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New All-in-one amplifier

Beershaun

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sitherion

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Hi Sebastian,

I bought Cambridge Audio EVO 150 a month ago, after testing on site against NAD M33, Lyngdorf TDAI-1120, NAIM Unity Atom and Arcam SA-30.

EVO 150 won me over because of its clean sound (some people might not like it) and its connectivity options (easy to connect my iPad, hard drive + an output for subwoofer).

Also, I "tested" the response and helpfulness of their customer service. CA had the best, answering in all 5 requests and quite fast. NAD had the worst. They replied to 1 out of 5 + I couldn't connect my iPad/iPhone through USB. For £4k these two were a big no-no for me.

This is my CA EVO 150, ProJect X1, Klipsch RP-8000F

IMG_5741.jpg
 
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Aslund

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Hi Sebastian,

I bought Cambridge Audio EVO 150 a month ago, after testing on site against NAD M33, Lyngdorf TDAI-1120, NAIM Unity Atom and Arcam SA-30.

EVO 150 won me over because of its clean sound (some people might not like it) and its connectivity options (easy to connect my iPad, hard drive + an output for subwoofer).

Also, I "tested" the response and helpfulness of their customer service. CA had the best, answering in all 5 requests and quite fast. NAD had the worst. They replied to 1 out of 5 + I couldn't connect my iPad/iPhone through USB. For £4k these two were a big no-no for me.

This is my CA EVO 150, ProJect X1, Klipsch RP-8000F

View attachment 138745
Hey Sitherion

How was your experience between Evo 150 and Lyngdorf TDAI-1120?
I am beginning to lean toward the TDAI-1120 due to two main things. First of all it is substantially cheaper. 25%. Second it has room correction with seems like an interesting feature.
 

diddley

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Welcome to ASR Sebastian. :)

That CA EVO-150 sure looks like it has a lot going for it. Even I am a little envious and would like to give one a go.

There was a thread where a member was considering one, maybe do a search and see what he ended up doing.
I was that member and ended up buying the CXA81.
I got it for more then one week and i am very happy with it, in combination with the streamer cxn v2.
It has no ARC.but everything else 120 watts 4 ohm.
The only problem i have is making playlists from the synology nas.number for number in the quelist.
But with Bubble UPnP 16 numbers in one time in the free version.
 
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Aslund

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Little update.
I was advice to try out Lyngdorf TDAI-1120. I was very hesitant because of the low wattage compare to my current poweramp. 60W vs 125W, but that is at 8 Ohm. At 4 Ohm it is reduced to 120W vs 200W.
I had 16 years ago a bad experience connecting a Thule IA60 to my speakers. They simple could not handle them.
I contacted Lyngdorf and they seemed confident that TDAI-1120 could handle Dali 850. So I went to my local hifi shop, Hifiklubben, and they were also quite sure it would handle Dali 850. They even offered to setup their demo TDAI-1120 to similar floorstand speakers to show me. But that is only similar, not same. I am a very careful type.
In the end I got the offer to borrow their demo model for the weekend to be sure it was a good fit my speakers.
Initially I was very surpriced that the TDAI-1120 could actually run my speakers quite fine. The sound seemed a bit more clear and more air. I am no audiophile so I don't know the correct terms. Overall very nice sound but a little big lacking compared to NAD. After room correction it got a bit better and there was a bit more depth to the sound. I especially noticed that the bass is more detailed compared to NAD and less booming. My room is not optimal. I honestly think I am going to buy this amplifier.
It is quite a bit cheaper than Evo 150. A major point. 700 euro extra for Evo 150 seems steep especially without room correction.
I just have a hard time dealing with the size of TDAI-1120. Looks like a tot box next to my power amp.
P_20210704_122153.jpg
P_20210704_122209.jpg
 

jae

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NAD M33? Although significantly more pricey and unknown if it has the HDMI video passthrough you need
 

sitherion

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Hey Sitherion

How was your experience between Evo 150 and Lyngdorf TDAI-1120?
I am beginning to lean toward the TDAI-1120 due to two main things. First of all it is substantially cheaper. 25%. Second it has room correction with seems like an interesting feature.

Hey mate, service wise the guys from Lyngdorf replied back fast and in all the questions, so I was happy with that.

Price wise, here in the UK Lyngdorf's price is only £250 lower compared against the EVO 150 (£2K vs £2,250) - so that difference in price wasn't an issue at that level of spending.

Both EVO and Lyngdorf have turntable input but EVO sounded much better...I guess Camrbidge Audio people use their tech/skills from the pre-amp that they have built.

With the room correction, was ok-ish but I found adding a subwoofer in the set-up made a much bigger impact and Lyngdorf doesn't support Sub out (that was one big issue for me).

The second big issue was connectivity. Lyngdorf didn't have XLR inputs and doesn't support to connect my ipad/iphone to it for hi-res lossless audio. That was a deal-breaker. I had the same problem with NAD and NAIM.

I didn't expect the price to be so much different between EU and UK....I guess Brexit and import taxes...
 

sitherion

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Just to clarify also on the room correction. While demoing the amplifiers I tested Dirac and Lyngdorf's. What I didn't like is that both make the assumption that where you calibrate with the mic is where you will be sitting at all times. Exactly there. No other people in the room, no moving of the furniture. So it puts you into a super ideal situation to listen to music.

But, my hi-fi system is placed in the living room and I am using it during work times where I am sitting on a the table; I am using it when I relax with an LP sitting on an armchair; I am using it also when I am sitting in the sofa, with or without my partner in there. Also, table chairs are moving and stuff are left in the living room, outside noise exists and also we might have left the windows/garden door open some times.
So I will calibrate something under perferct conditions to enjoy music in an imperfect environment.

That's when I tested them I felt that by adding a subwoofer it made much more of a difference.
 

Trell

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Just to clarify also on the room correction. While demoing the amplifiers I tested Dirac and Lyngdorf's. What I didn't like is that both make the assumption that where you calibrate with the mic is where you will be sitting at all times. Exactly there. No other people in the room, no moving of the furniture. So it puts you into a super ideal situation to listen to music.

But, my hi-fi system is placed in the living room and I am using it during work times where I am sitting on a the table; I am using it when I relax with an LP sitting on an armchair; I am using it also when I am sitting in the sofa, with or without my partner in there. Also, table chairs are moving and stuff are left in the living room, outside noise exists and also we might have left the windows/garden door open some times.
So I will calibrate something under perferct conditions to enjoy music in an imperfect environment.

That's when I tested them I felt that by adding a subwoofer it made much more of a difference.

That is generally so, but you can add more measurements close to you main listening position to try even it out a little more around that position. The various room compensations can not work magic so adding subwoofers, experiment with speaker/subwoofer placement etc is often what you have to do.
 

DVDdoug

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I am no audiophile so I don't know the correct terms.
Most "audiophile" terminology is meaningless nonsense. Whaddya' mean the sound is fluffy?

There is nose, distortion, and frequency response, and once in you're in the room there can be reverb and other acoustic effects. The room has a big effect on bass. See Audiophoolery.

With modern solid state amplifiers, all three of these specs/characteristics are usually better than human hearing unless you over-drive the amplifier into clipping (distortion) and in some cases you may hear background noise, especially if you are close to your speakers or if you have extra-efficient/sensitive speakers (or an unusually noisy amplifier).

If you turn it up and you hear distortion you are clipping and you need more power and maybe speakers that can handle more power, or more efficient speakers.

Overall very nice sound but a little big lacking compared to NAD. After room correction it got a bit better and there was a bit more depth to the sound. I especially noticed that the bass is more detailed compared to NAD and less booming. My room is not optimal. I honestly think I am going to buy this amplifier.

The sound seemed a bit more clear and more air. I am no audiophile so I don't know the correct terms. Overall very nice sound but a little big lacking compared to NAD. After room correction it got a bit better and there was a bit more depth to the sound. I especially noticed that the bass is more detailed compared to NAD and less booming. My room is not optimal. I honestly think I am going to buy this amplifier.
 

sitherion

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That is generally so, but you can add more measurements close to you main listening position to try even it out a little more around that position. The various room compensations can not work magic so adding subwoofers, experiment with speaker/subwoofer placement etc is often what you have to do.

For me, if I had the luxury of a dedicated study/listening room that's where I would love to use room correction.
 

Trell

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For me, if I had the luxury of a dedicated study/listening room that's where I would love to use room correction.

With some room compensation schemes you have the feature of quickly changing to another calibration setup with just a push of a button. Perhaps that could work out for you?
 

sitherion

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With some room compensation schemes you have the feature of quickly changing to another calibration setup with just a push of a button. Perhaps that could work out for you?

Actually yeah! That sounds a much better option that doing the whole process again and again.
 

Wes

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Most "audiophile" terminology is meaningless nonsense. Whaddya' mean the sound is fluffy?

There is nose, distortion, and frequency response, and once in you're in the room there can be reverb and other acoustic effects. The room has a big effect on bass. See Audiophoolery.

With modern solid state amplifiers, all three of these specs/characteristics are usually better than human hearing unless you over-drive the amplifier into clipping (distortion) and in some cases you may hear background noise, especially if you are close to your speakers or if you have extra-efficient/sensitive speakers (or an unusually noisy amplifier).

If you turn it up and you hear distortion you are clipping and you need more power and maybe speakers that can handle more power, or more efficient speakers.

Overall very nice sound but a little big lacking compared to NAD. After room correction it got a bit better and there was a bit more depth to the sound. I especially noticed that the bass is more detailed compared to NAD and less booming. My room is not optimal. I honestly think I am going to buy this amplifier.

The sound seemed a bit more clear and more air. I am no audiophile so I don't know the correct terms. Overall very nice sound but a little big lacking compared to NAD. After room correction it got a bit better and there was a bit more depth to the sound. I especially noticed that the bass is more detailed compared to NAD and less booming. My room is not optimal. I honestly think I am going to buy this amplifier.

something smells wrong about this claim
 

Beershaun

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Little update.
Initially I was very surpriced that the TDAI-1120 could actually run my speakers quite fine. The sound seemed a bit more clear and more air. I am no audiophile so I don't know the correct terms. Overall very nice sound but a little big lacking compared to NAD. After room correction it got a bit better and there was a bit more depth to the sound. I especially noticed that the bass is more detailed compared to NAD and less booming. My room is not optimal. I honestly think I am going to buy this amplifier.

This doesn't sound like the "wow" factor you should expect from a big dollar upgrade. I would expect a better amplifier to give you much more movement out of your woofers creating more percussive impact. If you aren't getting at least that I would do what others have said and get an integrated with a subwoofer out and get a good powered subwoofer. I think any upgrade should be impactful to you and not subtle for your hard earned money.

As a counter offer, try an Amplifer with 200wpc continuous 8ohms just to experiment with what more power gets you. As I've learned more here I've come to the opinion that more power is the main job of any new amplifier so if it doesn't start out with more power than what you have it's not worth upgrading.
 
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Aslund

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Just to clarify also on the room correction. While demoing the amplifiers I tested Dirac and Lyngdorf's. What I didn't like is that both make the assumption that where you calibrate with the mic is where you will be sitting at all times. Exactly there. No other people in the room, no moving of the furniture. So it puts you into a super ideal situation to listen to music.

But, my hi-fi system is placed in the living room and I am using it during work times where I am sitting on a the table; I am using it when I relax with an LP sitting on an armchair; I am using it also when I am sitting in the sofa, with or without my partner in there. Also, table chairs are moving and stuff are left in the living room, outside noise exists and also we might have left the windows/garden door open some times.
So I will calibrate something under perferct conditions to enjoy music in an imperfect environment.

That's when I tested them I felt that by adding a subwoofer it made much more of a difference.
I agree on the point that the problem with room correction is the assumption of an optimal position while everyday life might change room and position.
But I am also thinking that with room correction you will also improve off axis listening. I might be terrible incorrect.
 
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Aslund

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This doesn't sound like the "wow" factor you should expect from a big dollar upgrade. I would expect a better amplifier to give you much more movement out of your woofers creating more percussive impact. If you aren't getting at least that I would do what others have said and get an integrated with a subwoofer out and get a good powered subwoofer. I think any upgrade should be impactful to you and not subtle for your hard earned money.

As a counter offer, try an Amplifer with 200wpc continuous 8ohms just to experiment with what more power gets you. As I've learned more here I've come to the opinion that more power is the main job of any new amplifier so if it doesn't start out with more power than what you have it's not worth upgrading.
You sadly hit the nail exactly where my problem is. I feel the bass is better with Lyngdorf. My problem is that it also make the sound a bit different from what I am used to. With my DacMagic+NAD setup the bass is more soft and integrated into the soundstage. With Lyngdorf I feel a better seperation and tighter control of the bass.
For some tracks Lyngdorf is clearly better, for other I feel the bass is more direct and sharp than what I am used to from NAD. It might be how the artist intended the track to sound.
End of the day I am basically sitting and nitpicking about the bass for 2000 euro investment.
My main goal was to improve connectivity by adding Chromecast and HDMI Arc. Both works flawless on Lyngdorf but after the initial excitement I wonder if it is worth it.
Optimally I would like to buy Bluesound Node, but it has no Chromecast support. My wife is from Nepal and I like Japanese time to time, so Youtube Music just has a much more diverse range of music from its Youtube library. I know it is not audiophile quality but it is quick and easy.
 

Pastequo

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Weighing in a bit on this conversation. First, somebody said there is no sub out on the 1120. There is and it works very well.
60w is enough for speaker above 91DB sensibility, IMHO.
I was able to compare room perfect versus Dirac, and it’s no match. You should really make sure it’s set up properly, then compare it to other amplifier .
I don’t think anyone can really expect a wow effect with an amplifier. An amp is an amp, it won’t change the nature of your sound, except a very bad one: your room , your speakers will.
But trying room perfect, I really did get this wow effect. Make sure the room correction is set up properly (that’s no easy task, you have to put in the right delay for the sub), to 100%, then compare without it. I’m sure you will end up keeping the 1120.
 

MaxBuck

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You sadly hit the nail exactly where my problem is. I feel the bass is better with Lyngdorf. My problem is that it also make the sound a bit different from what I am used to. With my DacMagic+NAD setup the bass is more soft and integrated into the soundstage. With Lyngdorf I feel a better seperation and tighter control of the bass.
For some tracks Lyngdorf is clearly better, for other I feel the bass is more direct and sharp than what I am used to from NAD. It might be how the artist intended the track to sound.
End of the day I am basically sitting and nitpicking about the bass for 2000 euro investment.
My main goal was to improve connectivity by adding Chromecast and HDMI Arc. Both works flawless on Lyngdorf but after the initial excitement I wonder if it is worth it.
Optimally I would like to buy Bluesound Node, but it has no Chromecast support. My wife is from Nepal and I like Japanese time to time, so Youtube Music just has a much more diverse range of music from its Youtube library. I know it is not audiophile quality but it is quick and easy.
You can listen to YouTube Music through the Bluesound Node by using its Bluetooth function.
 
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