Integrated Amp Reviews

Cambridge Audio Edge A integrated amplifier Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog Sources: Kuzma Stabi S turntable & Stogi tonearm; Thorens TD 124 Mk.I turntable, Jelco 350S tonearm; Denon DL-103, Hana EL, Ortofon Quintet Bronze cartridges.
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook computer running Audirvana Plus; LG BD550 BD player (as transport); ATC CDA2 Mk.II CD player; Halide DAC HD, PS Audio NuWave DACs; Western Digital T2 Mirror Drives (2).
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 A23 MC step-up transformer, Luxman EQ-500 phono preamplifier, Shindo Laboratory Allegro preamplifier.
Power Amplifier: Shindo Laboratory Haut-Brion.
Integrated Amplifier: Heed Audio Elixir.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93, Elac Debut B6, Klipsch Heresy III, Quad S-2.
Headphones: Master & Dynamic MH40.
Cables: Interconnect: AudioQuest Chicago & Water & Yukon, Morrow Audio MA-1, Shindo Laboratory, Triode Wire Labs American & single-ended (RCA). Speaker: AudioQuest Castle Rock, Auditorium 23, Tellurium Q Black, Triode Wire Labs American. AC: manufacturers' own.
Accessories: IsoTek IVO3 Aquarius power conditioner, Music Hall Aztec Blue & Mooo record mats; Spec AD-UP1 Analog Disc Sheet; Salamander five-tier rack; IKEA Aptitlig bamboo chopping boards (under preamp, power amp); Mapleshade maple platform (15" by 12" by 2") under turntable, 3"-thick studio-treatment foam damping (ceiling, walls).
Listening Room: 12' L by 10' W by 12' H, system set up along short wall; suspended wood floor, 6"-thick walls (plaster over 2x4), wood-beamed ceiling.—Ken Micallef

COMPANY INFO
Cambridge Audio
US: Cambridge Audio USA
1913 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL 60647
(877) 357-8204
www.cambridgeaudio.com
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 21, 2018 - 9:20am

May be KM or HR or JA could keep this Cambridge Edge A around for a while and review some of the 'affordable' loudspeakers under $5,000 or even under $10,000 :-) ............

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 22, 2018 - 10:48am

Welcome to 21st century :-) ...........

Jason P Jackson's picture
Submitted by Jason P Jackson on December 22, 2018 - 2:30am

This will be the amp that will replace my good old and oversize fpb 300 heater.

Robin Landseadel's picture
Submitted by Robin Landseadel on December 23, 2018 - 7:34am

The headphone output impedance of 10 ohms is not low. It's high enough to interfere with the sound quality of efficient headphones. By way of example, the Schiit Magni 3 headphone amp has an output impedance of 0.6 ohms.

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 23, 2018 - 10:25am

Agreed ........ All the portable Chord self-powered head-amp/DACs like Mojo, Hugo2 and Hugo TT2 have headphone output impedance less than 1 Ohm .......... Rogue RH-5 (Stereophile Class-A) has head-amp output impedance between 1-3 Ohms .......... 10 Ohm output impedance can drive top of the line Sennheiser and Focal headphones and some others with high impedance :-) ............

Ivan Terekhov's picture
Submitted by Ivan Terekhov on December 23, 2018 - 2:38pm

"The CD1 two-box CD player ... was the most expensive CD player in the world at the time." - sounds like misinformation, to say the least.

ken mac's picture
Submitted by ken mac on December 26, 2018 - 2:34pm

https://www.whathifi.com/features/best-24-cd-players-what-hi-fis-lifetime

"[In 1986] Cambridge Audio's CD1 cost a fortune at £1500. Double, if not triple, most other players."

Ivan Terekhov's picture
Submitted by Ivan Terekhov on December 26, 2018 - 2:58pm

Technics SL-P50P - 1984 - $4000. I'm pretty sure there's more examples.

hermanzegerman's picture
Submitted by hermanzegerman on December 25, 2018 - 10:03am

An amp that turns itself off after a few seconds with a fault doesn't sound like fun to me. Especially not at this price point.

Last time Stereophile tested a flagship CA integrated (the 851), the first sample broke and the second was faulty. This time the first one broke.
On this evidence, isn't JA being generous with his assumption that the shipper was at fault? Seems like a bit of a trend is developing, slightly worrying on what are not cheap items.

Personally, at this price I'd be looking at items manufactured in-house, not outsourced to China.

Thanks for a great magazine, by the way.

Ivan Terekhov's picture
Submitted by Ivan Terekhov on December 27, 2018 - 2:24pm

What did you expect? It's MADE IN CHINA.

ken mac's picture
Submitted by ken mac on December 26, 2018 - 2:40pm

....demand that any hi-fi (possibly any electronic device) unit running a negligible signal for more than 20 minutes must power down. And it's easily defeat-able; I was only making note that it's bothersome.
Beyond the issues that greeted JA after I had the CA in house, build quality was excellent, the unit worked perfectly, and sounded fantastic, never mind where it was manufactured.

hermanzegerman's picture
Submitted by hermanzegerman on December 27, 2018 - 1:53am

"A few seconds after I first powered up Ken Micallef's review sample of the Edge A..... it turned itself off, its front-panel light glowing red to indicate a fault" says JA.

What's that got to do with "Brit" regulations, and how is it defeatable?

And build quality was excellent, the unit worked perfectly, and it broke and had to be replaced.

Gotcha!

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 30, 2018 - 5:40am

May be you (KM) could review one of the ATC self-powered active loudspeakers, preferably with the ATC CD player/pre-amp, you recently reviewed? :-) ..........

kapland's picture
Submitted by kapland on February 17, 2019 - 5:15pm

Ken mentioned this is the best integrated that he's auditioned. And I see that is not a small number in the past few years. Is this piece really more impressive than the Luxman? I ask because I'm demoing it right now. My old Krell KAV300i is getting long in the tooth and I was looking for something a bit more refined. IMO, this is a really nice piece; well defined sound and easy to listen to for long periods.

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