Cambridge Audio A500
Integrated Amplifier, Cambridge Audio D500se CD Player and Polk Audio RT35i Loudspeakers
 Notions…
Upon first seeing the silver-faced, blue-LED-display
Cambridge Audio A500 integrated amplifier and D500se CD player with their full-function
remote control, one might be tempted to dismiss it as "all show, no go."
Hi-falutin’ audiophile types might automatically assume that true high-quality 65Wpc
integrated amplifiers or CD players employing a 24-bit/192kHz chip would have to cost a
lot more than $450. But the truth is, equipment doesn't have to be plain or expensive to
sound good.
Affordable gear is frequently dismissed as
"mid-fi." Originally, this was meant sneeringly -- it was the performance that
was supposed to be "mid," but lately it has begun to mean "mid-priced"
and that's all right. After all, affordable does not have to involve sonic
sacrifices. In fact, those who have never listened to the best that so-called mid-fi has
to offer might be shocked at how good it can be. To illustrate this point, I’ll
introduce you to a complete system under $1500. It makes zero excuses for its low price.
In fact, it makes some expensive systems look just plain silly. So, if the promise of good
sound for less appeals to you, read on.
...and potions
Cambridge Audio was founded in England in the late '60s, at
the height of flower power and Sergeant Pepper's. Since then, this brand has
garnered numerous awards -- from a British Hi-Fi Choice "Best Buy" to
five French "Diapason d’Or" listings, from two Class C Stereophile
"Recommended Components" nominations to a five-star What Hi-Fi? rating
and "Best Buy" status. Designed in England, Cambridge's components are built
offshore in ISO 9001 facilities, with custom key components sourced from major players
like Sony. (ISO-certified operations are routinely shopped by assurance spies to document
compliance with their established standards -- in other words, the QC and
fit’n’finish measures are as high as they come in large-scale manufacturing.)
Features
The Cambridge Audio A500 integrated amplifier and D500se
compact disc player are part of the Cambridge 500 series, which also includes the matching
T500 double super-heterodyne tuner. The A500 remote-controlled integrated amp is rated at
65Wpc into 8 ohms. According to measurements conducted by Paul Miller of Hi-Fi Choice,
it actually delivers 107W into 4 ohms/195W into 2 ohms/246W into 1 ohm under dynamic music
conditions. This kind of low-impedance stability is positively unheard-of in amplifiers at
anywhere near the A500’s asking price. It speaks of exceedingly well-designed, stiff
high-current power supplies. In fact, the power transformer is a custom-designed
tight-wind low-flux toroid.
Two tone controls with a central detent allow +/- 6dB
tuning at 100Hz and 10kHz and can be bypassed entirely via a Direct button. Connectivity
includes four line-level inputs. One of these can be converted to phono with an optional
$60 moving-magnet plug-in card. Kudos to the firm for making this an option rather than
penalizing non-turntable folks by charging for a feature they won’t use. There’s
also a tape loop, a tape monitor function and a pre-out to facilitate biamping with the
matching 65Wpc P500 power amplifier. Two loudspeaker-terminal pairs per channel allow
discrete biwiring without shotgun cables, but the "banana holes" are permanently
plugged with non-removable metal inserts. Crud! While I appreciate the benefits of a
one-size-fits-all universal model that withstands those persnickety Euro regulations,
I’d prefer removable plastic inserts so us fearless Yanks can go bananas. But the
silk screening that identifies the rear panel socketry is a nice touch. The writing is
both right-side-up and upside-down. This really helps once the component is
installed and you look at the rear panel from above, not below. Further, just as with the
CD player, the power cord is detachable to allow the use of after-market power cords.
Cambridge Audio
A500 Integrated Amplifier
- and -
D500se CD Player
|
The D500 Special Edition CD player uses 24-bit Delta-Sigma
Crystal DACs and refined jitter-reduction circuitry. The DAC board is modular to allow for
easy upgrading in the future. A "very large scale integration" control chip,
designed exclusively for Cambridge Audio by Sony, is said to dynamically adjust focus,
tracking and output level of the laser for maximized data retrieval. A unique jog shuttle
controls next/previous track selection and fast forward/rewind. Very surprising in this
price sector is a massive BNC-fitted digital output next to a more common optical TosLink
(BNC is a superior digital interface connector normally found only on the most expensive
digital gear).
The A500 comes with a full system remote that controls
volume but not input selection on the amplifier. It duplicates the main functions of the
CD player’s dedicated remote and also controls the tuner and Cambridge Audio’s
RCL-01 light dimmers. A blue status LED blinks whenever you change the volume with the
remote. The CD remote is fully functioning and doesn’t skip a feature except for
display dimming -- but the blue display is such an attractive shade against the silver
that I doubt anyone would want to turn it off. My only minor quibble: The blue-on-blue
read-out has such low contrast that I can’t make out any display information sitting
across even a tiny listening room. Both units are available with black or silver aluminum
face plate, while the chassis, like the remotes, are finished in a very attractive
charcoal gray.
Judging by weight, appearance and features alone, these
silver surfers from Cambridge Audio are "seriously heavy, dude" and dispel any
notion that sub-$500 gear must scream funky black plastic sameness or be
feature-challenged.
Happy Polk-a dots
Let’s dispel another audio myth: only small,
labor-intensive, cottage-industry speaker shops that charge handmade prices can produce
genuine high-performance products.  Not! In fact, only the truly
large-scale speaker manufacturers possess the requisite in-house R&D facilities and
economies of scale to bring good sound to ever-lower price points. While being large
doesn’t automatically guarantee high quality -- consider Bose -- it
doesn’t preclude it either.
To cite two examples: The smaller players would love to do
their own injection-molded speaker baffles, but they just can’t afford the very
substantial initial tooling costs for the necessary dies. They flaunt their more expensive
flat MDF baffles as superior to the minimum-refraction sculpted synthetic baffles the best
large-scale manufacturers employ for both cost and sonic reasons. They also make
much of their use of designer drive units purchased at great expense from the likes of
Audax, Dynaudio, Scan-Speak or Vifa, rather than 'fess up that they can’t afford to
manufacture drivers in-house or have proprietary drivers OEM’d.
The Polk Audio RT35i is a two-way shielded bookshelf
loudspeaker with a 6.5" polymer/mineral composite mid/woofer and a 1"
tri-laminate polymer dome tweeter that uses micro-layers of stainless steel and aluminum,
vapor-deposited on a soft polymer base. Both drivers are unique to Polk and benefit from
full-field heterodyning laser interferometry research to minimize cone break-up and
resonance distortion in the drivers’ geometries. The RT35i 's enclosure is
rear vented, employing what Polk calls a Power Port. Its plinth also doubles as a wall
mount bracket. The Power Port, rather than venting straight into the room, vents into a
molded cone insert that reduces "chuffing" air turbulence and its concomitant
loss of up to 3dB in bass output. The small port on the front baffle is an acoustic
resonance-control vent designed to smooth out midrange response by breaking up cabinet
resonances. These ports are tuned to the cabinet’s resonant frequency 180 degrees out
of phase with the driver output, which cancels out resonance peaks, avoiding that chesty
quality that can obscure the midrange.
The RT35i is 15"H x 8.125"W x 11.5"D.
It sports a single pair of gold-plated five-way binding posts, weighs 18 pounds, and
features a nominal 8-ohm impedance. At $219.95 each, you’d expect it to have a vinyl
finish. That’s exactly what Polk would have given you last year. However, their
almost fully automated cabinet facility in Baja/Mexico now allows application of real-wood
veneers in maple, cherry or black ash without a price penalty. The RT35i, by
the way, was designed to sound best with the grilles on. That’s how I used it.
Putting it together
I connected everything with Cardas Audio’s entry-level
cable and placed the speakers on Triangle Electroacoustique’s elegant Boomerang
stands, before letting the system run for 24/7 -- at very reduced levels while I was
in-house and cranked to eleven when I was away. (A comment on break-in: Being mechanical
devices, speakers undergo a "conditioning" period. The rubber surrounds and
internal fabric spiders need to be used before they will soften and reach their proper
compliance. Different designs may vary in the amount of break-in time required, but
it’s fair to say that most speakers don’t sound as good out of the box as they
do with a few days, or even weeks, of playing time.) After a week, I sat down to listen,
pencil and paper in hand, and took notes.
So?
This system is ridiculously good. In my room -- 13'
x 19' x 10' -- the RT35is, despite being bookshelf speakers, put out all the bass I
need. This bestows a richness and warmth on the sound -- an attribute that‘s often
lacking in smaller speakers that can’t pour a concrete foundation. The RT35i,
gripped by the A500's iron-fisted control, exhibits wonderful definition in the lower
registers, resulting in fast, taut bass with good pitch delineation, startling impact, and
realistic scale. When a pianist thunders down the clefs to make a major fortissimo
statement, you don't just hear it, you feel it.
Two CDs that illustrate this perfectly are Jimmy
Haslip’s Red Heat [Unitone 13702-4802-2] and Jacques Loussier’s The
Bach Book [Telarc Jazz 83474]. Haslip, the Yellowjackets’ bass player, writes
tunes that demand a rich lower register. Played back via bass-deprived speakers, his songs
plainly don’t cut it -- half of what you should be hearing is gone, leaving behind a
sonic skeleton that’s boring and simply dead. Ditto for the Loussier Trio’s
jazzy excursions into baroque material. The Bach Book features some of the
best-recorded upright bass you’ll ever hear. As Vincent Charbonnier descends into the
lowermost register, the loudness of his instrument diminishes. Can you discern its lowest
notes clearly? Are they as well defined, and do they have as much body as those a bit
higher? With the Polk speakers, driven by the Cambridge integrated amplifier, the answer
is a resounding yes. That’s important. There’s more to bass than just
bass. Without it, the tonal balance of the rest of the audible frequency spectrum shifts
upwards.
Certain systems go low but do so ponderously, dragging the
music as though through water. The Cambridge/Polk combo almost entirely avoids this
effect, erring only ever so slightly on the side of warmth. The RT35i seems to
manifest a minor midbass rise. While this commonly disguises the absence of 20-40Hz low
bass, here it seems done in a very subtle and utterly benign fashion. I have the $495 per
pair Triangle Titus XS speakers on hand -- more about those in our semi-monthly site
update -- so I’m confident in saying that this bloom is not the amplifier’s
contribution.
The Cambridge/Polk duo’s warm and musical rendition is
equally apparent in the treble. It’s utterly devoid of sizzle, harshness, brightness
or any other tizzy artifacts. Nothing here detracts from pure enjoyment. This is a very
important compliment. The relentless brightness in certain speakers -- the sound some
listeners initially mistake for resolution and detail -- always induces listener fatigue
downstream. The sign that all is well is the enjoyment of long listening sessions over the
months following the original purchase. This rig falls on the musical side of the equation
rather than the analytical.
However, the amount of ambient retrieval it portrays is
magnificent, bordering on the absurd. Instead of cardboard images etched like shadows
against a glaring white background, you obtain a clear sense of not only the recording
venue but also the space surrounding the performers. This is an audiophile quality that
many really affordable systems don’t manage well or overlook altogether. But
there’s more. You also get harmonic nuance -- perhaps not as developed or liquid as
from the best tube components, but very respectable and not at all synthetic or dry. The
soundstage is huge, well delineated and nicely layered.
Voices sound very realistic. Even divas at full
boogie won’t cause you to frantically grab for the volume control -- high praise,
indeed. While you can turn things obnoxious by pushing too hard, that would require
playback levels in excess of what’s realistic. Unless you’re a rowdy
head-banger, you won’t feel shortchanged.
And while cymbals and triangles don’t linger as long
before total fade-out as they do with my $5500 tube amp and $3000 CD player, let’s
maintain perspective. This is exemplary performance from components with such reasonable
price tags.
All together
When speaker or electronics designers are presented with a
very limited budget and a laundry list of required features, the engineer’s art
resides in balancing all requirements and choosing the compromises carefully. The same is
true for assembling a system, which can only be as good as its weakest link. It’s
easy to become enamored of certain attributes and shape a rig to really excel in those
areas. Having lived with this system for a while, I can confidently state that a potential
owner will enjoy a very musical and surprisingly refined balance -- even when compared to
reference-level systems costing ten times more.
Yes, you can buy more ultimate resolution. Yes, you can buy
lower bass. Yes, you can buy more air or bloom. But -- except for a momentary and
soon-forgotten comparison side by side -- would you care, or, enjoying this combination on
its own merits, notice any room for improvement? In all likelihood, not! Hence, without
further ado, hand me that stamp. If the United States Department of Agriculture can affix
a stamp of quality to a piece of dead meat, we can honor a complete $1500 audio system
that makes your favorite music come startlingly alive! Long live the Cambridge Audio
A500/D500se/Polk Audio RT35i -- it represents high end performance for not all that
much money
Next
En route or already in-house are the Audio Refinement
Complete combo of 50Wpc integrated amplifier and matching CD player, an equivalent
electronics package by Arcam, and speakers by Triangle and Acoustic Energy. We’ll
first hitch the new speakers to today’s Cambridge stack to report on what changes.
Later, we’ll attack the Audio Refinement and Arcam gear and again play musical chairs
with the speakers. This exercise of interchanging core components to arrive at different
system configurations should enlighten us as to the various sonic signatures of these
components. We’ll also learn how to accentuate certain qualities to appeal to
different listeners’ preferences. Check in again in two weeks.
Prices of equipment reviewed this month:
|
