Difference between CA 840A V1 and V2?

[admin_exported]

RS are currently selling the, I guess, older V1 for 'only' £400 with the more expensive V2 costing £750.

Question, if anyone has any knowledge about these 2 amps: what differences between these 2 'siblings? Is it worth the extra outlay?

Atm, my other shortlisted (and demoed) amp would be the Marantz 6002. Any others I should look into as well?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

momo72:
RS are currently selling the, I guess, older V1 for 'only' £400 with the more expensive V2 costing £750.

Question, if anyone has any knowledge about these 2 amps: what differences between these 2 'siblings? Is it worth the extra outlay?

Atm, my other shortlisted (and demoed) amp would be the Marantz 6002. Any others I should look into as well?

Right, well for a start the original 840 blows the Marantz out of the water. It garnered only three stars from this mag but every where else raved over it - it won many awards and Hifi Choice loved it. The v2 has some tweaks but I don't think it's a massive change - I've not heard it in action but for £399, the 840A is a steal - especially as you can buy it, take it home and listen for a couple of weeks and then get a refund if you are not blown away. Nothing under £500 will come close.

I should add that RS have only just started discounting the V1 and it was selling alongside v2 at £750 for some time. I suppose these are the last of the stocks.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks a lot for the reply. I'll give RS a call tomorrow hopefully, and can demo later on.

 

[kusum65]

Ive been tempted by this deal ( i was quoted 479!) as i heard this amp 2yrs ago at a show and thought it sounded great, powerful and smooth. Be careful though, richer sounds had a lot of returns because of some soft wear glitch which meant the amp periodically turning it self of. Having said that ive always found RS very easy to deal with when ive had problems in the past.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

kusum65:Ive been tempted by this deal ( i was quoted 479!) as i heard this amp 2yrs ago at a show and thought it sounded great, powerful and smooth. Be careful though, richer sounds had a lot of returns because of some soft wear glitch which meant the amp periodically turning it self of. Having said that ive always found RS very easy to deal with when ive had problems in the past.

Seriously, for the money it's a no brainer. You can keep it for 2 weeks and take it back for a full refund if it's not your cup of tea, let alone if there was a problem.

 

[Anonymous]

I been doing some thinking and reading up this afternoon. For someone like myself who doesn't really listen to his music very loudly (the volume control on my CA A5 never goes past the first quarter on the dial), wouldn't it be a waste (of money if anything) to go for a £400 amp (even one down from £750 even)? One other amp on my shortlist is the Marantz 6002 which sounded rather lovely to my unexperienced ears y'day during demo (also had a play with the K2). The 6002 is currently available for just over £200 so that's a real bargain too.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

momo72:
I been doing some thinking and reading up this afternoon. For someone like myself who doesn't really listen to his music very loudly (the volume control on my CA A5 never goes past the first quarter on the dial), wouldn't it be a waste (of money if anything) to go for a £400 amp (even one down from £750 even)? One other amp on my shortlist is the Marantz 6002 which sounded rather lovely to my unexperienced ears y'day during demo (also had a play with the K2). The 6002 is currently available for just over £200 so that's a real bargain too.

I listen to music at lower levels quite a lot (I have two children) but having a detached house and a powerful amp means I can let rip every now and then as well.

Obviously it's up to you what you go for but my music sounds sublime at lower volumes and you can hear everything.

The Marantz was originally £270 and has been £200 widely available for a while. It's a very good budget amp but you can do a lot better too.

 

[kusum65]

More power is necessary if you have difficult speakers to drive. If you have speakers that are 8ohm and have a seneitivity of 88 or higher then the marantz would do you. Do bear in mind the cambridge is a bit audiophile so it will be very analytical where as the marantz might have a friendlier presentation

 

[drummerman]

Gerrardasnails:momo72:
I been doing some thinking and reading up this afternoon. For someone like myself who doesn't really listen to his music very loudly (the volume control on my CA A5 never goes past the first quarter on the dial), wouldn't it be a waste (of money if anything) to go for a £400 amp (even one down from £750 even)? One other amp on my shortlist is the Marantz 6002 which sounded rather lovely to my unexperienced ears y'day during demo (also had a play with the K2). The 6002 is currently available for just over £200 so that's a real bargain too.





I listen to music at lower levels quite a lot (I have two children) but having a detached house and a powerful amp means I can let rip every now and then as well.

Obviously it's up to you what you go for but my music sounds sublime at lower volumes and you can hear everything.

The Marantz was originally £270 and has been £200 widely available for a while. It's a very good budget amp but you can do a lot better too.

I've had the V2 and player on an extended home dem. Lovely products for the money. I would have thought V1 is similar and it seems fantastic value at £500. Also consider Denon's PMA1500AE at around £500. Not quite as refined or ultimately powerful but more musical and a lot of drive. Both are superb depending what floats your boat and are really not comparable to the Marantz but thats hardly surprising considering the price difference.

 

[Anonymous]

kusum65:

More power is necessary if you have difficult speakers to drive. If you have speakers that are 8ohm and have a seneitivity of 88 or higher then the marantz would do you. Do bear in mind the cambridge is a bit audiophile so it will be very analytical where as the marantz might have a friendlier presentation

I've just checked the specs of my speakers actually as I'm off to the shops later. They quote 88.5dB with 8ohm nominal impedance, for a recommended amp requirement of 20-200W.

Does that still make the CA 740/840 a good match (on paper)?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

momo72:kusum65:

More power is necessary if you have difficult speakers to drive. If you have speakers that are 8ohm and have a seneitivity of 88 or higher then the marantz would do you. Do bear in mind the cambridge is a bit audiophile so it will be very analytical where as the marantz might have a friendlier presentation

I've just checked the specs of my speakers actually as I'm off to the shops later. They quote 88.5dB with 8ohm nominal impedance, for a recommended amp requirement of 20-200W.

Does that still make the CA 740/840 a good match (on paper)?

Yes. Forget the 740 though - it's a good amp but way behind the 840 and the 840v1 is £101 cheaper!!! Remember to quote that you have seen it advertised on line at £399. I would actually call them and find out which stores have stocks left and get them to send it to you - they will.

http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=CAMB-AZUR-840A-BLK

Drummerman, £399 instead of £500, even more of a bargain?!