I heard that Ray's Motivational Candles was bought out by Betty's Custard Pies. So now you can get your motivational candles and custard pies all at one stop.

This entry level integrated amplifier in many ways captures the spirit of NAD's infamous 3020 in more ways than one. Low-ish power ratings that still allowed it to run relatively difficult speaker loads with a degree of coherency not commonly heard in amplifiers at even double the price. Great insight as always and I look forward to more future reviews of this nature.

Good review. I've had the AXA35 for about a year and I love it. For the money, it's hard to beat and it's easy to listen to all day, unlike my ex-wife. Cheers, Richard

100 percent my favourite audiophile love from the 🇬🇧

I have this same product. I agree with you. It definitely is a good product for the price. I have paired AXA25 with my Klipsch Heresy speakers. And the Cambridge and Klipsch combo is killer.

Sounds like a great first amp or budget amp to build a system with. The fact that it is simple in design probably allows Cambridge to focus a little more on quality over bells and whistles. I would prefer a simple no bs design over an everything but the kitchen sink design.

Nakamichi cassette deck? They made some great decks. Looking forward to your comments about it.

I had a AXA35 for about a year until I traded up to a Rega Elex-R. The AXA35 has 10W more and a Phono stage and sounds very very good, it made me enjoy music oh so much. I guess the AXA25 sounds as good with a little less power. These are GREAT entry level amps.

Love your videos my man! Just wanted you to know I had the same question about the usb port in the back so I asked them what the options were for it. They responded that it is mainly to power any Bluetooth devices we might add on. They respond to questions at world wide stereo very quickly. I have an axa35 and love it. True clean power goes a long way.

For those who like analog sound its good to know there is an alternative to lps; and that is tape. Cassettes are plentiful and cheap to get into. Used cassettes in their cases turn up everywhere (just about) where used stuff is sold. But if you want to hear cassettes with anything near the sound quality they're capable of, you might have to buy a good performing model that was around $900 to $2,000+ retail when new. Its like you need a thousand dollar hammer to crack $6.99 of rock. One of the U.K. hi-fi mags said the rare Sony Walkman Professional (not to be confused with the much inferior regular Walkman), has better heads than a Nakamichi Dragon. I don't know if that's true. I know its sound isn't anywhere near it. Analog tape has a warmth missing from much CD playback. Not from the best CD playback. The warmth isn't just lps, it's there on tape too. Probably even a little bit more. Comparison of a given factory pre-recorded title in a tape vs. LP comparison, shows that lps have a somewhat whitish sound character compared to the tape (especially reel tape), which late editor of TAS Harry Pearson commented on several times. There are cassette releases including "Best Of" releases that have never made it onto LP or CD. Compared to a good factory reel tape recording of the same title cassettes sound dynamically challenged and also not near as good on transient snap, openness or instrument size. There are good reel decks to be found used (only one company makes them and most new cars are cheaper). You might be able to pick up a vintage Sony TC 366 etc. reel deck on ebay for under $150. Very basic, but electrically sound. Hope for a good one, many need work. To me reel tape recordings have the biggest instrument size of anything I've heard. A grand piano really sounds big. Cassettes are a hundred times easier to find than reel tapes. Of all the used merchandise places I've been to over the decades, I've only seen factory prerecorded reel tape titles a half dozen times.Always plenty on Ebay though. Jazz standards like a factory reel tape of Kind Of Blue or A Love Supreme can get up to $500 or more at auction. Most titles are in the $20 something range. The Laserium concerts they used to do used copies of Master Tapes played back on the Planetariums Revox Buy reel deck.

"...thank you Cambridge - did you learn that at Oxford?"

Which amp sound do you prefer, the Cambridge AXA25 or one of the new Class D amps (like SMSL DA-9 or Aiyima 07)?

Never really looked at Cambridge Audio. I will now! Thanks Randy 👍

Just from your description, reminds me of my first receiver. Low end Harmon Kardon think it was 15 watts a channel. But it was sweet sounding and with the loudness engaged it helped my radio shack speakers out😀

Nakamichi, and they produced some of the best if not the best tape decks, to this day, in the 80s

When I saw the thumbnail, I asked myself if you would do the Vista Audio Spark comparison. You did and made it clear that although it's probably still king of the hill among sub-$500 amps, a lot of people will prefer the Cambridge's warmer character.

Outstanding class AB amplifier for a desktop audio system. It is really really good with speakers ( SP-BS22-LR) close up at low levels. The power light is a hoot. BTW, it has an auto shutoff feature when no signals are present, nice for desktop systems.

DAC all day, I agree. When you remove cheaper amps from doing the digital to analog conversion they all of a sudden sound very good and much closer to more expensive amps.

Huh. Finally made the time to watch. Audio review for the everyman. You make it about the money. Too many commercials. Brief. No fluff. I freakin loved it!! Maybe I really do spend too much. (Pretty significant hearing loss here...) You sir, have a new subscriber! Now I need to binge. Very much looking forward to that! God, I love youtube! By all means, please carry on!! 😎

This is what I was waiting for!

I really like the Cambridge sound. You should ask them if you can review the AXR85. It is significantly better sounding than the 25. It lacks a DAC so it would be a great amp to use for DAC testing. I have the AXR100 but don't really use the built in DAC. I have a Bifrost and a SMSL SU 8s which I bought because of your review. They both sound great with the Cambridge. Nice "B" roll. Your gettin' fancy!

Yes! The sponsors are back! Love it! :)

"I hope you enjoyed that, I didn't cause it took a long time to do it, cause I'm not very good at this. You've probably established that by now" LOL I love this quote. Made me laugh. You are a champ.

Thanks for the review, looks like a decent amplifier for someone getting into home audio.

Awesome review! For $225, it is a great value unit. The Cambridge Audio AXR 100 in my opinion, is the sweet spot in their lineup. Yes, it is $600, but you get a lot more amp (beefy toroidal transformer + big power capacitors), digital inputs, sub out. The AXR 85 is similar at $400 with no digital inputs. I would love to see you review either of those bad boys. Both have Bluetooth, by the way. You look, great brother! Thank you, and hope you have a great weekend!

Now if they would only bring back the Loudness Control I would be in Heaven..

My Monolith M570s arrived today. My first planars and I am so happy with the purchase. Awesome. Seems the idea is true that music sounds as good as the worst component. I only need lots of power when I listen to music. Movies and gaming not so much.

At last Randy! I love my AXA25 and 35.... Both of these units sound great with a Schiit Modi 3+

No silly, they learn to write upside down at Cambridge not Oxford. 😁 I have this little happy go lucky amp and I must say that I enjoy it a lot more than my Yamaha A-S500 and it drives my Dali Opticon 6 mk2 (4 ohm, 88db) without a sweat. It plays anything with a smile, if you get my drift. Keep it up Randy. Love your take on things. Like Bill Withers said, "Do what you do, but do it good.".

Great review, can't wait to hear how it does with songs recorded off the radio on cassette like when I was a kid.

Perfect review. Exactly my experience too. I have this running Emotiva speakers and its perfection. Very smooth and composed sound. Amazing value. But yes, not sure what they thought about with that on button.

I had Klipsch RP-260f's. I listen rock and modern jazz all the time. The best integrated amplifier for that kind of music, in your opinion: Cambridge Audio, Rotel, Music Fidelity, NAD, Denon ? Thank you and excellent 2022 !

The AXA25 is a nice amp.. and the AXA35 amps are $100 more (or 33% increase). Not sure it’s worth the 1.5 dB increase in output power and losing the bass and treble knobs at the same time, although the axa35 has a remote. (I really don’t like remote dependent equipment. It’s ok if a bad remote doesn’t make you lose any control of the equipment).

The Yamaha RS202D and AS201, the Denon PMA520 and the Marantz PM5005 are also serious contenders in the price range of 200something to 300.

I have had the older version of this for this past 5 years 👍 In fact, it’s in the bedroom at the moment with a topping d30 DAC. This morning I ordered a Loxjie A30 to replace it…mainly cus of the remote and Bluetooth. Will be interesting to see how it sounds….I have a funny feeling that the loxjie will be going back!

I am happy to see you review some more Cambridge gear. I have been looking at thier AX line for a while now. Specifically the AXA 35 and AXR 85(I need a remote).

I’ve come to like your review style however I would disagree with you regarding getting a $250 integrated and a $750 dac. The truth of the matter is is sure a more expensive digital converter certainly sounds better however when you connect it to an inexpensive integrated you’re effectively limiting its capability. I’ve learned that by having a more expensive amplifier it often sounds better with not so great recordings and sources. An inexpensive integrated is basically that’s what you got and no matter how much your ancillary components are you’re still stuck with that bottleneck of an amp. That said I have recently picked up a axa35 and I’ll admit it’s a fantastic sounding amplifier for the money.

I got it, and first couple of days it sounded meh, but the top end started coming alive and the amp opened up, aounds great now. Pops speaker when Turning amp on and off bugs me a bit, no relays...

Power needs are all about clipping. Put an oscilloscope on the speaker hot when you are driving 6ohm speakers and at 12 o'clock volume. If you see clipping, that's no-bueno. With more power that equates to higher voltage rails witch, at the same volume, there won't be any clipping. Also, if you do see clipping, what type of clipping is it? There is good recovery clipping and bad recovery clipping. Tells you a lot about the amp design.

it's NAKAMICHI Randy! They used to make the best cassette decks in the world but don't tell Teac that

Great review Randy.

Class A/B over class D any day. For me at least. Cool amp and great review.

My Azur still kicks arse. My CP-1 has the upside down text. 225 is very low!

Based on your experiences, do you think the AXA35 would drive some 8ohm 90db towers to party volumes?

“….just in case you wanted to charge your cell phone, in ten days” 🤣

What a low price. When I got started in audio I couldn't imagine being able to buy a brand new integrated amp at retail price back in the 1970's for $60, which adjusted for inflation is around what $225 is today. There was a 35 watts pch.Kenwood KA 3500 for $170 retail back then that was popular, but I bet it didn't sound as good as the Cambridge. How powerful an amp will sound often depends not so much by how many Watts it has but how much current it has. I know a vintage 50 watt Luxman power amp that sounds like it thinks it has 150 Watts. It has high current. Also tube amp Watts are different than solid state Watts. Playing the opening heart thumps on Dark Side Of The Moon, I once heard a Berning 30 watt tube power amp vs. a very well regarded 75 watt ss power amp. With the SS amp the heartbeat sounded like a senior citizen not having enough foot pressure to hit a bass drum pedal properly. With the Berning tube amp, the heartbeat sounded like a real thud that you could not only hear but feel. A 17.5 watt/ch. Dynaco tube amp did the same sort of thing vs. a hundred watt solid state amp. It actually was way more powerful sounding in the bass and with better dynamics. The most famous non-Japanese cassette deck that almost always gets around a thousand dollars or more used, on places like ebay is the Tandberg 3014. I have never heard an owner who owned both the Nakamichi Dragon and the Tandberg who said that they liked the Dragon better for sound. Reliability and parts availability is the only reason for staying away from the Tandbergs. A lot of people like the fact that Naks are designed to be able to play cassettes where that little felt piece in the middle of the opening underneath and under the tape has fallen off. A useful feature since that happens often. So many used cassettes are missing the little piece of felt. Some peoples cassettes on other makes, just start squealing and they don't realize what happened. The felt piece fell off. The Dragon is arguably not their best sounding player; but it is quite good. Other dragon slayers outside the Nakamichi line include certain Luxmans, Tandbergs, Yamaha's, Pioneers etc. Some even say the top Harman Kardon with all those controls. A few of the NAD cassette decks were made by Tandberg. Cassette deck models within a manufacturers line do have very different frequency responses and not just the treble, but midrange & bass also. I guess the openness and the quality of timbre is the surprisingly good thing about quality cassette playback sound. Don't expect amazing transient snap or dynamics or quite CD clarity. But play a good cassette on a really good deck and you will like the sound. Capitol released some XDR cassettes which stand for extended dynamic range. I have the Dark Side talked about above on XDR. Many people, myself included play back tapes with Dolby switched off. Dolby can take the life right out of the music and the fun out of the party.

Match it with the Acoustic Energy AE109 , you will smile ear to ear. I bet my life on it. Listen to Dave Grusin's Condor..you'd be spellbound!

I don’t get it. People get all bent out of shape because they “only” have 100wpc. Two hundred only gets you 3dB more, which is barely perceptible. To hear a significant difference, you would need 500wpc to get “just” 10dB. Science! I remember driving KLH Model 6 acoustic suspension speakers with a KLH Model 35 amp with “only” 20wpc. I never felt like I needed more. I could drive everyone out of the house with it without clipping

Thanks again for your great channel and reviews Please tell me what you prefer this amp or Sony str-dh190? Kind regards and best wishes

Hello Randy! I like your style. Found you through your Ares II review. Since you talk of budget audio, and there are so few budget preamps around, I think many would like to hear about Topping Pre90 (600€). I also want some money to remain after buying audio gear 😬

Thanks for the review Randy, just bought it for 200$ CAD for my office, matched to Kanto YU6 passives. Great little system really. And that LED truly is annoying...is on or off? There is a slight hum from the internal transformer, that tells me it's on :-D

Someone should do an A/B test with these amps and the influx of the Class D amps we have from our Chinese friends like Aiyima.

How would you compare the sound of the AXA25 to some of the chi-fi amps out there, such as the Loxjie A30?

"Thank you Cambridge. Did you learn that at Oxford?" 😂😂😂

I recently picked up the Cambridge Audio Dacmagic 200m and would be curious to hear your thoughts on how it compares to the Denafrips Ares II that you have been raving about…. So far I’m very pleased with my purchase!

Love to hear a review of the 35!

Speaking of power and Critons. The speaker actually really only comes alive at 80d and my 60 watt amp needs to be at about 3 o'clock about 3/4 volume to get them going but works well.

If you still have Cambridge and Emotiva integrated amps, can you do a side by side? Emotiva has a crossover filter applied a subwoofer is hooked up which is an excellent design choice. I wish Cambridge did that too.

Is it as loud and good sounding as the Aiyima A07? Nevermind.

While waiting for the individual Bitfrost 2 review, I see your throwing a couple in between reviews out there. I'm glad your getting in some amp reviews. There are alot of options under a grand. Any update on whether Keces can throw an E40 your way? Tight, deep bass, full mids, highs with body. Sounds more high end than midfi.

I just ordered this amp to use with a pair of Tekton Mini Lore Monitor's. I also want to get an Arcam SA10 and Rega brio/io and try all 3 with my speakers.

The REC OUT can be useful for driving a powered subwoofer that has low level inputs proabably more than any other function, unless you're getting a cassette deck....

I got this amp, and i use it with a pair of tannoy sixies 611 and also tidal from my computer with bang & Olufsen sound board, and also the ifi zen dac....and its sounds super great, behind words....

Cambridge make solid meaty amps of high quality I have an older A500 80w watt per channel and it sounds fantastic especially playing rock music from the 1970's/80's. Only drawback with this and the A500 is that there is no headphone jack plug.

Nice review. I love Cambridge. My Azur 550a makes my Heresy iiis sing.

I have the AXR85 which is basically the same with more power. The phono stage is the same on all the AXR models. Thinking about getting the Ifi phono preamp but not sure if it will make a noticeable difference. I saw your review of the Ifi and the Fluance RT85. I have an RT85. It sounds pretty good as it is, but always looking for a cost effective improvement.

I still have this thing's AXA 35 bigger brother. Not sure about cambridge's power ratings but it certainly powers 6 and 8 ohm speakers in the mid 80 dB sensitivity range better than my old 70 or 80w per channel denon receiver did.

How does this amp do with the Sony SSCS5 speakers for Metallica? I did not hear you mention Metallica like you sometimes do, and I love Metallica as well. It makes a good benchmark since that's the type of music I like in general. If this amp does not do well with Metallica, which similar analog old-school style amp does?

Hey, I’m rocking the $750 Denafrips with the $250 SMSL DA-9. KEF LS50 Metas arrive next week.

I’m gonna use that USB to power my modi3 so I don’t have to have a separate plug.

Morning Sir

Between the flame thrower and what happened to the Polk T15, I’m not surprised they didn’t send the 35!😆

Funny Man. I so much love this video. It's the best for me.

Got it and love it.

Thank you Cambridge. Did you learn that at Oxford?

I have the Cambridge Audio AXR100, powering my Zu Dirty Weekends. I love it, it’s a much more relaxed setup than with my Yamaha amp

Great review👍 Love Cambridge gear - I have an Azur 640r.

Will the jbl a130 speakers go with this amp

Good review. I find your channel informative and amusing. Not sure if this is the forum for asking questions. I've been interested in this amp or the axa35 for a while now as well as others like the NAD 316bee. I am curious though , do you think it would enough to power my ELAC Debut 2.0 5.2 86db speakers ? The AXA25 or the NAD 316 were recommended elsewhere as two good amps for these speakers but im interested in your thoughts. Have a Topping E30 Dac which i would be using also. I never listen at high volumes really. The 25 goes for $499 and AXA35 for $699 here where i live. Would it be worth the extra for the 35 or will the 25 give me enough power ? For nice dynamics as well. I read the ELACS like a fair amount of power to really sound good. Currently using a Chinese class D chip amp with allegedly 160 watts per channel but i want to try a class A/B amp. Sort of a noob here so go easy on me haha.

Hi, I really enjoyed your review! I need a replacement amp to run a pair of old (but in great condition) Auratone speakers. It's for playing music while in bed so it doesn't have to be too loud. The only things that worried me was when you said that it wouldn't pair well with speakers without much top end because the Auratones aren't very bright. Also, I was worried that the white on/off led might prevent me from falling asleep. Do you think that this amplifier and the Auratones would be a good combination?

“Did you learn that at Oxford?” Nice.

Amplifier power isn't necessarily just about volume. It's also about detail and clarity. Good review though.

It has a balance knob!!! Great!

Nice review....mine AXA25 lastet for 3 weeks then the right channel failed. i repleaced the amp for a Rotel A10

Randy you’ll like the deal I got - AXR100 for £230 reconditioned from cambridge 🎉

Would you recommend the KEF Q150 speakers for this amp? thanks

Randy, I am hoping to finally bite the bullet and go for new speakers to replace my ancient Yamahas, and as of now the Debut 5.2's and 6.2's are almost the same price (I can get either for five payments with Amazon Prime), but I'd like to know which ones I should go for to match with my REALLY ancient Sony STR-SE391 (All analog) hooked up to my turntable....and/or my relatively fresh Denon AVR-S65H. They will be used in a living room situation measuring 13 feet deep, 16 feet wide but mostly open ended on the right side. I have a powered subwoofer on each receiver. I would really appreciate your opinion on the matter. Thanks!

Thank goodness that water heaters aren’t more expensive. They are only good for 10 years. Might as well schedule their replacement

No XLR inputs though. I was considering this to pair with my DacMagic 200M DAC, but now it looks like I'll have to find an amp elsewhere.

Nakatomi LOL yes love the "Die Hard" reference!!!

Cambridge audio axa 25 vs denon pma-600 ne which one better for Q acoustics 3010i? pls help me man 🙏

Great review and great value even without remote and anybody enjoying vinyl is used to getting up from that comfy chair to turn the record and/or refill that glass of wine or the cup of coffee.

Nakamichi cassette deck, very good. Great 👍 review thanks.

Been thinking about this amp, and the AXA35. Also the Pioneer A-10ae ($199, but not a lot of info) and the Yamaha rs301 ($349). Appreciate your take on this if anyone can talk about the others thanks in advance.

Hi Randy!! Good review. I have a question. Is it good to use with Elac Debut 5.2 speakers?

What kind of Speaker i use with this amp?

This amplifier is probably rated more honestly, like Harman Kardon used to. Like 25 watts continuously at 20hz to 20khz at 0.15 % THD. Instead of being in reality, 25 watts peak at 1 khz and 1% THD like many budget receivers are. Lol.

I will pair it with ELAC debut 6.2!

you should review the jbl lsr 305 mk2. I have them and I'm wondering if the paradigm monitors are a good upgrade in terms of quality. In which case I will buy this axa 25 as well

how does it stack up with the Onkyo A-9110 in terms of sound quality? same price point and features.....