CA pre / power amp combination - any good ?

[swayzak]

Hello

RE. http://www.whathifi.com/news/cambridge-audio-unveils-851e851w-amps-and-speakers

Has anyone got (or heard) the 851e / 851w combination ? From what little I've gleaned from the web they sound good quality / value.

Are there any alternatives (providing similar level of power) for this price range ?

Thanks

 

[Al ears]

Hello

RE. http://www.whathifi.com/news/cambridge-audio-unveils-851e851w-amps-and-s...

Has anyone got (or heard) the 851e / 851w combination ? From what little I've gleaned from the web they sound good quality / value.

Are there any alternatives (providing similar level of power) for this price range ?

Thanks

Not heard this combo but it is well respected. The one alternative that springs to mind is the Rotel RC1580/RB1582 combo for a very similar budget.

If it were my money and only had choice of the two I'd go for the Cambridge Audio pair.

Actually, I lie, I wouldn't, I'd buy a decent (£2700) integrated amp. 🙂

 

[swayzak]

OK - a little more searching makes them seem an extremely attractive proposition to me, and should get me on excellent terms with the neighbours when powering my C***** V*** xls 215s 🙂 ...

http://andreweverard.com/2014/05/30/review-cambridge-audio-azur-851e851w/

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/cambridge-audio-azur-851e-851w

Time to get down to Richer Sounds & give them a demo (although I don't think I'll be dragging the speakers down - don't suppose they do home demo's do they .. ?)

 

[Al ears]

OK - a little more searching makes them seem an extremely attractive proposition to me, and should get me on excellent terms with the neighbours when powering my C***** V*** xls 215s 🙂 ...

http://andreweverard.com/2014/05/30/review-cambridge-audio-azur-851e851w/

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/cambridge-audio-azur-851e-851w

Time to get down to Richer Sounds & give them a demo (although I don't think I'll be dragging the speakers down - don't suppose they do home demo's do they .. ?)

I guess that will depend on how well they know you. 🙂

Bear in mind auditioning amps is not quite the same as auditioning speakers (unless they're low powered SET's 🙂 )

If your happy with them in the shop and they have all the facilities you require (you're not exactly trying to drive difficult speakers there are you?) then see if you can make a 'return if not satisfied agreement'. They may be quite lenient if you are spending this sort of money.

Oh, and get them to throw in a decent pair of connecting cables 🙂

 

[swayzak]

Maybe they'd throw in some balanced connecting cables & 2 extra speaker cables for bi-wiring ... 😉

 

[SteveR750]

OK - a little more searching makes them seem an extremely attractive proposition to me, and should get me on excellent terms with the neighbours when powering my C***** V*** xls 215s 🙂  ...

http://andreweverard.com/2014/05/30/review-cambridge-audio-azur-851e851w/

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/cambridge-audio-azur-851e-851w

Time to get down to Richer Sounds & give them a demo (although I don't think I'll be dragging the speakers down - don't suppose they do home demo's do they .. ?)

I had the dac and power amp combo on my list, and would have been ideal with the sub to utilise the latter's active crossover.

Richer sounds allow you a 14 day demo period, though some of the staff are trained to try to dissuade you from exercising this, but it's written somewhere in their sales T&Cs, sorry "customer charter".

 

[Frank Harvey]

Actually, I lie, I wouldn't, I'd buy a decent (£2700) integrated amp. 🙂

Sub £3/4k does seem to have been taken over by high quality integrated amplifiers - pre/powers don't seem to get a look in nowadays!

 

[splasher]

There are two ways in my experience that you can get a home demo from Richer Sounds. The most honest is to go to the shop and explain that you want to try the gear and if they haven't got any to demo they will get it. You pay for them and they will then let you take that already "open-box" set home to try. If you like them, you return them and they swap them for sealed boxes. If not, you return them for a refund (this is certainly the case with the London City branch - you may need to discuss this with your local branch). This is better for them because it doesn't create another set of open boxes that they have to then discount.

The second, arguably more disingenuous way is to mail order them. You can then return them under the consumer protection legislation (what used to be distant selling but is now wrapped up in other regs) for a full refund provided you've taken all reasonable steps to unpack and repack all items undamaged. This is less desirable from their perspective because it turns a pair of sealed boxes into a pair of open boxes, if that makes sense.

I've done both in the past, the latter was quite recently when I bought a CXN streamer and decided I should have gone for the 851N and so returned the CXN. They were completely separate transactions, in fact I returned the CXN to a store after I received the 851N by post with no problems but they did then put a sticker on saying it was a return to be discounted.

For what it's worth, I have an 851A and I like the sound. I may add an 851W in due course though for the extra horsepower, and like you I've not read a bad review of the 851E/W combination, especially for the price.

 

[SteveR750]

What makes them attractive is the the power amp can be bridged into a mono bloc, eschewing the (thankfully fading) fashion got offering biamping only.

 

[JMac]

I've been looking into these too and the reviews are generally positive at that price point. It was that advantage of being able to run two as monoblocks that drew me to them. Buy one know and then add another at a later date.

 

[swayzak]

Thanks everyone

I think what I need to here from the demo is a significant improvement over the sound I get from my Yamaha A-S500 with these speakers.

This amp is is great, but I cannot help thinking that it is a little underpowered and a big, quality pre/power amp combo like this would set me up for life with this setup.

However maybe I'm just trying to talk myself into spending a loading of money which isn't going to give me £2500+ worth of sound improvement...

Nowadays I listen predominantly to mp3 (don't laugh) VBR (Lame extreme V0 / 320 kbps) via Squeezebox Touch (using analogue out), but do have a CD player for CDs & Project Debut II turntable for my vinyl.

 

[JMac]

I had the Yamaha A500 sold it, had 2x MF M1 PWRs for a while and now using a Beringer A500 (£100). The extra watts made the world of difference to the Tannoys that I was running at the time over the previous two amps. It was like someone had taken a duvet off the speakers. Power makes a difference.

 

[Al ears]

Actually, I lie, I wouldn't, I'd buy a decent (£2700) integrated amp. 🙂

Sub £3/4k does seem to have been taken over by high quality integrated amplifiers - pre/powers don't seem to get a look in nowadays!

Quite agree. They are out there in limited numbers, as you'd be aware, but the idea of forking out good money for an extra expensive chassis and power supply would seem to be a waste in this price bracket. Surely better to have a much improved one-box affair. Just my way of thinking you understand.

 

[swayzak]

Are there any integrated amps I should consider at this budget then ?

They would have to offer similar power (200w + per channel) and sound quality..

 

[Frank Harvey]

Are there any integrated amps I should consider at this budget then ?

They would have to offer similar power (200w + per channel) and sound quality..

Watts per channel is only a rough guide to an amplifier's output, and there are many other factors that will affect what you're ultimately going to get out of the amp.

Ask for a demo with your existing or intended speakers, and also ask to hear an alternative amplifier - without comparing it to something else in a similar price bracket, how do you know how good it is for the money? Or even how good it is full stop?

 

[swayzak]

It would have to be home demo as these speakers are not movable without a crane.

 

[Al ears]

It would have to be home demo as these speakers are not movable without a crane.

You mean you can't lift 52.6Kg? 🙂

Which brings me to wondering why on earth you would want a 200watt amp to drive these, are you mad or deaf?? 🙂

However, may I point you towards the likes of Musical Fidelity M6si, Electrocompaniet ECI 5 Mk2 or second-hand Krell S550i.

 

[swayzak]

Thanks

I can drive them OK with the Yamaha and don't "need" the upgrade.

I am just interested to see if they would sound any better with the CA set up (even at lower volumes).

If so this would also give me nearer the amplification power as recommended by C-V.

 

[Al ears]

Thanks

I can drive them OK with the Yamaha and don't "need" the upgrade.

I am just interested to see if they would sound any better with the CA set up (even at lower volumes).

If so this would also give me nearer the amplification power as recommended by C-V.

Were did you find that? CV state a maximum power handling of 500watts. This is slighlty different to the power output of an amp that will drive them satisfactorily.

At 95.3dB (quoted) you could drive these with a 10 watt S.E.T. 🙂

However, don't let me put you off. 🙂

 

[SteveR750]

Thanks

I can drive them OK with the Yamaha and don't "need" the upgrade.

I am just interested to see if they would sound any better with the CA set up (even at lower volumes).

If so this would also give me nearer the amplification power as recommended by C-V.

Largely ignore the speaker manufacturers power rating, it's mostly irrelevant.

Meantime, if you don't need it don't buy it. Sounds like you're perfectly happy with your current system. You only need the extra power when listening at louder levels, and then you need suddenly a lot more power to turn it up subjectively a little more...

The CA kit looks fabulous value, and I still hanker after it.

 

[swayzak]

Thanks

I can drive them OK with the Yamaha and don't "need" the upgrade.

I am just interested to see if they would sound any better with the CA set up (even at lower volumes).

If so this would also give me nearer the amplification power as recommended by C-V.

Were did you find that? CV state a maximum power handling of 500watts. This is slighlty different to the power output of an amp that will drive them satisfactorily.

At 95.3dB (quoted) you could drive these with a 10 watt S.E.T. 🙂

However, don't let me put you off. 🙂

I emailed them - they recommend an amp that is rated at least 200W.

However I suppose I remain curious as to whether the actual sound quality (regardless of volume level) would be better with the CA set up, as it is more "high-end" hifi than the Yamaha.