I bought a TOPAZ AM5 and love it. Paired it with Klipsch R-51M. They really like each other. This model is high on my Christmas list.

I have Cambridge Audio minx mini speakers with a subwoofer. Great detailed sound without sounding harsh. Very unique company that underrated in the U.S.

Steve, glad to see you comparing the Schiit Audio Bifrost DAC to the inboard DAC of the Cambridge CXA81. KZfaq viewers generally love to see products compared - thanks!

Thanks for the Dick Hyman suggestion - really like it. As for Cambridge Audio, I have the CXC which is much better than my Oppo 103, but a nitpick about the remote: when playing a CD and you want to start the song over again, the remote takes you to the previous song, not the beginning of the song I was just playing.

nice review Seve - as allways! :) iam running a CXA80 with some 3030i and a 3060s and iam pretty happy with the system and sound.

Thanks Steve nice review of the amp. Informative. I also always pay attention to your music recommendations and review them on Qobuz, and many of which I like and put in Favourites. Thanks.

kudos for breaching subject of equipment compatibility.

Appreciate your “nits” like remote over-sensitivity. I want to know such things particularly for control center hardware like preamps and integrated amps.

Steve is the only reviewer that got this review right. I’ve been living with a CXA81 for over a year now, and every reviewer saying this amp is on the warmer side, is off their rocker! This amp is definitely more on the cool, brittle side than anything. It does have a massive soundstage though.

I own a first gen CXA60 and its stablemate CXC CD transport. Both it and the CXA80 have tone/balance controls and is one of the reasons I bought it along with its digital inputs and BT ability. I don’t use them often but they are handy when you need to massage a crap LP/CD from time to time. I’m sure the new gen has some improvements but removing the controls and raising the price several hundred dollars is a shame.

Great review. Vintage integrateds were usually feature intensive. A review of vintage schematics shows elaborate, typically FET phono stages. One Yamaha had a 7 parallel FET input stage to provide very high input overload. Hot direct to disc recordings popular in the late '70s are problematic for many of today's phono stages in all ranges.

I am a Cambridge Audio devotee I run a a500 vintage 65 per channel amp and pair that with a D300 CD. They are great together sound on the soft side of normal sound great through my Mordaunt Avant 906 floor standing speakers. The electronics were new old stock coast me £150 and were literally as new out of the box and the speakers cost £100. Buy used and clever there is so much excellent cheap technology around now!

I've been using the CXA-80 for the last few years and it's a brilliant amp. The 80 watt rating is very conservative, it gets really loud when you push it more than half way up. It also has a has a huge detailed sound with great dynamics.

For someone like me, I really appreciate the lack of tone controls and I think that goes along with the XLR line inputs--they are just giving a nod to pro users even though the unit isn't intended for that purpose. For me, tone controls are just a fixed-parameter, two-band equalizer affixed to my amp or pre-amp when I would rather make any such needed adjustments elsewhere. They just make me go to the trouble of finding out and remembering what, exactly, they do at what frequencies and figuring out if/how that fits with my room or would have any hope of correcting a less-than-ideal recording.

I have got this amplifier after tries of rega elex, musical fidelity m3si, rotel a11, a12 mk2, denon pma900, denon pma1700 only tried to listen in distributors shop this one was good also. Am I blown away with cxa81? no. I like it. And I like also this review, it points well my misuderstanding of 3.5mm jack and also the volume control with remote with my 90db speakers is tricky, but the buttopns on remote clicks , so I go by clicks if I want to adjust by small and it works.

Would love to see a review on the Luxman integrated A/B amps.

Cambridge Audio is way underrated. If they doubled their prices, it would be well justified.

Cambridge speakers are pretty dam good to

i have Cambridge Audio AZUR integrated amp AZUR 540A which i think is 50 watss and a Cambridge Audio AZUR 640C CD player for a while(over ten years now) and enjoy them.

I have the CXA80. Different DAC. 1/2 the price. Sounds great with a pair of Kefs and an SVS sub.

I own this amp, nice review but it is interesting how it is polar opposite to how it has been reviewed and how I hear the sound. It’s a warm sound, great bass and can push speakers hard

Not having bass and treble always seems odd to me. My recordings vary so much that I can’t imagine hearing something where I know the highs and lows need a tweak. I much appreciate mentioning the three speakers.

Refreshing to hear you not try to sugar coat every area where the amp may have come up a wee bit short. This amp is about value and you don’t need to act like its a $ 5K Pass Labs unit. Thanks for being honest.

Steve, you made me start buying Lottery Tickets again! 😂😂😂 Great videos well presented. Thanks

Dear Steve, 12 hundred, come on. #Emotiva. Best, D.

very likable reviewer. Doesn’t come off as a pitch person and I trust Steve

I own the CXA80. Pretty happy with it. It's a tad cold, but precise - doesn't sound much different from the CXA81 if I understand your lingo correctly :) Hate the 3,5mm headphone input since I need to use a converter for all my headphones. I really use the bass, balance and treble controls on the CXA80 a lot, so not including them is a huge omission. Also no direct button or front 3,5mm aux input. I do love the minimalistic design. Really nice. I compliment my CXA80 with the Cambridge CXC CD transport. It is OK, but a very noisey loader mechanism, and a display with a blue color tone that doesn't match the rest of the system is a big design flaw.

I have an old Cambridge audio a500 which has the same super sensitive volume control with the remote. A much cheaper amp though. I think it was £200 probably 15 years ago.

Thanks Steve. I'd like you to review the Cambridge Edge series, as that is the flagship for the company. When, and if, you can, of course! :D

From the past never got on with Cambridge Audio stuff. Too cold sounding for my liking.

We do dig you Steve we definitely do!! 😎 ✌️Mmm I could pop down to my local Richer Sounds here in West - London and get a demo never resly herd any of the Cambridge Audio stuff 🧐

You could always use a Schiit Loki for time controls, but I hear what your saying about em being right on the amp. The Mani is usually a great idea. I bought one a while back and it’s crazy good for the money. I wonder if the inputs are truly balanced. Puts out plenty of pwr for those who are concerned with that or are running somewhat inefficient spkrs.

My first ever system is in a box; the CXA60 manufacturer refurbished, waiting for cables to pair the Q Acoustics also boxed manufacture referbs. Steve I just had an idea for your users reviews, why not go with users first Hifi. It could be people like me just at the start or people who still have pictures of their first set-up.

Agree with the 3.3” headphone, - cost cutting perhaps. I still have my KEF C10 in the closet.

New shirt? Nice Steve!

I turned to my side and what did I see? A Schiit multi-bit DAC waiting there for me!

The small headphone output is a mistake & the volume control via the remote control has crude increments. It is a pretty good integrated amp for the money. Good review, thanks.

I still like my Yamaha R-N803. More powerful 100W into 8 ohm 160W into 4 ohm, more features: tone control, all kind of inputs including USB disk except USB type B. More importantly, it works well with LS50

Hey, Steve always love your reviews! I watch every day. I also love to listen to the stuff that you are listening to. I am always looking for new music. Special request: Do you mind putting album info in the show notes? I usually pause the video and rewind a little to get the info. (I think I will be purchasing the Dick Hyman album.)

I have it for a month now. Sounds very nice but for me it has a major flaw, transformer buzzing. I can hear it from my listening position, three meters away. Went to a dealer for a check, CXA61 buzzes too. I installed DC blocker but it helps just a little bit. I thought they use high quality components, for sure transformer is not one of them.

Would be interesting if you talked about how this compares with the Schiit Ragnarok 2 which is only about $200 more. For example would the Ragnarok 2 be a better match with the magnepan? Ragnarok 2 weights 12 lbs more than the Cambridge and it likely is also much better with headphones. I am wondering that if in practice the Ragnarok 2 drives speakers better though less power than the Cambridge.

Thanks for the comprehensive review. The volume setting is a real issue for me. When paired with Cambridge's own CXN V2 with disabled digital pre-amp using XLR cables on my B&W 803 D2, the second lowest volume setting with the remote (approx. 8 o'clock) is already too loud. Basically, the CXA's pre-amp section is unusable with Cambridge's own setup. Unfortunate, as I really like the sound.

This Cambridge power amp In comp. with Shiit Vidar as power amplifier ? connected with a ESS Sabre dac from a Marantz as preamp, >>> better ... ?

this amp seems expensive for what it is. im waiting to hear that it is a phenomenal amp for that much money. i have been hoping it is because it is better value and is easy to get for discount being in the uk. Im looking for an amp with a and b speakers. so denon pma 800 also is in the frame. which is half the price. id also like to hear how the china hifi sound Artist integrated amp sounds.

Sounds good but there is no balance button on this amp, is that possible to adjust the balance somehow? My speakers are not equally distanced towards the listening point.... Couldn't buy it if no balance control is possible

I have been operating this amp for a year and I must admit it operates flawless. I would like to add the external dac RME adi 2. Does anyone knows how it will behave

about the 3.5mm headphone output, i agree that those small things are used in hifi, but some headphones like my Sony MDR Z7 at 700 dollar comes in small 3.5mm and need an adaptor to work with 6.2mm, with The Cambridge Audio CXA81 at least i do not need any adapter to hook it up. lets hope the 4.4mm Pentaconn can solve all this.

Steve, love the work you do! I had one question. Would this pair well with the Wharfedale Lintons that you reviewed? I use the Lintons with an Audiolab 6000a now and planning to move to the CXA81. Thank you!

The CXA80 has bass and treble controls so surprised the 81 doesn't. That being said, I never use the tone controls anyway. I have my CXA80 hooked up to my PC so use software EQ if I want to tweak.

Cambridge undoubtedly makes good stuff. The problem for owners is that they push out new products on a more or less annual basis, which is disastrous for residuals if one wants to trade in to move up market.

Would they go well with the Dali Oberon 5 Speakers? Or would there be an alternative (maybe cheaper) amp that works even better with the Dali Oberon 5? I like speakers which are a bit on the warmer side.

Is the LFE (sub out) set to a fixed x-over point? e.g. 80 Hz? (18-24dB/oct?) non adjustable I assume? Will the mains play down to 20?

Nice one 🍷

Unfortunately many high end amps don't have tone controls. I tried the Loki but didn't really like what it did. But hey, I wasn't expecting miracles for $149 on a 10K system. Older Cambridge amps had bass/treble/bypass controls + 1/4'' headphone out. Older Cambridge amps were detailed and lively but tended to sound somewhat clinical. I thought that maybe the newer ones had matured in this respect but ''colder side of neutral'' tells me that maybe they have not.

Cambridge Audio makes the biggest no-brainer in audio...the CXC CD transport. It been around since 2015 and has been $449 forever- NEWS FLASH the CXC just had a $50 price drop last week and is now $399. Your welcome

Wish Cambridge Audio would put a more clear mark on volume knobs, hard to see from a distance Cambridge Audio SR20 has a better display with volume read out and inputs plus it has treble and bass

Hi Steve - any info on the subwoofer output? I have Focal Chora 826 and an SVS SB 2000 subwoofer, no clue on whether I should use the dedicated subwoofer output vs the pre amp and if so what crossover settings do I use? Thanks!!

Which unit do you think is has the warmest sound and adjustments? Cxa81, or Yamaha R-N803 network hifi. Just trying to make a decision and I know you can help!

Steve, how does it compare to the Schiit Ragnarok 2 which you reviewed a couple weeks ago?

Would you rather use the Shiit mani preamp then the built in one in the Cambridge?

Great Video! _. I have an issue with my Cambridge Audio Azur 551R the OSD menu doesn’t appear on my tv screen. Just reset it , but still without success. Any suggestions on how to solve the issue? Thanks.

A COOL Side of neutral? That would be VERY unusual for Cambridge Audio Amps o_O That's is only imaginable if you mean the internal DAC, which is a Sabre, and which sounds indeed cool, cold and sterile like Sabre always does (in Contrast to the musical and warm sounding Wolfson DAC of the previous CXA60/80 Amps).

The Schiit Mani is a really good option for MM cartridges but I found it lacking for MC cartridges, especially low output ones. There isn't a lot of gain and the loading is very limited, 40 ohms only. I had a Mani and really liked it with MM but eventually replaced it with a more flexible phono stage.

I own the CXA81. I know you said it paired well with the Polk L200. Being three years since this review are there any other speakers that you could recommend to pair with it?

Would you have any tips for crossover settings for an SVS sb-1000 Pro sub that I’ll be using with CXA81 and KEF q350 speakers? Will be getting all those next week - my first proper stereo hi fi system.

Hi I've been using a yamaha ax 396 amplifier 100 watts with eltax symphony 6.2 floorstanders and recently it'd added a rotel tribute cd player it has always sounded aesome its now 24 years old and still sounds great .but I could do with a new amp Bluetooth and minimum 100 watts .I'm worried I buy a new amp and it's not as good as my old one any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks Callum

Hi Steve. Alot of the other reviewers say a warm sound , you say cool sound/side of neutral. I owned the cxa60 and i would say cool side also . Why the mixed reviews though ?

Hello! I really love your reviews specially because they are very detailed and always comes with your comments about pros and cons. Watching this video I would like to have your suggestion whether buying the Cambridge CXA81 Integrated Amplifier or the Rotel RC 1572 preamplifier + Rotel RB 1552 MKII power amplifier. I have read and watched some videos where says that separate electronics are better because there are improvements in the sound. In this case, I like the idea of having a separated power amplifier, and with the wattage of Rotel RB 1552 MKII, because I will have more flexibility if in the future I want to upgrade my speakers. Currently I have already bought the new Monitor Audio Bronze 500. My main concern is that it is going to be my first good quality system so I don't want to go wrong with my purchase. My sound like is oriented to a detailed and vivid experience with balanced bass (I mean no punchy but not flat). Finally, I like to play music with my cellphone through the Bluetooth connection and I am interested to venture in the streaming world by using a Laptop or a streamer device. Thanks a lot for your comments!

How many speakers it will handle. Can I use for home theater three channels front with arcam avr850

All my headphones have 1/8" jacks and require adapters for 1/4", so 1/8" sockets on an amp would seem a better choice. Of course it may be that my headphones are not representative of what's standard today.

Can I put front three speakers on this when watching movies

How reliable is Cambrdige compared to something like Yamaha or Onkyo?

That 1/8" jack is ridiculous.

The worst thing was to eliminate the tone controls, I have the C.A CXA80 with the C.A AEROMAX 6 speakers and this combination is super spectacular, the truth is that the CXA81 is a true reference amplifier, but without the tone controls I think it will not very good for “party levels” I know the powerful sound of the CXA80, I imagine how the CXA81 should be heard, personally I love to equalize each song, specifically increasing the bass, I don't know what Cambridge Audio put inside the CXA80 because this amp is much more powerful than 80 watts I am very sure that the CXA80 with its 80 watts has better sound quality and is more powerful that those ridiculously expensive amplifiers! La verdad es que hay que escuchar el sonido del CXA81, no tengo ninguna duda de que este amplificador sea un sueño, me encantaría mucho mucho comprar el CXA81!

Steve please tell me what do you think about Cambridge cxa 61 or 81 with Cornwall 4 (I already own the tubes and to change every now and then)? Or another amp of this class A / B level? And for yamaha as1200 is much better than Cambridge cxa 61/81?

was looking for more reviews on this amp anyone any idea how this would pair with the b&W 685 s2?

Is kef ls50 suitable for cambridge audio cxa81? will the sound be too bright? can i hear your opinion?

Great review Steve. Love all your videos! Excellent perspectives. What do you think of the NAD C388 integrated amplifier compared to the Cambridge CXA-81? I'm torn between the two. Thank you

Would the Buchardt s400ii work with this amp? Or the Monitor Audio Gold 100? What bookshelf speakers work with it?

How do they sound on the kef r3?

I am no audiophile, in fact my first & only separate system was bought back in 1990. My question is what would you recommend between Cambridge Audio or Schiit Audio. The nearest Schiit Audio dealer for me is central London which is across the country, so I won't be able to sound test them anytime soon. I like rock, metal, 80's & classical, my living room is average 13 by 11 ft & my sound preferences are towards clear sounding vocals & instrumentation than heavy bass. Any thoughts would be most welcome. Ultimately I understand everyone has specific preferences but since I can't demo the Schiit I was hoping for your advice. Thanks in advance & keep up the good work, enjoy your videos.

hello, great video as always. how would the CXA81 pair with the Klipsch RP 600M? does anyone have an opinion?

How does it compare to the Audiolab 6000a? Should be interesting. Any opinions?

Sounds like Cambridge went a completely different direction with this revision. I have the CXA60 and it’s anything but “cool”. It’s warm and musical without sounding too dark when paired with the LS50’s. Pus it has tone controls. Did you like the less expensive AXA35 more?

Sir as y mentioned no bass and treble. So how to adjust them apart from the volume

Can I bypass the absence of tone controls on the CXA81 by buying a Bluesound Node or a Wiim Pro Plus, which have tone control in their app? Or is that not HiFi-ish?

Check out the specs and features of the Outlaw RR2160 receiver. 165 watts into 4 Ohms. MM and MC phono. 2 sub outs. Tone controls. Better remote. Better front display. 2 size headphone jacks. Bass management. $849. Add LRS $650. = $ 1499. Add $849 + $374 for Elac Uni fi UB5. = $ 1233. Less than $1299. Makes sense to me.

Im curious how the CXA81 compares to the Ragnarok 2 in terms of sound quality.

Hey, thanks for this video. Would you recommend the Cambridge 81 with the klipsch rp600? Currently testing the denon pma-600 and Yamaha wxa50. I’m not sure if any of them sound better than the other. What’s your recommendation? Price budget up to $1k. Thanks in advance.

Will this amp work well with the klipsch 600m?

If 'Jack' found the RP600m's too laid back, what does he use, pray tell? Someday, I'd like to read a subjective comparison of the sound of an inexpensive amp (think $700 Vidar) with $1500, $25000-$3000, and $5000+ dollar amps *of fairly similar output ratings*. Does more money than, say the Vidar, buy you subjectively better sound, or does it just get you 'unobtanium' cabinets, hunky knobs, or peer adulation? Does the cost of an amp color your expectations of it?

wonderful to have A and B speakers and choose right away...but the remote does not allow to change speakers. have to do it manually. pretty silly!

Hey Necrophiliac Man, that Headphone Input Jack as you keep referring to it as being, is in fact a Wormhole into Wonderland.🙂🙂🙂

Thanks for the review Steve. I'm torn between the cxa81 and that Outlaw Stereo amp receiver that you like. I'm looking at dipping my toe into the audiophile addiction. Want the best bag for my buck hopefully 2ch stereo under 3500k. The speaker I'm really interested in is the Buchardt S400 so that about 2k out of the 4. Any suggestions are appreciated. TY!

Interesting how you and Andrew Jones came to opposite conclusions about the sound profile of this amp. He says it's warm you say it's bright... Makes me feel it is probably actually pretty nuetral.

Steve , how do you reconcile the abysmal Sinad 75 dB rating of this product - distortion and noise bench tested off the scale

have you paired it with Dynaudio Evoke 10/20? How was it with the Evoke 10/20? Thank you.

Steve, how this amp compare to the Rega Elex-R, arguably its nearest rival?

Hi Steve! Is cxa 81 good with klipsch rp600m?

How much heat is coming out of this, I would have to put it below my monitor on a desk if I got it.