For anyone needing a "just add speakers" unit... (Cambridge Evo 300)

[Redacted]

Cambridge have just announced this unit.
Hypex is good enough, with 300W/8 ohms dual mono.
Their software, and the GUI on the app has been pretty good - well supported, and there are repair centres (not true with all brands).
Notable missing features are lack of ReplayGain support, and proper room correction if that is needed in your room.
A bit pricey, but it will be £3K if you wait.
I bought the Evo 75 when it fist came out and it has been excellent for my small house, albeit not a chart-topper for ASR. [Edit - bought before you could get really good, convincing Chinese TPA3255 gear]

https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/gbr/en/products/hi-fi/evo/evo-300

 

[DrTom]

Looks nice, but is it really worth 7x the price of a Wiim Amp Ultra?

 

[Redacted]

Looks nice, but is it really worth 7x the price of a Wiim Amp Ultra?

Probably not! But compared with some boutique brands that ASR people buy, it's probably not so bad. It will be under £3k in 6 months.

 

[Guddu]

Very attractive offering from Cambridge Audio - Evo 300 - Streaming Amplifier with dual-mono nCorex amplification

Edit 1: Adding:
- No Auto Room Correction
- No PEQ, but has graphical EQ

 

[Guddu]

Price tag @ $3,999.00

 

[antcollinet]

My problem with something like this is what do you do when it is no longer supported and one by one the streaming services stop working. It is one thing if the device is less than - say - £500, but at this price, after a few years you have a very expensive brick.

 

[Paul7777x]

Great stuff from CA for whom I have an awful lot of time.

I’ve owned, or bought for others, tons of their less expensive amps and CD players over the years.

And I’d expect this to be excellent.

But… and alas…

There is not even a nod to any form of room correction.

That’s just too stone aged for me.

Even the dirt cheap Wiim stuff has rudimentary DSP correction.

And at this price tag you have the choice of the Lyngdorf 2210 and a couple of Nads.

All with very well developed room correction. I’m sure it’ll sell a few to the unreconstructed, but it’s about time CA caught up. Adding optional Dirac for instance is not difficult.

 

[Guddu]

My problem with something like this is what do you do when it is no longer supported and one by one the streaming services stop working. It is one thing if the device is less than - say - £500, but at this price, after a few years you have a very expensive brick.

+1
I am also not fan of one big expensive box but then AVRs are also similar thing.
I guess Cambridge Audio will at least have 3 Yrs (2 + 1 Yr extended with registration) warranty or probably better, like its smaller sibling Evo 150.

 

[Paul7777x]

My problem with something like this is what do you do when it is no longer supported and one by one the streaming services stop working. It is one thing if the device is less than - say - £500, but at this price, after a few years you have a very expensive brick.

That’s less of an argument than it seems imo. It is still a very well specified dac/preamp/power amp without the streaming.

Adding a newer streamer in ten years or so would not be difficult, or likely expensive.

 

[Guddu]

Great stuff from CA for whom I have an awful lot of time.

I’ve owned, or bought for others, tons of their less expensive amps and CD players over the years.

And I’d expect this to be excellent.

But… and alas…

There is not even a nod to any form of room correction.

That’s just too stone aged for me.

Even the dirt cheap Wiim stuff has rudimentary DSP correction.

I did audition Evo 150 and it had some kind of room EQ but I am not 100% certain. This platform has graphic EQ but not PEQ.
It still won't match a proper room correction or PEQ.

And at this price tag you have the choice of the Lyngdorf 2210 and a couple of Nads.
All with very well developed room correction. I’m sure it’ll sell a few to the unreconstructed, but it’s about time CA caught up. Adding optional Dirac for instance is not difficult.

+1

 

[Chaconne]

I have an EVO 150, and the only nod toward room correction (to which I am rather ambivalent) Is a 7-band graphic EQ (+3/-6) and a slider that you move left or right depending on the reflectivity of your room ("Room Compensation").

I have not tried that feature but am thrilled with the overall musical performance, features, streaming, compact size, light weight and lack of heat generation. It's fairly new, but I can see it becoming one of my all-time favorite purchases.

 

[Redacted]

I have a very early 75, and it has been excellent, albeit not ASR top standard. Main reason for having it was everything else I looked at was rejectected by my wife, who does not want "blokey junk" in her lounge. It has 7 band EQ and micky mouse room correction as said above. I have no need for either. And "my wife's lounge" is a very easy room to play music in. I just play music from my NAS in my office (aka more blokey junk) via its built-in DLNA server. Software is super easy to use, and CA have been good with updates for the net streaming community.

 

[Ropeburn]

Yeah 3000-4000 moneys. Can have a 1000 moneys NxoreX poweramp elsewhere and then add components as desired for much less. What else is new?

 

[Redacted]

It will be under 3k moneys in a few months.
Some people like an all in one.
Ask my wife.

 

[LTig]

When using the sub output can the satellites be high passed? If not it's a pass.

 

[Redacted]

Satellites? It's just stereo with a mono sub out (but variable on the 300). You can high pass using EQ like on most kit.

I run two subs off the pre-amp outs and prefer using the crossover and volume controls on the subs themselves.

Price of the 300 at the moment is the obstacle! But CA stuff usually drops up to 40% if you wait at least a year.

I probably would not buy an all in one again (the good Chinese streamer kit was not available back when I bought my 75 - that and the 150 were the only decent all in ones with Hypex, IIRC), but I would have put my wife under a patio to get away with separates, which I don't really want to do.

 

[LTig]

Satellites? It's just stereo with a mono sub out (but variable on the 300).

Satellites are the stereo speakers when used with a sub.

You can high pass using EQ like on most kit.

If the EQ has a low shelve of sufficient steepness, and the EQ does not work on the sub output (what I doubt).

I run two subs off the pre-amp outs and prefer using the crossover and volume controls on the subs themselves.

I did this for a long time with my AVPs but finally connected the sub separately so I had more EQ bands for the sub alone.

 

[Redacted]

In the UK we tend use the term "main" speakers for stereo and "satellites" for the effects speakers in 5.1 etc used with an AVR.

It doesn't really matter though, as the all-in-one unit here does not have features you need, such as "more EQ bands for the sub alone" - you can't even insert say a miniDSP to split mains (or satellites as you call them) and subs. There's no power amp input on these - it's just not going to do what you need.

 

[LTig]

I don't need anything; I have what I need.

 

[Chaconne]

Yeah 3000-4000 moneys. Can have a 1000 moneys NxoreX poweramp elsewhere and then add components as desired for much less. What else is new?

Let's count 'em up!

1. Extra components shoe-horned into diminishing shelf spaces.
2. Extra cables.
3. Extra lifting and moving, which will not do my hernia a bit of good.
4. Extra shipping boxes for my ready-to-explode-as-it-is closets.
5. Extra stuff for my estate's executor to figure out how to sell when I croak (can't be too long!). There's a whole thread about this on the Steve Hoffman forum, and I really feel sorry for that executor, who knows zip about hifi and has dozens of pieces he is legally obligated to deal with.

Additional contributions welcome.