New here

[StaresyJ]

New to this forum so would welcome some chat back. Having been a big music fan in my 20’s, that paused as my family grew and the HIFI equipment was locked away as it interfered with home life! My children have now left home and I have a man cave which offers the perfect listening environment to start all over again. I have dusted off my “vintage” Cambridge Audio A1 integrated Amp and just purchased some CA SX 50’. Will the amp sound really dated I wonder? Have a Topping E30 ii DAC which I’ve owned for 1 week and only playing through an Audio Pro C10 so looking forward to seeing how it performs with the CB speakers. Now looking for a performing CD player but budget is £200. Would buy new out of box or pre owned. Suggestions? And, I haven’t yet fired up the A1 amp and it might be tired and old, suggestions for an alternative at again the £200 budget if I was to replace?
Thanks! James

 

[NiagaraPete]

Welcome to ASR.

 

[StaresyJ]

Welcome to ASR.

Thank you Pete!

 

[Doodski]

Howdy! Welcome to ASR. The Cambridge Audio A1 will be a little lacking in power output at times but otherwise it will get you started very well.

 

[restorer-john]

The little Cambridge is a good starter amplifier and will likely perform as well as it ever did. Exercise the input selector switch, as it might be scratchy/intermittent after all that time packed away.

 

[NiagaraPete]

New to this forum so would welcome some chat back. Having been a big music fan in my 20’s, that paused as my family grew and the HIFI equipment was locked away as it interfered with home life! My children have now left home and I have a man cave which offers the perfect listening environment to start all over again. I have dusted off my “vintage” Cambridge Audio A1 integrated Amp and just purchased some CA SX 50’. Will the amp sound really dated I wonder? Have a Topping E30 ii DAC which I’ve owned for 1 week and only playing through an Audio Pro C10 so looking forward to seeing how it performs with the CB speakers. Now looking for a performing CD player but budget is £200. Would buy new out of box or pre owned. Suggestions? And, I haven’t yet fired up the A1 amp and it might be tired and old, suggestions for an alternative at again the £200 budget if I was to replace?
Thanks! James

Your gear is probably great. I sold my CD player as I never used it. Streaming is the current fad which I love.

 

[StaresyJ]

The little Cambridge is a good starter amplifier and will likely perform as well as it ever did. Exercise the input selector switch, as it might be scratchy/intermittent after all that time packed away.

Thanks John. It’s a bit dusty so I may take a mini vacuum to it and give all the buttons a spring clean. The positive news was when I plugged it in the little green light came on! Not getting speakers until 4 Jan so I have to be patient !

 

[Doodski]

Hmmmz. Is your Cambridge a Mark 3 or otherwise?

 

[StaresyJ]

Your gear is probably great. I sold my CD player as I never used it. Streaming is the current fad which I love.

I hear you Pete, and I’ve spent lots of time trying to find the ultimate hi-res streaming set up on wifi/DAC system using IPhone. Now going back to basics and looking forward to listening to albums front to back as a pleasure, not an audio utopia challenge?

 

[StaresyJ]

Hmmmz. Is your Cambridge a Mark 3 or otherwise?

Not so sure. On the rear panel it is marked as V3.0 but has A1 on the front. I think I purchased it in late 90’s (not new then)

 

[AdamG]

Welcome Aboard @StaresyJ and Merry Christmas.

 

[Doodski]

Not so sure. On the rear panel it is marked as V3.0 but has A1 on the front. I think I purchased it in late 90’s (not new then)

Ahhh goody. It is a A1 Mk III. It is better than a Mk I.
Does it look like this?

 

[StaresyJ]

Ahhh goody. It is a A1 Mk III. It is better than a Mk I.
Does it look like this?

Well the front is identical except it doesn’t have special edition written in font

 

[StaresyJ]

Well the front is identical except it doesn’t have special edition written in font

 

[Doodski]

Well the front is identical except it doesn’t have special edition written in font

Yes, I am perusing the Google search results and see there is a whole ecosystem of A1 and A1 Mk III stuff. The power output ranges from 25 W/ch to 50 W/ch dependent on the specific model version question.

 

[Doodski]

Good news is the switches and controls are very very easily accessible for a cleaning and lubrication.

 

[StaresyJ]

I’ve just noticed having posted that picture how dusty it is ! It’s difficult to pin down the actual model but it definitely states v3.0 on the rear panel with 6-16 ohm speaker flow so I’m going to give the girl a polish and hope she still sings.

 

[Timcognito]

 

[Doodski]

I’ve just noticed having posted that picture how dusty it is ! It’s difficult to pin down the actual model but it definitely states v3.0 on the rear panel with 6-16 ohm speaker flow so I’m going to give the girl a polish and hope she still sings.

It might require a spray into the controls and switches to clean and lubricate them. It would not be surprising if they do require that.

 

[restorer-john]

The moral of the story is to not dismiss the Cambridge until you've given it a decent clean, checked its functionality and given it a good listen on your new speakers. I think you'll be more than happy with the old girl. And, its made in the UK.

Bear in mind, modern low efficiency, small speakers actually like a bit of power to 'open up' and, depending on the amp version you have, you may need more muscle- you may not.

You bought well in the first place, all those years ago and I certainly wouldn't be rushing out to buy a new integrated amp, especially with the dearth of truly reasonably priced units out there right now. You need to jump up to something like a Yamaha AS-701 in order to get a significant performance gain.