioned in the corner

0:40 1:58 9:29 10:57 9:44 11:13

The volume is different huh, the audiolab is slightly louder than Cambridge, so people are going to like audiolab more.

Speakers have plasticky sound. What's the point of comparison?

cxa61 hrá skvelé a audioláb je z iného sveta pôsobý rušivo.

Audiolab สดใส กว่า

The CXA61 bluetooth is atrocious!!!

ลำโพง อะไร

Audiolab has better pace, linearity and the lyrics are better on it.

L'Audiolab ha il palcoscenico ampio e piatto, il Cambridge stretto e profondo.. sono uno l'opposto dell' altro.. per me Audiolab batte Cambridge 10 a 0...ma sono gusti..