The sound characteristics are of course described by the manufacturer in the tried and tested manner as rather neutral, but with a certain independence, the “Great British Sound”, which is understood as the most important trademark. The amps and receivers in the CX and AX series all use very high-quality speaker binding posts, which is pretty amazing to see on something as inexpensive as a CXA35. The front panel layout is also super clean and comfortable to figure out. As I said, they match in color, but the layouts are done in the same style to make mixing and matching within the lines no issue from a cosmetic standpoint. Let’s look at the different models to help you find the best match for your system. Cambridge Audio AXA35 The diagram below shows how to connect the AXR to an active subwoofer via the LFE/Sub input on the subwoofer. The CXN V2 uses dual Wolfson WM8740 24-bit DACs. These are even better than the ones in the CXA81. But if you wanted to use it as a streaming source with a very high-end multi-thousand dollar DAC, it gives you both Toslink and coaxial digital outputs. Cambridge Audio also understands you may have more digital sources you want to run through the unit. So they give you a coaxial and Toslink digital input. For connecting it to your integrated amp or preamp, You have both balanced and RCA outputs. The final icing on the cake is that you can set up the CXN V2 to have either fixed or variable output. This means you could use it in the fixed output mode to run into your integrated amp or preamp. But if you just wanted a digital-only system, you can connect it directly to a power amp. The CXN V2 is just flat out an incredible product for the money. You can use it with any system and in a variety of ways. Conclusion Consult the instructions of the Bluetooth device to connect to AXR. When successfully connected the display will show your device name.

Having said that, the AXA35 arguably sounds clearer and has a more neutral tonal balance, doing more than enough to justify a five-star rating at this price point. It looks and sounds the part, and if this is just a hint of what the rest of the Cambridge Audio’s AX range has to offer, we’re in for a sonic treat. Like a Noah’s Ark of hi-fi, the AX range goes in two-by-two with the AXC25 and AXC35 CD players; AXA25 and AXA35 integrated amplifiers and AXR85 and AXR100 stereo receivers. The range takes design cues from the CX and Edge to deliver on Cambridge’s ambition of producing what it has dubbed as “Great British Sound”. The range intends to reflect the intention of the artists without taking anything away from the performance. First, I’ll go over the things both product ranges have in common. With four models in each lineup, I thought it was pretty neat that Cambridge Audio decided to give both series the same cosmetic appearance, so you can easily mix and match them. All eight products come in a new lunar gray finish and have a floating look from the front. All of the amplifiers and the receivers use their classic toroidal power transformer for better sound.The Cambridge Audio AX Series is being joined by a powerful all-rounder, as promised by the English hi-fi manufacturer Cambridge Audio. With an excellent price/performance ratio, the new Cambridge Audio AXR100D is set to prove a perfect start to the hi-fi world of “Great British Sound”.

Isolate one of the ground paths with an isolation transformer, common mode choke, optical coupler, balanced circuitry, or frequency selective grounding. IMPORTANT: Presets are stored separately for each waveband, meaning that there are 15 preset slots available for FM stations, and 15 preset slots available for AM stations. Cambridge had already developed a state-of-the-art CD driver known as their S3 Servo for their high-end AZUR series. This is the same drive in the CXC. It has levels of jitter rejection and error correction that you might see in multi-thousand dollar CD drives. They also designed the chassis to be very well isolated so that external vibrations that could affect performance are minimized. You will just not find better CD transport out there for under two thousand dollars in our opinion. Cambridge Audio CXN V2 Up front the AXR100 is quietly handsome: I liked the look of its mouse-gray brushed-aluminum fascia a lot, and the single volume knob and multiple pushbutton controls all have a solid, high- quality feel. Hookup in my system required little more effort than connecting my loudspeakers, Energy Veritas 2.2i's, whose uh, mature (long discontinued) but still very capable design yields low enough sensitivity to get even a 100-watt amplifier like the Cambridge to break a modest sweat. Making both analog and coaxial digital audio feeds from my Oppo Digital disc and streaming source and digging out an FM dipole antenna from the odds'n'ends drawer completed the setup. (I did not bother with AM radio since there's so much amplitude-modulated hash in my environment—and also likely in yours—that any results wouldn't mean much.) For radio enthusiasts, the most important difference between the new Cambridge Audio AXR100D and its “little brother” Cambridge Audio AXR100 without a “D” is the integrated DAB+ tuner in addition to FM.

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Naturally for a receiver, the 85-watt AXR85 has FM/AM tuners, which is bolstered by a built-in Bluetooth receiver, three analogue RCA inputs, a phono stage and a 3.5mm aux input. Recording, subwoofer and 6.3mm headphone outputs are correct and present too. More uniquely at this price, the AXR85 boasts two zones for driving two pairs of speakers simultaneously. Select the Tuner source using the FM/AM button on the front of the unit, or directly by pressing the FM or AM buttons on the remote. We recommend using Banana plugs with our units to establish a secure connection and ensure there are no loose strands of wire that may cause unwanted noise or interference.

The new Cambridge Audio AXR100D can also integrate digital sources directly, as it has an integrated D/A converter and both one coaxial and two optical S/PDIF interfaces are available.

Most stereo receivers that have been released in the past few years have built-in streaming capabilities — but they are anything but equal. The older (or cheaper) models generally just support Bluetooth, but they likely don't support higher-resolution option like Bluetooth aptX HD. And then the newer (and more expensive) models add streaming over Wi-Fi (such as AirPlay or Chromecast built-in), which allows you to stream lossless-quality audio as well as integrate your stereo setup into a larger multi-room system with your other wireless speakers or soundbars. Phono input Note: For ease of tuning on first time use, we recommend that you set the AXR to ‘Auto’ mode. Press the Mode/Store button on the front of the unit. This button cycles through Preset, Auto and Manual, modes. Note: To add another Bluetooth device, Press and hold the Bluetooth/Phono button to disconnect the current connection and repeat step 2.