Cambridge Audio Edge A

[What Hi-Fi?]

Cambridge’s range-topping integrated amplifier sets sky-high standards for the price.

Cambridge Audio Edge A : Read more

 

[Sliced Bread]

Can this amplifier be re-reviewed as Cambridge Audio / Richer Sounds have increased the price by a thousand pounds.

The review price was £4499, but now it is £5499.

Richer Sounds are listing it as 5 Star WHF product but I’m not sure if that is now correct since the price hike. If it is then fair enough, but I think it worth WHF’s time to re-review based on this significant price rise.

 

[nopiano]

That’s an interesting point, and highlights the value of the review stating the price at the time. The question is really what amp at around £5,000 is a good rival. A Hegel H390 maybe?

 

[Sliced Bread]

That’s an interesting point, and highlights the value of the review stating the price at the time. The question is really what amp at around £5,000 is a good rival. A Hegel H390 maybe?

Yes exactly. If it’s still good value then no worries, but such a big price difference can change everything.

 

[Sliced Bread]

Cambridge audio has just released a mono block for the Edge.
It’ll be interesting to see if the price of that jumps too after the magazines review it.

 

[ti33er]

Anyone here own the CAMBRIDGE AUDIO EDGE A ?

Just wondering if all of us Owners have the Remote Control Volume issue; whereby clicking volume Up or Down, the decibels increase three-fourfold what they should ?

It’s only evident with the Infrared as with ARC via HDMI, the volume adjustments behaves as one would expect, just one notch at a time

This is a very frustrating bug when watching things at night, can hardly hear the voices and with one click of the official Remote volume and it’s borderline shouting; waking the household

For such a steamingly expensive product, one would expect such a basic bug to be addressed by CA....they don’t seem to be that interested in fixing this however (they did fix the ARC sound glitching at least - sent a D-SUB Serial programming cable and firmware; thanks for that)!

Thanks

 

[Sliced Bread]

Anyone here own the CAMBRIDGE AUDIO EDGE A ?

Just wondering if all of us Owners have the Remote Control Volume issue; whereby clicking volume Up or Down, the decibels increase three-fourfold what they should ?

It’s only evident with the Infrared as with ARC via HDMI, the volume adjustments behaves as one would expect, just one notch at a time

This is a very frustrating bug when watching things at night, can hardly hear the voices and with one click of the official Remote volume and it’s borderline shouting; waking the household

For such a steamingly expensive product, one would expect such a basic bug to be addressed by CA....they don’t seem to be that interested in fixing this however (they did fix the ARC sound glitching at least - sent a D-SUB Serial programming cable and firmware; thanks for that)!

Thanks

Sorry bud, afraid not.

Out of curiosity how do you find the amp sonically?

 

[ti33er]

Hi Sliced-Bread

The Amp stage itself measures very well according to AudioScienceReview ...however their ESS Sabre DAC implementation is ‘linear’ and a touch sibilant to my ears (it’s not this warm ‘Class-A’ Sound being touted, so you may need to get a Subwoofer that can fatten up the bottom end; or get warm Speakers, either way they could have added tone controls (or an EQ App option of some sort) in my opinion...I’ve got a Nobsound 6J2 in-line with an MDAC that adjust Bass/Treble with now and sounds a bit more musical adding Bass - I know of few people that would leave a graphic equaliser with variable bands all at zero, when presented with these options... ;-)

I do like still like it though, looks sexy enough and okay with my B&W 805D3 speakers...but definitely need a Subwoofer to warm things up a tad in my case.

The Remote Control Volume issue is frustrating ; they need to fix this with a firmware update.

Also USB Streamers which are extremely common nowadays, like my ProJect S2 Ultra (and Zidoo Z9X in USB mode)...when booting up, the EDGE-A does not Mute before locking on and oscillating noise is heard; also if the Streamer goes into Standby, the oscillating noise happens again until one intervenes (which may even cause damage as it gets louder and higher like generic microphone feedback)!

I’ve let Support know but was told it’s only for a laptop that USB input and need the Driver ...but my MDAC does not suffer from this and it’s 8 year old technology, personally I find this poor show for such an expensive flagship product range

 

[Sliced Bread]

Hi Sliced-Bread

The Amp stage itself measures very well according to AudioScienceReview ...however their ESS Sabre DAC implementation is ‘linear’ and a touch sibilant to my ears (it’s not this warm ‘Class-A’ Sound being touted, so you may need to get a Subwoofer that can fatten up the bottom end; or get warm Speakers, either way they could have added tone controls (or an EQ App option of some sort) in my opinion...I’ve got a Nobsound 6J2 in-line with an MDAC that adjust Bass/Treble with now and sounds a bit more musical adding Bass - I know of few people that would leave a graphic equaliser with variable bands all at zero, when presented with these options... ;-)

I do like still like it though, looks sexy enough and okay with my B&W 805D3 speakers...but definitely need a Subwoofer to warm things up a tad in my case.

The Remote Control Volume issue is frustrating ; they need to fix this with a firmware update.

Also USB Streamers which are extremely common nowadays, like my ProJect S2 Ultra (and Zidoo Z9X in USB mode)...when booting up, the EDGE-A does not Mute before locking on and oscillating noise is heard; also if the Streamer goes into Standby, the oscillating noise happens again until one intervenes (which may even cause damage as it gets louder and higher like generic microphone feedback)!

I’ve let Support know but was told it’s only for a laptop that USB input and need the Driver ...but my MDAC does not suffer from this and it’s 8 year old technology, personally I find this poor show for such an expensive flagship product range

Thank you for the feedback. It’s always good to get some insight from real users. Tbh I will likely skip the amp due to the price rise. I was seriously considering it but the price hike has put me off.
It is interesting that you mention a sub as I found adding a Rel S3 SHO did the same for my b&w cm8’s.
Btw those 805’s you have are beautiful speakers

 

[ti33er]

The NAD M33 is probably better to be honest...the only thing I don’t like about the NAD is that it digitises Analogue Inputs, so if you want to get away from the internal DAC, your stuck with it there...but some may argue it’s ‘perfect’ with negligible THD and gives DIRAC EQ options, so why would you want to

 

[Moree Spingato]

Hegel H390 was mentioned as competition above. No way, that’s in a different league. Among the best money can buy if you can swing that. I’d put Arcam, Pass Labs, and Macintosh in that category — their higher end stuff anyway. Hegel is a no brainer of a purchase. Although one has to admit the CA Edge does look sexy.

 

[Gray]

one has to admit the CA Edge does look sexy.

That doesn't say much for your wife

 

[ti33er]

Hegel H390 was mentioned as competition above. No way, that’s in a different league. Among the best money can buy if you can swing that. I’d put Arcam, Pass Labs, and Macintosh in that category — their higher end stuff anyway. Hegel is a no brainer of a purchase. Although one has to admit the CA Edge does look sexy.

I’m not sure I can agree with that HEGEL comment; that’s a personal preference ...and power specs alone don’t mean much, 250W vs 100W...with the current in this baby I can’t even get to 50% volume on my EDGE-A B&W 805D3 Speakers without clasping my ears; definitely don’t need any more juice...

I had the opportunity to listen to a LUXMAN L-590AX not long ago on the B&Ws and the difference was small IMO ...once you get to this level, it’s more Personal than Engineering

 

[ti33er]

What I’m not happy about are the bugs though...

Volume Control via Remote needs a firmware fix and the USB lock on/off to Streamers needs a firmware fix too ...other Vendors get this right, so why can’t CA

 

[ti33er]

Nobody else with the Remote Control volume high increments issue?

 

[ti33er]

I’ve submitted another Customer Support request about the volume control yesterday...let’s see what they come back with...

 

[Moree Spingato]

I’m not sure I can agree with that HEGEL comment; that’s a personal preference ...and power specs alone don’t mean much, 250W vs 100W...with the current in this baby I can’t even get to 50% volume on my EDGE-A B&W 805D3 Speakers without clasping my ears; definitely don’t need any more juice...

I had the opportunity to listen to a LUXMAN L-590AX not long ago on the B&Ws and the difference was small IMO ...once you get to this level, it’s more Personal than Engineering

Wattage is not only about volume or SPL. It's also about sound quality.

 

[ti33er]

Yes agree, the EDGE has plenty of current even if it’s only rated at 100W (500w at 2ohm) and I’ve come across Reviewer comparing EDGE and HEGEL saying they sound very similar and hold their own...

“Rated at 100W/8ohm and 200W/4ohm it delivers 2x138W/8ohm and 2x234W/4ohm (a stiff +2.3dB increase in power) with sufficient in reserve to accommodate 150W, 290W, 520W and 670W into 8, 4, 2 and 1ohm”

 

[Fraz60]

I have the Edge NQ and am really happy with it. I also have an ancient amp, driven by gas, Krell 500i but am considering a change to the Edge A.
I do note that the Krell (8ohms 250w) is much more powerful than the Edge but understand technology has moved on with an assumption of improved sound quality since I got the Krell in 1999 lol. Just concerned that I`ll waste my money as imo the Krell is still a great amp. My speakers are Monitor Audio Platinum PL 300. Any views really welcome.

 

[ti33er]

I’d say these are very similar Amps …I’ve had and listened to KRELL in years gone by and they are neutral to cool where I’ve experienced them (bit too cool for me, at least the KRELL Showcase was and I’d sold it pretty quickly)

This is also a fairly neutral electronic and with MA PL (the ribbon MKI version of which I had PL200 just before my 805D3) would be a fairly transparent combination; not warm if that’s your preference

 

[ti33er]

Do you mean the EDGE-W btw, not EDGE-A if you’re talking about a new Amplifier combination with NQ? …this might be a bit warmer with the NQ at least, it’s the Sabre DAC implementation of the EDGE-A that makes it sound closer to neutral

 

[Fraz60]

Do you mean the EDGE-W btw, not EDGE-A if you’re talking about a new Amplifier combination with NQ? …this might be a bit warmer with the NQ at least, it’s the Sabre DAC implementation of the EDGE-A that makes it sound closer to neutral

Thanks for your response.
it’s the A I was thinking about but right away I have food for thought re the W and on checking, this is the suggested partner for NQ on the Cambridge website.

 

[ti33er]

If you’re in the money they have 200W monoblock versions now also…but very expensive IMO

I’ve not run out of steam on the 100W in the EDGE-A, 50% volume is too much already in my place

 

[Fraz60]

If you’re in the money they have 200W monoblock versions now also…but very expensive IMO

I’ve not run out of steam on the 100W in the EDGE-A, 50% volume is too much already in my place

 

[ti33er]

^^mistake above Sir? It’s just Quote…