Cambridge Audio AXA25-25 Watt Separate Integrated Stereo Amplifier HiFi System Featuring Tone and Balance Control with Front Aux Input - Lunar Grey

Product Information

It should be noted though that abusing the tone controls to get more bass out of a low-powered system is not always a good idea. It’s nothing to do with some snobbish view that “it’s not how hi-fi should be heard” blah blah, but because with a 35W amp excessive use of the tone controls at high volume will cause the amp to clip sooner. Clipping, a flattening of the peaks in the audio waveform, is more often than not the cause of blown speakers, not excessive power. Thus you’re more likely to damage your speakers with this amp if you turn the bass to max and crank up the volume than you will if you leave the tone controls flat. The LM3886 does, however, have inbuilt protection against over and under-voltage, power supply and output short circuits, thermal runaway and instantaneous temperature peaks. They are durable and reliable chips and offer excellent performance comparable to a discrete output stage. Regardless of the amplifier you use you should always consider its limitations in partnering equipment and the environment. I’ve fixed a few AM10s over the years with blown output chips all as a result of driving too heavy a load at too high a volume. If your system is obviously distorting or if you’re running the amp at or near its maximum volume, upgrade to a model with more power. The output signal from a turntable is very quiet, and needs additional amplification before it’s able to be put into an amplifier. This boost is handled by what’s called a phono stage. Passing your driving test is a rite of passage for many teenagers. With it comes a newly found freedom to go where you want, when you want. While car insurance may seem expensive for new drivers, there’s a few things you can do to help bring your price down:

The AXA35 like the AM10 predecessor is essentially a commercial ‘Gainclone’ implementation. The LM3886 output devices can theoretically deliver 68W per channel into a 4Ω load and 38W per channel into an 8Ω load with a symmetrical power supply delivering +/-28V. Cambridge’s specification of 35W into an 8Ω load is therefore a sensible one. The AXA35 will actually deliver the 38W into 8Ω before clipping. It might be the AXA35’s confident way with timing that’s the single most surprising/impressive aspect of its performance. Vinyl gives a system every chance to show off its facility (or otherwise) for the timing and unity of a recording, and the AXA35’s phono stage lets Felt’s The Splendour of Fear roll along in the most natural manner. To help get you up to speed, let’s look at who is classed as a young driver, why insurance can cost them more and how you can keep your insurance price down. Who is classed as a young driver? At 360mm wide and taking up not much more space than an LP’s footprint, this Denon turntable fits where others don’t. The smart silver design stands out from the crowd but uses a matte finish for practicality. If you’ve recently passed your driving test, congratulations. We’re sure you’re already eyeing up your first car. But before you’re ready to hit the road, you’ll need to think about car insurance, it is a legal requirement after all.

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. The built-in phono stage means that you don't even need to use an amplifier or system with a dedicated turntable input - any system with an AUX input in will do. If you do have an amp with a phonostage built-in, however, you can turn off the Denon’s, making it completely flexible with compatible amps. Paying a higher voluntary excess– there’s two different types of excess: voluntary and compulsory. While you can’t choose how much your compulsory excess is, you can for your voluntary. A higher excess tends to bring down the price of your car insurance. However, make sure you don’t end up choosing a total excess level which is higher than the value of your car. If you do this, you may not be able to make a claim for any damage to your car.

By the standards of budget-conscious stereo amplifiers, the Cambridge Audio AXA35 is a remarkably self-assured listen. No matter the sort of material you serve it up, there’s no suggestion it ever feels out of its depth.The functions of an amp are split into two stages, preamplification and power amplification. Preamplification can be seen as ‘the part with all the knobs and switches’. It’s where you can select multiple inputs and level of gain (volume). One of the key differentiators is the user interface. The AXA25 has old-fashioned analogue knobs for bass, treble, volume and balance. I presume that it is a fully analogue component design, though I don’t have one here so I can’t lift the lid to say for sure. The AXA35 has a digital interface as evidenced by the push-button input selection and digitally-controlled volume, complete with volume level display and tone and balance controls hidden behind a simple menu system. Assuming I’m right about the AXA25’s implementation of good old-fashioned potentiometers, the better AXA35 should be a significant jump in performance without the channel mismatch and noise issues associated with cheaper analogue pots. The AXA25 makes do with conventional knobs for volume, input selection and so on, while the pricier (!) AXA35 looks rather more grown-up with a display and a menu system, creating a much less cluttered fascia. The display shows input and volume levels as a default, while pressing the ‘menu’ button beside the volume control will allow access to bass, treble and balance functions. Founded in 1910, Denon has over 110 years’ experience in audio and is one of the longest established hi-fi companies in the world. Since being at the forefront of gramophone technology in 1910, they went on to lead with professional disc cutting devices, LPs, audio cassette, professional and domestic CD, home cinema, DVD and much more. This unparalleled experience means you can be assured of the best performance-per-pound from the Denon DP-29F.

Adding a safe driver to your policy– this tends to be a parent or family member. Having a more experienced driver on your policy may help bring down the price. However, they can’t be added as the main driver if you’re going to be driving the car most of the time. This is called fronting and it’s illegal. This also means you can’t have your parent as the policyholder or main driver and yourself as a named driver, if you’re going to be the person who drives the car most of the time. A young driver is typically someone aged 17-25. So, even if you passed your driving test at 17, and you’ve been driving for 5 years, you’d still fall under this category.There’s a shortage of high-quality hi-fi electronics at the budget end of the market, so it’s good to see Cambridge Audio produce an amplifier with the musicality and all-round appeal of the AXA35. At the top end, things are slightly smoothed off by the amplifier, though the CD player used alone sounds rather bright and light. Together, the two produce a sound that’s not the last word in ambience and atmosphere, with concert-hall acoustics more hinted at than made explicit, but again this is only really apparent when comparing the two with much more expensive components. With revised cabinet bracing, the distinctive Q Acoustics cabinets have been made even better. With reduced cabinet resonance, the sound becomes less coloured and truer to how it sounded in the studio/concert venue. Uprated audiophile grade crossover components improve the transparency of sound still further. The preamp appears similar if not identical to the AM10. It is responsible for most of the noise in the amp’s output – 79.8dB signal to noise ratio (A-wtd, ref 0dBW). It’s a bit of a shame Cambridge didn’t spec up the preamp a bit to better match the performance of the output stage. Nevertheless it is well designed with NE5532s unsurprisingly making up the basis of its audio circuitry and input selection and volume control handled by digital logic. The Fyne Audio F300i has a neat and compact presence that makes it ideal for so many different uses. Perfect for stereo sound in a smaller room or as a desktop speaker system, its big-hearted sound defies its dimensions. The highly dynamic sound also makes it ideal as a home cinema satellite speaker.