Cambridge Audio AXA25-25 Watt Separate Integrated Stereo Amplifier HiFi System Featuring Tone and Balance Control with Front Aux Input - Lunar Grey

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Putting the AXA35 on a little plastic plinth that’s − to all intents and purposes – invisible, is a canny move on Cambridge Audio’s part, too. It makes the amp look a little like it’s floating, and in a sector of the market where aesthetics play a distant second fiddle to cost considerations, it’s a very welcome design oddity. Cambridge Audio AXA35 features − Defiantly old-fashioned when it comes to connections and features One of the key differentiators is the user interface. The AXA25 has old-fashioned analogue knobs for bass, treble, volume and balance. I presume that it is a fully analogue component design, though I don’t have one here so I can’t lift the lid to say for sure. The AXA35 has a digital interface as evidenced by the push-button input selection and digitally-controlled volume, complete with volume level display and tone and balance controls hidden behind a simple menu system. Assuming I’m right about the AXA25’s implementation of good old-fashioned potentiometers, the better AXA35 should be a significant jump in performance without the channel mismatch and noise issues associated with cheaper analogue pots. It just serves to tell you that mains power is coming to the amp. You have to work out for yourself whether the amp is actually on or off.

AXA25 | Cambridge Audio

We think you'll agree our 6 Year Guarantee offers fantastic value. What's more, if you don't use it There are four pairs of stereo RCA inputs on the rear panel, plus an additional 3.5mm input on the fascia. The rear panel also has stereo RCA outputs for connection to a recording device. And, just to prove that the old school and the new school can sometimes be the same thing, there’s a moving magnet phono stage for use with a turntable, accessible via RCA inputs on the rear panel.Otherwise the amps are functionally similar, broadly speaking. One reviewer referenced past Cambridge amps as having “something of the biscuit tin about them” with “casework that wasn’t what you’d call well-damped”. Neither comment I feel is justified based on my experience with multiple iterations of the A1, the A5, early CD players and the first models in the Azur range. The LM3886 does, however, have inbuilt protection against over and under-voltage, power supply and output short circuits, thermal runaway and instantaneous temperature peaks. They are durable and reliable chips and offer excellent performance comparable to a discrete output stage. Regardless of the amplifier you use you should always consider its limitations in partnering equipment and the environment. I’ve fixed a few AM10s over the years with blown output chips all as a result of driving too heavy a load at too high a volume. If your system is obviously distorting or if you’re running the amp at or near its maximum volume, upgrade to a model with more power.

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I had the Azur 851A/C combo and had it not been for an act of stupidity I'd most likely still own it. The AXA35 like the AM10 predecessor is essentially a commercial ‘Gainclone’ implementation. The LM3886 output devices can theoretically deliver 68W per channel into a 4Ω load and 38W per channel into an 8Ω load with a symmetrical power supply delivering +/-28V. Cambridge’s specification of 35W into an 8Ω load is therefore a sensible one. The AXA35 will actually deliver the 38W into 8Ω before clipping.Another peculiarity is that the USB port fitted to the rear only provides power to a connected USB item – it is not actually an audio input. Also at the rear are a set of good-quality loudspeaker binding posts and Cambridge continues its tradition of labelling all its available connections both upside down – so that you can see the input you’re grappling with on the rear panel when looking over the top of unit – as well as the right way up, which all helps to make interconnect and speaker cable connections a doddle. Not quite sure what happened with the deal between Cambridge Audio and Richer Sounds. Cambridge Audio certainly used to be a well respected independent Hi Fi manufacturer. Like many companies I suspect they started heading to the wall or were running into trouble and aroun that time there was a tie in with Richer Sounds. I don't know what those details are but it would appear that Cambridge Audio is very much the in house brand at Richer Sounds and consequently it feels like an almost exclusive outlet in the UK. I don't know if RS has any sort of controlling interest in Cambridge Audio but it wouldn't surprise me. It is also quite likely that the kit that k-spin's parents have are the original Cambridge Audio company. By the standards of budget-conscious stereo amplifiers, the Cambridge Audio AXA35 is a remarkably self-assured listen. No matter the sort of material you serve it up, there’s no suggestion it ever feels out of its depth. However, I’d be interested to know what you find so terrible about the sound. Obviously, it’s subjective but mine is feeding B&W 800Ds via KW pre/powers and sounds very, very good with 44/16 FLAc from a NAS and gets even better with DSD/DFF files or Tidal Masters.