construction
presence
clairty
easy to use
fast transport
two DAC's

none

wow! clarity great soundstage insturments and vocals feel alive in the room with me.
solid construction.huge diiference from the denon dcm 290.i noticed the improvement
from the get go.
highly recommended.
i use this with cambridge AZUR 540A v1 so well matched.and audioquest interconnects(not the super expensive line)
also have PSB image B25 speakers also wonderful.
playing all kinds of music no faults.modern composition-jazz-rock-electronic-ambient.
also just bought isonodes(sound isolation)so expect even more great sound.

Similar Products Used:

denon cDM290

very clear, detailed with fantastic sound stage, fast, good build

none

640c v2 has much better bas than the 640c v1. Huge difference.
About other differences I can't tell anything becouse passed to many time. Generally - very good CD player - very clear, detailed with fantastic sound stage - gate to the magic.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RCD-02, Marantz CD 5001, DVD Philips9000 (SACD), and Nad, Harman with similar prices, more expensive Usher and old first SACD Sony (terrible)

Open, clear deep detailed soundstage. Excellent seperation of instruments, clarity.
On the right equipment matching excellent sound quaility overall. Exciting listen. Punchy bass, refined midrange, open detailed top end, solid build, quaility remote.

Can sound to clear, cold and clinical at times. Needs a little more weight in the midrange, more inner warmth especially to show the natural harmonics of musical instruments. Sometimes it may not be relaxing enough the details jump out at you.
On rare occasions a little harsh and hard sounding at the top end. Lacks a little in deep bass.

I have listened to many cd players under $1000. I was looking for a cd player to replace my aging Marantz 63SE, it has a magnificient musical mid band and excellent deep soundstaging. I have B&W speakers, rotel and nad power amps, and a valve pre.
The Rotel 1072 it sounded a bit bland-rolled off at the top end, the Marantz cd7300 had a wide soundstage, not deep- timing is slow and therefore you can lose interest, the Marantz cd6000ose was bright and fatigueing. I read many reviews and narrowed the list down to the NAD c542 and the cambridge 640c v2. The cambridge is very clear, detailed, open, refined a large soundstage, excellent seperation of instruments, voices are full bodies an exciting listen. The NAD was less open but had a fuller musical mid band, fuller bass but the cambridge is more punchier and dynamic. The NAD was a little rolled off at the top end and had less depth in the soundstage a little smoother perhaps a little more musical overall- a relaxing listen. The cambridge however was more refined, detailed and clear- a exciting listen. I had a short listen to the Marantz cd5001ose it was warm and detailed not as refined and lacked soundstage depth. Finally I got the cambridge audio 640c v2 I have found it over the 3 months, very good however the cambridge can sound a little cold and clinical and in your face at times especially with Jazz. It lacks a little in midrange warmth and weight, the harmonics of instruments (light and shades) for example the tone of a piano or trumpet on Miles davis cd or guitar on a RyCooder- compared to my old Marantz cd63se.

The Cambridge is an excellent cd player at its price, it just beats the NAD 542 on my system except perhaps in its midrange performance (warmth). It maybe be important to match it perhaps with more warm sounding equipment- as it can be quite direct in its sound. it will probably go very well with valve gear as well.
A good power lead also improves the warmth of the midrange and makes the sound a little more natural sounding. It also needs at least 100 hrs break in time and the sound improves significantly. Also before listening let it warm up for awhile it loses a bit of its hard edges. I still love my Marantz cd63se for pure musicality especially the midrange- it beats all of the above even though it is not as clean sounding as the cambridge

IF you love exciteing clear sound, and like to hear all the details with extra bite with great imaging at this price point it is highly recommended probably the best sounding cd player under $1000 australian dollars.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel 1072, Marantz 60000se, 7300, 5001ose, 63se, Nad c542

Crisp, clear sound quality, good bass and midrange, satisfying soundstage on all styles of music - not quite holographic but very nearly!

No problems so far.

Cambridge Audio Azur 640C Version 2

I was so impressed with the performance of this "budget" CD player I ended up buying two - they're that good. I spent years auditioning many other makes, including Sony, Marantz, Nad and Denon but failed to be fully captivated until I heard the Azur 640 C V2. The sound may be a bit forward for some but I find it detailed, crisp and most of all involving - I play Prog, Jazz and Classical music and this player handles them all well and plays CD-RW with no problems, blimey it even out-performed my SACD player!

I read there were problems with some machines losing a channel but believe this affected a batch of export models which were sorted out. I have had no technical problems yet, but having been in touch with the Cambridge Audio support team regarding one or two other matters I'm confident by their swift and positive responses they'll be there if I need them.

Build quality is amazing on the 640C V2 - the brushed ali fascia is easy to keep clean, the controls work very quickly and the sound quality is amazing for such a low priced unit, I especially like the white screen in the front panel, very easy to read, and the IEC mains socket means this unit deserves quality mains power cables, also top quality interconnects are a must to get the best out of this player - I use 1m Kimber Timbres, from Cyrus 2 / PSX amps.

Overall an amazing player, excellent performance for the money!

Customer Service

Good communication, fast and helpful.

Similar Products Used:

Sony (sacd), Marantz, Nad and Denon.

sumptuous sound quality

design - don't like the flanged fascia, and the feet are far too small/low.

Despite some faults present in a few export models that has since been rectified the 640C V2 is an amazing piece of hi-fi for the price, it sounds detailled, dynamic, sumptuous sound quality and i would advise trying out this amazing player. on rock, classical and jazz it sound brilliant - definitely a 5 star product!

Customer Service

no problems

Similar Products Used:

Rotel

Sound is amazing hooked up to the 640A and decent speakers.

First one - motor drive failed after playing three CDs.
Second one - left channel dead after playing one CD. Unhooking made no difference.
I have to decide whether to accept a third one from the dealer!!

Sounds great when it is working. Hopeless reliability.

Customer Service

Excellent customer service from Richer Sounders.

Strong outer-casing.

Completely unreliable.

I have to add my voice to those below who've experienced serious problems with this unit. I was impressed by the reviews I read about this machine & the fact it has been awarded a 'best buy' award by 'What Hi-Fi' magazine.
However, the first machine I received developed a serious mechanical fault after 6 days. It sounded like a drill every time I switched it on. So- (to their great credit), Richer Sounds delivered a new one within 24 hours. This second machine developed the 'dead left channel' problem after (again!) 6 days. There was no problem with any connections on my hi-fi. In fact, I'm currently using my 17 year old Marantz player again for now!- while I await a refund.
The people who review these machines, don't have to 'live with them' & there was no way I would accept another replacement of this machine.
I think it's about time Cambridge sat up & took some notice of sites like this. However good they may sound, there must be SERIOUS quality control issues here

Extremely good sound for the money. I think the use of separate DAC chips for each channel has some advantages for certain types of music. The player has nice design qualities and is pleasing to the eye. I like the standby function. The reproductive detail even at low levels seems good as I can sometimes hear singers drawing their breathe near the microphone.

The remote control is rather ponderous. Apparently some people have had channel problems, this may be due to dirty or oxidized connections in the rest of their stereo system. I had to take apart my amp and clean the selections swiitch and volume control with electronic cleaner. I have expereinced no problems with the Azur at all.

I have owned the V2 version of this CD player for 7 months. I have experienced no difficulties with it at all. I bought it to replace my Yamaha CDC-705 that was about 12 years old. The sound quality was immediately apparent and amazing. I appreciate the clarity of the sound reproduction when the music gets busy and dynamic with lots of instruments, I really think that having separate DAC chips for each channel helps with this because I can easily make out each instrument distinctly. The one thing about the sound quaility was that it made me realize that my speakers would need to be upgraded. I had a pair of JBL ARC 1000s, and their limitations became somewhat apparent with the new Azur. I have since bought some Axioms. I did not try out or listen to alot of CD players before I bought this one, I did do a lot of research and read a lot of reviews. I came to the conclusion that this was one of the better CD players in its price range that was available to me. I have not been disappointed. I enjoy all kinds of music, from heavy metal, to light jazz, to classical and folk. The Azur seems to handle it all. It reproduces sound accurately, as I have played guitar for over 30 years and have an idea what a guitar sounds like.

Customer Service

My order was handled promptly. I enjoyed talking with the dealer who is a very knowledgeable person that enjoys the equipment he sells.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Denon, Sony.

Very good sound for the Pound(Dollar,Yen or whatever).Great build quality and presentation and by far the nicest remote control being used in our household!

A rather forward,treble dominated presentation(though I admit I'm used to a Musical Fidelity dac pushing its midband orientated style at me!)
See previous users comments on l-channel dodginess...no problems so far for me though.

I bought this player to replace a Rotel rcd855 with a Trichord Research Clock 2 that acted as a transport to a Musical Fidelity X-dac(v.1 tube type).The remote control and disc tray had broken,with no chance for spares from Rotel,so a new cdp was the order of the day.'Amp' is a Pioneer A400,again Tom Evans tweaked with the gte modification.Speakers are Dynaudio Audience 40 on Atacama stands
After a 72 hour burn-in period,I started listening in earnest.
This player has good attack and rythmic drive and it's detail retreival seems very fine,seeming to pick up symbals and synth' bursts that I had not noticedwith my previous player.It is very musical,though has a very different presentation to my last player,with a forward,treble-strong quality.It also seems that the music is sat that bit much closer to the speakers,not filling the room like my last cdp.
Hooking up my dac via an Audioquest co-axial cable,I started listening again.Wow,what a difference!My system sings again,with great midband/voices and all of the virtues of the standalone 640c but a warmer sound that fills the room.This leads me to believe that the transport and efforts to isolate this,alongside the low jitter clock are providing a stable platform to let the external dac to do its stuff,as the sound is improved over my modified Rotel player.
As a standalone cdp,I would give the 640 v2 7 out of ten(with my dac,we're talking 8.5;there still aren't inky black silences between notes as Ive heard with some really high end players I've demoed previously and the bass isn't as well defined as it could be).
Other considerations such as build quality,excellent solid remote control and packaging/clear handbook are all plus points in the Cambridge Audio's favour.

Customer Service

Not used,though for those buying in the Uk,Richer Sounds(exclusive dealer for C.A. stuff in the Uk) offered a 2 year warranty extension(3 year total) for £20('not taken by me as the breadknife was really unhappy at me spending £250 in the first place).

Performance belies it's retail price.

Reliability issue. I recently returned my Azur 540D DVD player to Cambridge Audio for repair. Problem: No display after standby/on switch is pressed. It's only 8 months old.

I have to agree with 2 reviewers below with regards to reliability. My Azur 640C, Ver. 2 also has experienced problems with the left channel going dead. I purchased it Jan. 06 and has performed flawlessly until a couple of days ago when the left channel suddenly went dead. I unhooked it, rehooked it & the music in the left channel returned & it's working as I type these words. Strange!!

Similar Products Used:

Classe CDP-10
Meridian 507
Cary CD-308
The above outperform the 640C, Ver. 2 but not by much.