Review Cambridge Audio EVO 150

[Deleted member 48437]

I started this with Cambridge Azure 851a amp, Cambridge CXN streamer, Qobuz premium subscription, good cables, power conditioner and B&W 802 speakers.
Wow, awakened to the real world of music!

Unfortunately, the Cambridge 851a was one of the many, but not all, to sustain that dreaded turns-off just after it turns on. Eventually, after 8 months of Cambridge attempted repairs, I decided to go with Cambridge’s all-in-one EVO 150 “Award Winning”…

Piece of junk! Wow. Back to Bluetooth sound!

Cambridge’s EVO 150 does not use a toroidal supply (851a did). The EVO 150 has it’s own streamer built in so I no longer used the CXN streamer. The EVO 150 had similar RMS output as the 851a but the EVO 150 is underpowered for my B&W 802’s. The EVO 150 uses a cheaper ESS Sabre 9018 chipset instead of a Pro. The EVO 150 is a class d vs the 851a is a class a/b.


The EVO 150 has a broad dynamic range but not as good as the 851a. The highs are the same with both amps. The woofers flutter at the 7-8/10 volume whereas, the 851a would make your ears bleed.


The Cambridge EVO 150 falls apart in the soundstage, timber and overall midrange. Instead of being in the front row of a concert (851a) the EVO 150 sounds like you are 100-150 ft back from the stage. Instruments blur at the same notes. It is hard to tell which instrument is playing because they all sound the same from that far away.


Bottom line: Music can be great but if you have heard better before then switch to the Cambridge EVO 150, you will be out $3,000 on a junk sounding machine. I could not imagine that an amplifier could make such a difference. The Cambridge EVO 150 is class D, no toroidal power, lowest of the ESS Sabre chipsets and I wonder if there is a streamer hardware cost-savings decrease as well. Compared with the Cambridge 851a, though reliability issues with but some, the Cambridge EVO 150 is unsatisfying and a major decrease in soundstage, timber and headroom.

 

[Deleted member 48437]

I started this with Cambridge Azure 851a amp, Cambridge CXN streamer, Qobuz premium subscription, good cables, power conditioner and B&W 802 speakers.
Wow, awakened to the real world of music!

Unfortunately, the Cambridge 851a was one of the many, but not all, to sustain that dreaded turns-off just after it turns on. Eventually, after 8 months of Cambridge attempted repairs, I decided to go with Cambridge’s all-in-one EVO 150 “Award Winning”…

Piece of junk! Wow. Back to Bluetooth sound!

Cambridge’s EVO 150 does not use a toroidal supply (851a did). The EVO 150 has it’s own streamer built in so I no longer used the CXN streamer. The EVO 150 had similar RMS output as the 851a but the EVO 150 is underpowered for my B&W 802’s. The EVO 150 uses a cheaper ESS Sabre 9018 chipset instead of a Pro. The EVO 150 is a class d vs the 851a is a class a/b.


The EVO 150 has a broad dynamic range but not as good as the 851a. The highs are the same with both amps. The woofers flutter at the 7-8/10 volume whereas, the 851a would make your ears bleed.


The Cambridge EVO 150 falls apart in the soundstage, timber and overall midrange. Instead of being in the front row of a concert (851a) the EVO 150 sounds like you are 100-150 ft back from the stage. Instruments blur at the same notes. It is hard to tell which instrument is playing because they all sound the same from that far away.


Bottom line: Music can be great but if you have heard better before then switch to the Cambridge EVO 150, you will be out $3,000 on a junk sounding machine. I could not imagine that an amplifier could make such a difference. The Cambridge EVO 150 is class D, no toroidal power, lowest of the ESS Sabre chipsets and I wonder if there is a streamer hardware cost-savings decrease as well. Compared with the Cambridge 851a, though reliability issues with but some, the Cambridge EVO 150 is unsatisfying and a major decrease in soundstage, timber and headroom.

 

[DRC]

The Cambridge EVO 150 is class D, no toroidal power

Ignorant nonsense. There is nothing wrong with class D amplifiers.

 

[Deleted member 48437]

“Ignorant” is inappropriate Newbie.
Please correct us then. What does the Cambridge EVO 150 have that makes it flat in soundstage? You seem to be a sir-knows-a lot. If not the class design, and I spoke of other things, what might be the reason? Since I now have to shell out a bunch more money, what amps do you recommend I look at? May I preview any class d that, in your opinion, has a great (not just ok) soundstage? This is the quality that sets apart a good amp vs a great amp for what I am looking for. I’m not afraid to be wrong about the class d thing. All I know is not much about anything in fact.

 

[Human Bass]

Is that a speaker amp?

 

[Deleted member 48437]

It is a 150 wpc (not in reality) plus streamer built into one. I regret it by $3,000. Just letting folks out there to be aware and not to order this one online without hearing, as I did.
Thx

 

[GiBo61]

Maybe what you are telling is true, however this looks more like a very subjective review from an "audiophile" rather than a test supported by a rigorous approach. Have you performed all the testd at the same SPL from the two devices? Was it a blind test carried out multiple times with the help of an external operator? I also llike toroidal transformers, however on ASR you can find plenty of amplifiers with nice toroidal transformers that perform really bad (Naim, Hegel just to name two brands) and a number of Class AB or Class D devices with different type of power supplies with much better results.

 

[Deleted member 48437]

Yes u are right, I have not done that. I’m not intending to be lazy (but I am) it takes too much work to unplug one and put another. I don’t have an amp. I have $6k to buy one. Would you suggest I look at the named above? Integrated or pre-amped. I do have a separate pre-amp and streamer.

 

[Deleted member 48437]

I think the power is /was too low for my B&W 802’s. I cd not get enough on those summer days when I wanted to crank it up. Great soundstage. No DAC for high res

 

[Deleted member 48437]

I wonder if I know how to fix it lol

 

[GiBo61]

According to the tests performed by Stereophile the Cambridge Evo 150 has a little more power than the 851a.
- With both channels driven, the EVO 150 met its specified maximum power into 8 ohms of 150Wpc at 1% THD+noise. Into 4 ohms, the Cambridge clipped at 280Wpc".
- The 851A reaches 136.4Wpc into 8 ohms and 220.5Wpc into 8 ohms,

 

[Deleted member 48437]

Theta waves takes you from tired to relax as you come closer to falling asleep, as in listening to a certain ex-gf tell me how she “feels” lol.
See pic here:

 

[Deleted member 48437]

According to the tests performed by Stereophile the Cambridge Evo 150 has a little more power than the 851a.
- With both channels driven, the EVO 150 met its specified maximum power into 8 ohms of 150Wpc at 1% THD+noise. Into 4 ohms, the Cambridge clipped at 280Wpc".
- The 851A reaches 136.4Wpc into 8 ohms and 220.5Wpc into 8 ohms,

I get you but at 110 decibels (ambulance siren levels) the woofers flutter with the EVO 150 vs 851a. Go figure? More giga watts.
I also believe that there is a Z axis to electrical signals that does interact with X-Y-time seen on devices. Everything in the electron cloud has these 4 dimensions, though we cannot measure where. Electricity has 4 axises. Electricity is just electrons after all. It creates electro-magnetic energy into the spectrum.
This is so interesting BUT WHAT AMPLIFIER SHOULD I BUY???? Lol

 

[Deleted member 48437]

X, Y, time. Where is the Z that we know exists since 1800’s?
The quantum applied-physicists, mathematicians know this answer because they create the programs that build and run the Google and IBM quantum computers. I am not smart enough.

 

[Deleted member 21219]

“Ignorant” is inappropriate Newbie.
Please correct us then. What does the Cambridge EVO 150 have that makes it flat in soundstage? You seem to be a sir-knows-a lot. If not the class design, and I spoke of other things, what might be the reason? Since I now have to shell out a bunch more money, what amps do you recommend I look at? May I preview any class d that, in your opinion, has a great (not just ok) soundstage? This is the quality that sets apart a good amp vs a great amp for what I am looking for. I’m not afraid to be wrong about the class d thing. All I know is not much about anything in fact.

Accurate amplifiers produce what is on the recording ... no more and no less. Therefore, any description of the "sound", either good or bad, is something that is on the recording, and not a function of an accurate (or neutral) amplifier. Class of operation has nothing to do with it; it can be Class A, Class A/B, Class H or Class D, and it makes no difference. Accurate and neutral is accurate and neutral ... period.

For you to believe otherwise will simply lead to disappointment, frustration and an empty bank account.

There are affected products on the market which are reported by subjectivists to produce a modified soundstage (or presentation). I have no idea whether those products work in a way that you would find acceptable. I do not subscribe to that way of thinking; I accept the recording as it is. The reason is that I place greatest importance on the performance and the music itself. If the recording is "flat", then it's flat and I don't have any quibbles with that.

I hope you find what you're looking for, one way or another.

Jim

p.s. - Subjective descriptions, even ones about which you are supremely confident, need to be verified by blind tests. Otherwise, they have no validity.

Audio Blind Testing - You Are Doing It Wrong! (Video)

Just uploaded a video on the basics of performing controlled tests in audio. It was motivated by saving myself text in having to write all of this down when telling someone who to do these tests right. And as a counter to a few online personalities to keep saying they do "blind" tests yet when...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[DVDdoug]

What does the Cambridge EVO 150 have that makes it flat in soundstage?

I'm not sure what you mean by "flat" but "soundstage" comes from the recording, speakers, room acoustics, and your brain. I believe Floyd Tool says "its the recording", but I may not be remembering that correctly. (It's obviously an illusion since with a normal stereo setup the sound comes from a pair of speakers (or headphones).

We do talk about "flat frequency response", but most amplifiers & electronics are flat over the audible range. It's not rocket science with solid state electronics.

Overall, electronics usually have very little effect on the sound unless they are broken or if you are deliberately altering the sound with EQ, etc., or if you are over-driving an amplifier into distortion, etc. On the other hand, different speakers & headphones always sound different.

Audiophoolery may be worth reading... Most of the "Audiophile" community is nuts! You'll find a LOT of nonsense non-scientific, and non-engineering terminology and quite a bit of resistance to blind listening tests.

 

[Elitzur–Vaidman]

I get you but at 110 decibels (ambulance siren levels) the woofers flutter with the EVO 150 vs 851a. Go figure? More giga watts.
I also believe that there is a Z axis to electrical signals that does interact with X-Y-time seen on devices. Everything in the electron cloud has these 4 dimensions, though we cannot measure where. Electricity has 4 axises. Electricity is just electrons after all. It creates electro-magnetic energy into the spectrum.
This is so interesting BUT WHAT AMPLIFIER SHOULD I BUY???? Lol

1) Wouldn't the "Z axis" just be depth/height in 3-dimensional space (or 4-dimensional spacetime)?
2) Buy a purifi amp.

 

[Killingbeans]

I also believe that there is a Z axis to electrical signals that does interact with X-Y-time seen on devices. Everything in the electron cloud has these 4 dimensions, though we cannot measure where. Electricity has 4 axises. Electricity is just electrons after all. It creates electro-magnetic energy into the spectrum.

Two dimensions, amplitude and time, that's it. Electromagnetic waves can be polarised, but that's not really relevant.

EMI is a pain in the a$$, but it's well understood. Audio frequencies are practically DC. Once you go a lot higher in frequency, the capacitance and inductance of everything and anything becomes a problem. Everything also starts to be a potential antenna for either transmitting or receiving garbage, and you begin to encounter the trouble of transmission line reflections and the skin effect, but again, the wavelengths of audio frequencies are relatively huge and are spared of being plagued by these things to a degree any competent electrical engineer would remotely break a sweat over, assuming it's even worth including as a factor. It's all a part of his/her toolbox. None of the myriad of electronics around us operating with GHz signals would be able to do so if it wasn't.

It has nothing to do with a magical fourth dimension.

X, Y, time. Where is the Z that we know exists since 1800’s?
The quantum applied-physicists, mathematicians know this answer because they create the programs that build and run the Google and IBM quantum computers.

I guarantee you that the people who build quantum computers would simply look at you with complete bewilderment if you told them about this 'z' axis in audio signals.

If I got a dollar for every time I saw someone take quantum physics as hostage in a attempt at justifying wishful thinking, I'd be a billionaire.

This is so interesting BUT WHAT AMPLIFIER SHOULD I BUY???? Lol

Do a blind comparison. Maybe you'll realise that the "dirty" class-D amp isn't so bad when your brain can't flavour the experience with prejudice

Or maybe just embrace your bias and go for one the usual "audiophile approved" relics

 

[JustJones]

This is so interesting BUT WHAT AMPLIFIER SHOULD I BUY???? Lol

Crown XTi 6002 2100W 2-channel Power Amplifier

2-channel XTi 2 Series Power Amplifier, 2100W Continuous/ch at 4 ohms, with HiQnet Band Manager, Peak Plus Limiters, System filters tuning

www.sweetwater.com

 

[VintageFlanker]

The EVO 150 has a broad dynamic range but not as good as the 851a. The highs are the same with both amps. The woofers flutter at the 7-8/10 volume whereas, the 851a would make your ears bleed.

This...
This is quite symptomatic of improper comparaison and classic confusion between Power and Gain.

good cables, power conditioner and B&W 802 speakers.

These, however... do not matter. At all.

I had the 851A for a little while, it was everything but a great amp. Like yours, mine also proved to be unreliable, BTW... I was so glad to see it go. I had way better experience with nCore modules I tested over the years, including the NC252MP inside the Evo 150. I suggest your tried your "review" level-match next time, you could be surprised by the results.