amp upgrade
I have been using CA CXA80 with B&W 604 speakers for about 5 years. I use Sonos streamer hooked up to the amp using optical cable. Also have some CD's and blue rays. overall sound is good but I always feel some punch and dynamic element is missing when I listen to the same titles with other random systems. Also the combo is not that expressive at lower volumes, sound gets a bit lost when volume is low. the other issue is lack of clarity in speech when watching movies. have to crank up the volume to hear the conversations but still a bit mushy.... When I bought the system I also auditioned an Arcam FMJ amp which sounded cleaner than the CXA80, I still remember it. it was not an option back then due to lack of availability.
Wondering if upgrading the amp would solve this issue. I am looking at the newer stuff, preferably a steaming amp as most of my music is sourced from Tidal. Has anyone used the Naim unity atom or the NAD m10 V2 ? are these any good? In particular something that can reproduce clean sound at lower volumes. I will at some point upgrade the speakers too but I feel I should be able to squeeze more out of them with a better amp?
thanks
Coincidentally, What Hi-Fi also made a comparison between CXA80 with Arcam (but different model A19), pinpointing these shortcomings you have mentioned. I am not sure if you have seen this article before and influenced by it though ... https://www.whathifi.com/cambridge-audio/cxa80/review
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Although B&W D4 is rated 89 dB sensitivity and 8 ohms (seemingly a relatively high sensitivity speakers), larger wattage with clean high current amp is required to reach its potential. In particular, if you want to explore its the low ends (down to 24 hz) and extends its renowned soundstage, you probably need to upgrade the amp. But, before doing so, try the followings first (ignore these if you have already done so). I have Cambridge Azur 851a which has similar features with CXA80. First, always use "Direct" mode to bypass the tone control, which is supposed to render better sound quality. CXA 81 actually gets rid of tone control. Also, connect the sound source (like DAC; CXA80's internal DAC is not that impressive) to the Integrated using XLR. I attain better sound quality (more dynamics etc.) too not just louder. |
