one of the best CD players in this price range relaxed sound accurate soundstage bass is not too bad

none in its price range if I want to be picky: instrument separation can be better could be more open to add that natural touch to voices and instruments bass is not the most accurate could read CD's a little faster how much more do you want to spend to get all these?

Good player, in my opinion definitely better than its Rotel competitor, which downright sucks. I heard this CA also beat the best NAD Cd players in a head to head comparison. Overall Rating (4)= very good product, can't say it was more than I expected but it was very very good at this price All in all I must say that this player sounds very good. I can best describe it as a clean, easy-going sound. The music is laid out just as it IS, no harshness or sterility like some of the Rotel and Krell products respectively. If you want a player with that brings the music out into your line of fire then waste your money on a Rotel, you can still keep them in business. If you preferr to just sit back and enjoy a few hours of music, then this player will suit your needs just fine. Pair it up with a musical preamp/amp and get a pair of electrostatics and you will see just how much detail this player can produce and how accurately and pleasantly it does it. Soundstage, air, placement, timbre blah, blah, blah ... the are just pompous words that audiophiles use to justify their title. I won't use them, but I will recommend that you go and audition one, because this player is one of the few I've heard that is worth every cent. It will also work fine with normal speakers, provided that they are good quality speakers. I heard it through Monitor Audio silver 9's with a YBA integre (integrated amp/preamp) and I was impressed, mind you they cannot image like electrostatics, but then you're not glued to one sweet spot either because their sound is far more consistent off axis and at variable heights than electrostatics. I noticed that some of the reviewers here stat that this player outcompetes others in the $1000 range. Personally, I think that's an overstatement. I know that the CA's sound can be improved with a powercord, so can the others. Sure it can sound better if you send it to Clockwork in Germany and pour $2000 worth of upgrades into it, but then it's no longer a $600 CAD player, is it? Rotel, Arcam, NAD, Rega, Krell ... I will never understand why people spend so much money for so little MUSIC in return from those products. I used this CD player for little over 3 weeks and was very satisfied. Then one day I was back at my dealer and I heard an Audio Refinement alpha CD player on the exact system used for the CA 640. I walked out with the AR for an extra $400, never regreted my decision. For that difference in price I got a more musical player, no detail sacrificed, and that's what I wanted. So much for the 640 beating CD players in the $1000 range. It's only a myth. Look around and you'll see for yourself.

Similar Products Used:

CA 540, Audio Refinement complete alpha, Rotel (can't remember the model, absolutely worthless box, good for spinning CD's only), some cheaper Panasonic/Sony Cd players that competed with the Rotel for 1/6 of its price

detailed rest in the soundpicture, no added emotion, price!

none, although some expect it to have a headphone output or a much higher price!

An intensive & broad search for reasonably priced components & cable equipment lead me to this great cd-player. Knowing how CD's are created, in the musical sense of the word, poses me a realistic idea of reproduction standard by components. It looks like CD's gonna outlast the SACD & DVD-audio; so CD-players are still interesting components in a set for quite a while. I compared with loads of other brands. Each brand seems to have it's own sound, which keeps relatively stable throughout their offered price-range. I found NAD to be very open in sound, but harsh in high frequencies. Marantz tends to be warm, but dull/clouded at the sides of the sound image. Arcam was way to sterile. Rega is also warm, and involving, but messes up with the extremes in frequencies and crowded dynamics. I also noticed it made one crave for more in sound reproduction. The Cambridge Azur 640c didn't sound noticeably worse than the Denson Beat or Unison research unico. It captures the same detailed sound picture, in a comparable character with rest/ease. It tends to draw you to the music, rather than the mostly added emotion like some others do. That's not bad at all if you see the difference in price! So for some people out there it may sound chopped off emotionally, but that's just the start of beginning to understand that more is exaggeration. It's often this exaggeration (because it doesn't fir right) that makes you long for more (so you change over and over again in equipment). I use it with the Unison research unico hybrid stereo amp and Hepta Gem MKII loudspeakers, cables van den Hul. Concluding that it's definitely a bargain, and sounds no worse than equipment costing so much more, I recommend one to audition it before going to buy just any. Again as in other reviews: use good power cord, interlink and amp and you'll be rewarded with nice sounds on your CD's

Similar Products Used:

several models: Denon, NAD, Marantz, Rotel, Arcam, Rega, Denson beat, Unison research unico cd-player

Detail Drives the music along with great rhythm. Super build and looks (mine is black)

No headphone jack When I program tracks to make a cassette there is no way (unless I'm missing something)to know the total time of tracks I've programmed.

I paid 390 euros in electronics shop in Paris. I used to have a Philps 723 cd player with this same system and I always felt I was missing out on something. I decided to upgrade and I auditioned the NAD 521BEE and the 542 as well as the Micromega Minium CD player. This Cambridge beats them all! The first thing I noticed when I hooked it up is that I couldn't stop tapping my foot in beat with the music, something I never did with my Philips. The detail is superb--I have heard instruments that I had never heard before on discs that I know by heart. Stereo separation is very good. Bass guitars sound like--bass guitars and and on THE END off the Beatles Abbey Road album I thought Ringo was in the room with me! Before I thought that my Marantz amp was too mellow but I love it now. This cd player has really woken up my mellow amp and my very civilized Tannoy speakers, I am very satisfied with my system now. As an added bonus, the Cambridge remote also controls the volume on my Marantz amp--I don't know how but it sure makes life easy. I have never heard really high end cd players so I can't compare but in my opinion this Cambridge is world's better than the NAD 521BEE and the 542, which are very respectable players but which don't seem to have the detail of the Cambridge. If you're hesitating go audition--but don't buy anything without auditioning this Cambridge.

Similar Products Used:

Philips CD723

Excellent sound. It performs as well as many $1000 players for much less.

Long break-in period. Needs high quality supporting components (interconnects, power cords) to bring out the best this player offers (then again, is this really a weakness?)

Note: Price paid in Canadian dollars, tax not included. An excellent player for the price. In my search for a new cd player I have auditioned a Arcam CD-73t, Rotel RCD-1070, and even a used MicroMega player that was $2000 when new. The Arcam and the Rotel are both $1000 players, they both sounded great, are well built and has many good reviews to back up their reputation. So imagine my surprise when I heard the Cambridge and realized that it dosen't sound any worse than the players that nearly double its price. The sound is very detail, vocals are a bit laid back and natural. In fact, its sound characteristic was very similar to the Arcam player that cost $300 - $400 more. I have also listened to the Cambridge 540c, and I definitely thinks that the 640c, with its upgraded DAC, is worth the money. Besides a high quality pair of interconnects (I use a pair of DH Labs SilverSonic BL-1), I suggest any 640c owner to upgrade to a better power cord. I was not a believer in power cables until I auditioned one for a weekend... I am now a believer and I use a DH Labs PowerPlus power cord with the Cambridge. The cord brings out that last bit of detail in the midrange, espically when listening to quiet vocal passages in jazz music. Another note to potential owner: the Cambridge requires a long break-in. I took home a well-used demo for a few days when my dealer ordered a brand new player for me. So when I took home the brand new unit I immediately noticed the sonic difference between the new and the used unit. I ran the player on repeat for 4 days straight and by then it sounded as good as the demo unit I took home earlier.

Stage,clarity,definition,extraordinarry controlled bass.

Price?? Lot of people will not consider this player ,because it looks to cheap to be taken serious!!!! B I G M I S T A K E!!!!!Try and listen whithout thinking what it is costing. Will beat lot of players(and if modified ,like by the german company Clockwork) it easily beats players of 5.000 to 6.000 € Don't believe??? I didn't before I have listened!!! Real weakness:no headphone output

Purchased this player after intensive search in high end HiFi.Compared with Classé,Thule,Arcam and found this player amazing(even for the price @700€,which is about 250 € over the standard price).My player was upgraded,but even the standard product is competing easily with players twice an more that price. I use the player with a proffesional tube pre-amplifier and reference studio monitors.Each monitor having speicific amplifiers mounted for the drivers(100W for the tweeter,100 watt for the mids and 200Watt for the woofers). The set is about 12.000€ and when I feed it with this 640C player,you really don't believe what you hear!!! Strongly recommend this player even for the very high end systems,but even in the entry level HiFi ,this player will not stop to supprise you. Incredible the musical expierence you have for this amount of money.

Similar Products Used:

Classé CD 10,Thule CD150,Arcam CD92,Sfinx Myth,

Incredibly detailed sound, beautiful design and built quality. A stunner.

Remote could be a bit more user-friendly. LCD display hard to read when the room is brightly lit. That's it.

This is one hell of a fine CD player: high-end sound at a low-end price, beautiful built (all-metal chassis, sturdy aluminum remote) and solid features, including goldplated cinch terminals and both RCA and toslink digital outputs. You're in for a big surprise when you open the carton (no features given on the box -classy! ;)) - and you'll find both player and remote not wrapped in the usual plastic bags, but in ones made of blue fabric, with Cambridge Audio printed on them. You'll know by then that you're in for something good. The player, if anything, looks even classier in real-life than it does no paper, and is a sturdy built - the aluminum front panel is not flimsy at all, the CD tray makes a very solid impression, and it has an illuminated LCD display instead of the usual LED one - that's something new. And it's easy to read unless your room is brightly lid. Which is more than you say about the printing above the buttons on the front panel. They're "subtle" as not to interfere with the understated, elegant design. Well, you'll be using the remote anyway. The remote control is a pleasure to behold, and would be one for a player five times its cost. While it may not be the most user-friendly of them (after all, it's a universal remote that also controls other Cambridge components, including an amp and a DVD player), but you'll have good grip because it's again surprisingly sturdy, and the buttons have a good pressure-point. The emphasis is on "coolness" of design again, so don't expect buttons in different colors. ;) The Cambridge Azur reads CD-R and RW with ease, and once you pop in your first CD, you'll get to know why the manual calls it "the product of the most extensive research in the history of the company": its SOUND. The 640C is equipped with the latest (and we're talking spring of 2004 here) 24bit Wolfson D/A converter, which is also used in the slightly more expensive Arcam CD 73T, and which outclasses the recent Burr-Brown converters used in NAD and Rega players (and oh so many others). How? It produces a level of detail that'll make your jaw drop. You know, differences between CD players are not *dramatically* different in sound, some say they aren't different at all. Well, think again. The higher resolution in contrast with the NAD 542, another recent bargain-basement-high-ender is immediately apparent. You'll hear Johnny Cash plucking his guitar, and I MEAN you'll hear him plucking. The instrument breathes when you play the CD on the Cambridge, in a manner it doesn't do on the NAD. Mind you, it's not like the player is redefining the music - cause that would be nonsense. But the level of detail is just higher on the 640C. With recording after recording, most notably of single acoustic instruments and small ensembles, the edge the Azur has over the NAD, and, FWIW, over the Rega Planet, which costs twice as much, is astounding. And it doesn't sound harsh at all. Now, my "A-list" CD player is the Arcam CD93T, another recent model. That one also has the Wolfson chip, only times four (two for each channel), and it does upsample to 192 kHz, which the Azur does not. Does the Cambridge still sound better? No, not really. But it doesn't sound *worse* than the Arcam, which is more than three times the Cambridge's price. And the Arcam doesn't even look as good as the 640C. What I'm saying is: This Cambridge player is a great, GREAT bargain. If you buy it, you may as well laught about and ridicule those "audiophile" fools who buy expensive d/A converter/CD drive combos, which are expensive only because they need two cassis and are often manufactured under extremely unprofessional circumstances. Not so the Cambridge. It was designed in the UK, but it hails from China, and it's beautifully made, sleek and stylish. More importantly, it'll open your ears for details in the music you may not have heard previously. What better can you say about a CD player? Go get it!

Similar Products Used:

Arcam CD 93T, Arcam CD 73T, Musical Fidelity A 3.2, Rega Planet 2000, NAD 542, Myryad MCD200, Shanling CD-S100, Denon DCD-685, Marantz CD 67 SE, Harman Kardon HD 7400.