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Placing its tweeter right at the top of the speaker and fitting it within a curved baffle helps enhance the speakers’ sound staging. This means you get a bright, open sound that effortlessly unfurls between the speakers. The Titanium tweeter unit also provides pin-sharp detail while remaining smooth and easy on the ear – the ideal balance. I can’t help but feel it could have been better engineered in places too. A bigger power supply would vastly improve the performance of the amplifier, and a better preamp would give the amplifier a chance to show what it is really capable of. Neither are difficult to design, and neither should add significant component cost to the product. If you’re competent in electronics and DIY-minded though, the older AM10 and the AXA35 are perfect candidates to form the basis of a DIY Gainclone. The preamp appears similar if not identical to the AM10. It is responsible for most of the noise in the amp’s output – 79.8dB signal to noise ratio (A-wtd, ref 0dBW). It’s a bit of a shame Cambridge didn’t spec up the preamp a bit to better match the performance of the output stage. Nevertheless it is well designed with NE5532s unsurprisingly making up the basis of its audio circuitry and input selection and volume control handled by digital logic. 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.
The AXR100 mostly mirrors its brother's spec sheet, building on it with a 100-watt output as well as twin optical and single coaxial inputs. It’s true to say that the new casework is better, but examples of poorly damped biscuit-tin casework are more prevalent in boutique British equipment at several times the price of any Cambridge. Poorly built casework and preschool electronics design aside, some of that gear is ugly enough to offend a blind man’s sense of aestheticism. 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. Pressing the power button brings the amp out of standby and, after a few seconds, the speakers are connected with the clunk of a substantial relay. I was surprised to learn that, just like the AM10, the AXA35 doesn’t remember the previous volume setting when the power is cycled. It does remember the settings for balance, bass and treble, so this is a daft omission on Cambridge’s part. The frequency response is relatively flat. There’s a gentle roll-off below 100Hz and above 10kHz, but it’s only 0.2dB down at 20Hz and 20kHz, the limits of the audio band. In reality this won’t be audible, so any characteristic sound will be due to its limitations in power, component-level tuning and preamplifier noise more than anything else.It should be noted though that abusing the tone controls to get more bass out of a low-powered system is not always a good idea. It’s nothing to do with some snobbish view that “it’s not how hi-fi should be heard” blah blah, but because with a 35W amp excessive use of the tone controls at high volume will cause the amp to clip sooner. Clipping, a flattening of the peaks in the audio waveform, is more often than not the cause of blown speakers, not excessive power. Thus you’re more likely to damage your speakers with this amp if you turn the bass to max and crank up the volume than you will if you leave the tone controls flat. Boasting 35 watts per channel, the AXA35 is 40% more powerful than the smaller AXA25. This not only means it’s better at filling larger rooms but also in delivering a richer, more dynamic sound at lower volumes.
The AXA35 is a great budget buy and you’ll struggle to find a more confident-sounding stereo amp for the money.” – ‘What Hi-Fi’ – 5 Star review. Under the display, there’s a row of four buttons, each corresponding to the relevant analogue input on the rear. A volume dial and menu button are on the right, while a 6.35mm headphone output and 3.5mm auxiliary input sandwich the amp’s infrared receiver on the left. We experiment with both the amplifier’s phono stage and its headphone output and we’re pleased to report the sound stays consistent with the same bold character traits shining through. It’s easy for a manufacturer to take its eye off the ball here, but credit to Cambridge Audio for making sure there’s no sacrifice.Prices valid in stores (all including VAT) until close of business on 28th November 2023. (Some of these web prices are cheaper than in-store, so please mention that you've seen these offers online.) The woofer units are carefully designed to balance clear, articulate mid-range with powerful bass. The multifibre cones are attached to the chassis by fluted rubber surrounds. These effectively damp unwanted resonances, making the speakers sound exceptionally smooth and life-like.
Naturally for a receiver, the 85-watt AXR85 has FM/AM tuners, which is bolstered by a built-in Bluetooth receiver, three analogue RCA inputs, a phono stage and a 3.5mm aux input. Recording, subwoofer and 6.3mm headphone outputs are correct and present too. More uniquely at this price, the AXR85 boasts two zones for driving two pairs of speakers simultaneously. Skilfully engineered, the Cambridge Audio AXC25 puts the emphasis firmly on sound quality. Features such as separate power and output circuit boards and a centrally mounted CD transport help reduce distortion and maximise the potential of the high quality Wolfson DAC (Digital to Analogue Convertor). Features are basic but the sound is certainly a step above its rivals.Having said that, the AXA35 arguably sounds clearer and has a more neutral tonal balance, doing more than enough to justify a five-star rating at this price point. It looks and sounds the part, and if this is just a hint of what the rest of the Cambridge Audio’s AX range has to offer, we’re in for a sonic treat. With revised cabinet bracing, the distinctive Q Acoustics cabinets have been made even better. With reduced cabinet resonance, the sound becomes less coloured and truer to how it sounded in the studio/concert venue. Uprated audiophile grade crossover components improve the transparency of sound still further. The rest of this review focuses on the AXA35 exclusively as I don’t have an aXA25 for comparison. The AXA35 has plenty of useful facilities for a budget amplifier in the contexts of an aptly specified hi-fi system. When compared against a 2004 era Cambridge A5, years of inflation and cost prioritisation mean the omission of a preamplifier output and the second pair of speaker outputs for bi-wiring, not that bi-wiring offers any real-world advantage. There’s no true tape monitor in the newer amps either, nor an option to bypass the tone controls. You do get a remote though, which the A5 didn’t have.
Speaking of the tone controls. They are of the shelving type and cut and boost at 100Hz and 10kHz respectively. They’re not subtle as a result, but as this amp is likely to be paired with smaller bookshelf speakers or less capable floorstanders they will be more useful than controls that adjust the 20Hz and 20kHz frequency extremes. There are connections for a single pair of speakers and a grounded IEC power inlet. Both amps feature an eco-friendly standby mode which consumes only 0.5W of power, and an automatic power-down function that can be disabled by holding the power button for a few seconds. A flashing standby light indicates status of the APD – five flashes for disabled, ten flashes for enabled.Yet another top class budget standmount from Q Acoustics. It delivers a fabulous sound for the money." 'What Hi-Fi? Sound & Vision magazine'. 5-star review. Cambridge do not give a spec into a 4Ω load, which is unsurprising given that the power supply isn’t built to drive difficult or low impedance loads. Larger reservoir caps, for example, would have given the AXA35 a significant bump in headroom and a bit more grunt. It’s not uncommon to see 4700UF caps as a minimum on the PSU rails of a DIY-built Gainclone. You could up the voltage too – the LM3886 can handle peak input voltages of +/-94V, and comfortably up to +/-40V with ample cooling, which the AXA35 certainly provides. You can drive a 4Ω load with the AXA35, and you’ll get just shy of 60W per channel before clipping starts to occur. Expect about 50W into a 4Ω load at more reasonable distortion levels. I didn’t test this extensively as blowing up the review sample is generally frowned upon, accidentally or otherwise. There’s a shortage of high-quality hi-fi electronics at the budget end of the market, so it’s good to see Cambridge Audio produce an amplifier with the musicality and all-round appeal of the AXA35.
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