Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The good:
1) Superb build quality. This is something to be expected from all products made by Cambridge Audio (CA).
2) The disc tray is quiet & smooth, unlike the disc trays found in most DVD players.
3) Dual Wolfson Microelectronics WM8740 24-Bit DACs (Digital to Analogue Converters) with 192kHz over sampling. Too much & too many DACs for 16bit 44.1Khz CD playback.
4) Selectable choice of sharp roll off or slow roll off filters. In reality, the differences are too subtle to even make a difference in a budget system.
5) Available in black & brushed aluminium (BA). At a time when 90% of all audio / video devices are made in black color, BA is very refreshing comeback. It looks classier with a vintage feel to it. Probably, Europe is the only market that still has a demand for Brushed Aluminium finish.
6) Finally, auto shut off in a CD Player (CDP).
7) Robust random & shuffle playback. Something I always missed in DVD universal players.
The bad:
1) No 12V trigger, no sleep timer, but it has been compensated with an auto off function.
2) Does not play MP3s.
3) At USD700, it's very expensive for a budget CD player that can only play CDs.
4) The 115V/230V user selectable switch is no longer available in the new series.
Conclusion:
The Cambridge Audio Azur 650C is one of the best budget CDPs I've ever heard. It only plays CDs & it plays it well. The pace, rhythm & timing (P.R.A.T.) of the CA 650C is evidently better than the older CA 640C CDP. The soundstage feels very realistic, 3 dimensional & less clinical than the earlier CA 640C CDP was plagued with. The CA 650C in fact gets almost 90% of CA's, top of the line, 840C's performance, at less than half the money. Unfortunately it arrives @ a time when CDs are almost dead.
The CA 650C can automatically shut off 15mins after CD playback has stopped. The time period & the function itself are user selectable. There are very few CDPs out there that has this function. At USD700 it's still expensive for a budget CDP. This CDP in Europe & Asia costs only USD500. British products are expensive in the U.S. & vice versa. Can't really complain on that.
I can't help but compare the CA650C with the cheaper Emotiva ERC-1 CDP. At USD400, the Emotiva ERC-1 is the CD player to beat. It uses the same Analogue Devices AD1955 24bit DAC with 384K over sampling as CA's, top of the line, 840C CDP. It plays MP3s & HDCDs too. It even comes with a 12V external trigger, incase U want to auto turn on/off the CDP with other devices having a 12V external trigger. It has every other feature that the CA 650C CDP has to offer & more. To my ears, I find the pace, rhythm & timing (P.R.A.T.) of the Emotiva ERC-1 more spot on than the CA 650C by a narrow margin though. The ERC-1 has is a lil' bit more upper end detail & the midrange has more warmth than the CA 650C CDP.
The only negative, I c'd not live with, in the ERC-1, is the slot loading mechanism. It tends to collect dust over time & eventually leaves fine scratches on CDs. This is something which I can't afford, given the efforts I've put in painstakingly building my imported, mostly 'made in the E.U.', CD collection. If slot loading does not bother U, then U may try both the above CDPs mentioned above & return the one that does not live up to U'r expectations. Both Amazon & Emotiva have excellent return policies.
At USD700, the CA Azur 650C CDP is about USD200 more expensive in the US than in the UK. The same amount of money can buy U a budget Network Media Player such as Netgear EVA9150 along with a decent budget DAC such as Musical Fidelity V-DAC. Together they offer more flexibility, value for money & fluid performance.
I tested the above devices using a Cambridge Audio AZUR 650A amplifier & a pair of B&W 685 bookshelf speakers. More sophisticated systems may reveal the differences even better.
Just my $0.02.
Brgds.
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