Accurancy, large soundstage, great bass

none

Great player for the price, or at any price. The player sounds almost as good as SACD. Get the vibrapods and some good connectors to open up the sound even further.

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none

Excellent sound, good quality build. Functional remote.

None at this price.

I have had the Cambridge Audio 640C for one month now. I was a person who thought that all cd players were essentially the same- one digital transfer is equal to another. Boy was I wrong- or at least my ears think so. The 640C sounded great right out of the box, although CA suggests a 36 hour burn-in before critical listening. A review below claims that the sound is like a "viel" being lifted off the music- that is an exact analogy to how I perceived it. The sound is smooth, balanced and alive. The payer picks up every detail of the recording and works well with CD-r's. With my modest audiophile system of the 640C, Rotel 972 amp and Axiom m60 speakers and Paradigm PDR-10 sub I have better sound than I ever thought possible. I replaced a CA d300 with this player- the quality of the build is much better and the remote has more functions including, for the first time, a time remaining on each track feature. The only annoyance is that after playing a cd, and removing it, when the player is put in the standby mode, a loud sound is heard until the power is restored or turned off completely ( about 10% of the time.) A replacement from Spearit Sound did the same thing. I have not had the reported problems of transformer hum. I listen to mostly jazz ( Blue Note 50-60's) and post-Bartok classical. This player is phenomenal for this music. I highly recommend it in this price category.

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CA d300 and various Sony's.

All round clarity.

Lacks Arcam's 'warmth', but this is a matter of personal preference.

This is a follow up on my earlier review on the Azur 640C. Due to questionable business practices by ALPHA AUDIO, Singapore, in purveying other components of my HT system, I NO LONGER ENDORSE this retailer in my earlier review--in fact I wish I'd never bought anything from them. If anyone is reading this and is considering purchasing CA components in Singapore, I would advise them to exercise caution if they wish to purchase from ALPHA AUDIO--there are others here who carry CA. They claim that defective items could be returned within 7 days for a 1-to-1 exchange. What turned out in my case was I wanted an exchange for another item I bought which had a dent out-of-the-box. When I brought it back the next day, they refused to take it and claimed I had damaged it--so much for their return policy. To me, that is totally unethical. I have already filed a report with the Consumer Association of Singapore and am considering litigation against this retailer. Well, fortunately, my Azur 640C is working fine for three months now, but I have no doubt that had the same scenario occurred, they would also say I broke it. Singapore is a great place for deals, but you do have to be careful because some retailers give lip service to defective product returns. Review: I couldn't be happier with the Azur 640C. Clarity all round and it really flushes out detail in your CDs, giving richness to your music. It is now connected to the CA 540R home theater receiver. As reviewed here and at other UK audio websites, the 640C and 540R make a pretty musical combination. The source is important so don't stinge on the CDP-in this case the 640C offers plenty of exceptional value for budget audiophiles! BTW, price is in Singapore dollars

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Arcam Alpha One, Pioneer DV515

Removed "veil" that I wasn't even away of. Keeps instruments separate. Balanced sound from the lowest to higest freqs.

None that I know of in the time I've used it.

I bought a new NAD C541 new in May 2001 and realized just a couple of months ago it's over three years old. The way I think about components - that's not really old, but it wasn't the greatest build quality to start off with so was thinking it might be time to replace it. I did a lot of research for single CD players. I didn't really want to change my system sound, didn't want to spend a zillion bucks and didn't want tubes. It looked like the Cambridge 640C and maybe only two or three others might keep the sound pretty much as it is now. So I take the 640C out of the box and connect things and it immediately began to sing away. I never was good at describing things I hear. I didn't think there was anything wrong with the NAD - but listening to the Cambridge seems like a "veil" was removed from the sound. It has the same low, mid and high end characteristics I like in my system - but seems to have made them better. Similar to what I've been telling people about the Audio Research SP-3 to SP-3C upgrade I had done this past April. I tell people I can't guarantee they'll like it if they've never heard the SP-3, but if they do like that "famous" SP-3 sound then they'll like the SP-3C better. I can now say the same thing about the Cambridge when compared to the NAD. I'm glad I ran into Jeff's postings (www.value-audio.com) at the Audio Asylum about the Cambridge. If you want to see more about my system go here (www.eclectichighway.com) and poke around a little.

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Older Yamaha, NAD C541

All round clarity.

Lacks Arcam's 'warmth', but this is a matter of personal preference.

I couldn't be happier with the Azur 640C. Clarity all round and it really flushes out detail in your CDs, giving richness to your music. All considering that I've coupled it to a a 12-year old Denon receiver (DRA 335R) & JPW 100 bookshelf speakers, all hooked up with generic cables/connects. Can't wait to hear what it'll sound like after I upgrade the rest. The source is important so don't stinge on the CDP-in this case the 640C offers plenty of exceptional value for budget audiophiles! BTW, price is in Singapore dollars

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Arcam Alpha One, Pioneer DV515

Great sound. Much more of a difference from my old CD player than I expected.

None at this price.

I'm sure if you spend $1000 or more there are better CD players out there, but if you have an older CD player that you think sounds good, you owe it to yourself to try this unit out. I was using a Sony 50 CD Carousel and the difference was immediate, obvious and glorious. Great bass, smooth mids, excellent separation. You get the idea. You won't have to sit around doing a/b comparisons to see if you can hear the difference - it hits you over the head like a hammer. Like I said, i'm sure if you spend more you'll get even more, but this is a great way to get high-end sound at a mid-end price.

Very natural clear smooth sound. And I mean smooth. Good timing as well. The remote control is almo B&O approach. The 24/192 is a great upgrade, no doubt.

None at this price.

Hi What a wonderful tuneful cd-player. Well, not TT class, but I've heard none cd-player at any price so far to compete. However, the Cambrigde Azur 640c sure compete and beat many mo' expensive highrated players on the market. And it's cheap too. Go for it...

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Wadia 26, CEC Tl-1x, Parasound CDP-2000, Philips cd 850(sound the same as Micromega stage 6!!!!), Studer and more.

Sound quality not only belies the modest price, it makes you shake your head in wonder at what's available for $500. My friend's $3,000 Cary is a shade more refined, but not by much.

Lose the stock power cord. Transport noise may be noticeable in very quiet passages, late at night. LED display is a little hard to read. Like a lot of players today, its programming mode inserts pauses between tracks that are supposed to play continuously.

I bought this after coming off a bad experience with an AMC CD6d tubed player. Tubed this may not be, but it manages to sound remarkably "analog" nonetheless--little or no solid-state harshness. The 24-bit/192 khz resolution of detail and energetic (but not edgy or aggressive) presentation make this a keeper. It even manages to keep its composure when sorting out busy orchestral works. Naturally there's the option of upgrading with an outboard DAC, but you'd have to think long and hard about whether it was necessary with this player. I did replace the stock cord with a Sonic Horizon Daybreak power cord, to good effect (Almost any aftermarket power cord is an improvement on the stock cord, though.) If you're sitting very close (i.e, listening with headphones, as I usually do), you may hear the whir of the transport, but it's not a major annoyance as was reported in reviews of the D500SE. Either Cambridge Audio quieted the transport a little in the 540C and 640C, or else I've got a higher tolerance for these potential distractions.

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AMC CD6b (for about two days) and CD6d (for about two weeks), NAD C540 and 5000, Parasound CDP-1000, assorted other mid-fi and entry-level players

Best price/perfomance deal I found. Musical - neutral but still warm. Solid look, clear sound. Can say - real entry Hi End !

To light power LED (on standby) From >4m display hard to read (thought better than CA D500SE ) Long, heavy remote, after some time aliuminium panel start shaking.

Very good CD player.Musical, wide, clear. Reliable spining and loading mechanism.Nice display, thought from 3-4 meters a little hard to read it. Solid build. Earlier I owned CA D500 SE and this Azur C640 I found better in all category - mostly build quality. (sound, too). Then in standby mode I hear buzzing sound from transformer, but in truth, I didn't know from amplifier or from CD player it going.(amplifier Azur A640). Very good sound stage - even then watching movies on stereo setup.(very rare).

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CA D500SE, Pioneer, Denon, NAD, Sony, Yamaha, Marantz(China) all about same price

really great sound , solid build . the very lastest wolfsen dac.

not crazy about the display.no upsampling.

ive only owned this player a short time and have not fully broken it in yet. but it already out performs my last player.it reads cds very quick.has nice detail.very mellow not the harsh treble i used to have.i must admit ive not compared this to alot of expensive players but am very pleased.my system would be considerd mid-fi, but if your looking at this player you probably dont have a $10000. system either.ive read alot of spec. sheets & reviews and would have to agree.for 450.00 this is a great player.it also seems well built, case is sturdy and solid.controls are laid out simply easy to use.the remote is very nice compared to my denon.all in all at this price youd be hard pressed to do better.

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denon cdrw-1500 ,link dacll . older onkyo.