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Cambridge Audio AXR85-85 Watt Separate HiFi Stereo Reciever Featuring Built-In Phono Stage FM/AM Radio and Bluetooth 5.0 - Lunar Grey

£399.5£799.00Clearance
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This unit has a built-in Phono preamplifier (Phono Stage), so if your turntable does not possess its own Phono Stage, you may connect the record player to the input on the rear of the unit marked 'Phono'.

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 seems like Cambridge have raised the bar again with their new AX range and the value for money has proven to be absolutely top notch. If you want a bit of everything from your hi-fi but are on a limited budget, the AXR85 surely has to be one to listen to with your own ears. As ever, if it sounds like the piece of the puzzle that you’re looking for why not make an appointment at your local Richer Sounds for a demo?Note: For ease of tuning on first time use, we recommend that you set the AXR to ‘Auto’ mode. Press the Mode/Store button on the front of the unit. This button cycles through Preset, Auto and Manual, modes. 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. Remove the bi-wire link on the speaker terminals before connecting. Refer to your speaker’s manual for more information.

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.When two or more devices are connected to a common ground through different paths, ground path noise, or a ground loop can occur. A potential difference between these two grounds can cause unwanted noise voltage in the circuit paths. Currents flow through these multiple paths and develop voltages which can cause damage, noise or 50Hz/60Hz hum/buzz. It is possible to change the tuner region settings for this unit. This can be necessary if the unit has been moved to a different country. If your turntable does have a built-in Phono stage or you are using an external version, you should connect to any of the other analogue inputs, as the 'Phono' input may produce an unwanted distortion. Isolate one of the ground paths with an isolation transformer, common mode choke, optical coupler, balanced circuitry, or frequency selective grounding.

If you are having problems connecting your Bluetooth device to the AXR, please try the following troubleshooting steps: Ensure that your Bluetooth device is in pairing mode and not already connected to another Bluetooth unit.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. Select the Tuner source using the FM/AM button on the front of the unit, or directly by pressing the FM or AM buttons on the remote. To assign a radio station to a preset, or reallocate an existing preset to a new preset location, please follow the steps below, whilst listening to the frequency or station you wish to store: A Marantz PM6006 UK Edition will get you greater subtlety and refinement and it can also be partnered with more expensive speakers. Perhaps not surprising considering it is a little more expensive – and it started life a fair chunk more expensive.

Up front the AXR100 is quietly handsome: I liked the look of its mouse-gray brushed-aluminum fascia a lot, and the single volume knob and multiple pushbutton controls all have a solid, high- quality feel. Hookup in my system required little more effort than connecting my loudspeakers, Energy Veritas 2.2i's, whose uh, mature (long discontinued) but still very capable design yields low enough sensitivity to get even a 100-watt amplifier like the Cambridge to break a modest sweat. Making both analog and coaxial digital audio feeds from my Oppo Digital disc and streaming source and digging out an FM dipole antenna from the odds'n'ends drawer completed the setup. (I did not bother with AM radio since there's so much amplitude-modulated hash in my environment—and also likely in yours—that any results wouldn't mean much.)

When Auto mode has been selected, press the reverse ‘Skip/Scan’ button to scroll down through the station frequencies or press the forward ‘Skip/Scan’ button to scroll up through the station frequencies. The Speaker A/B button on the front panel and remote control allows the two sets of speakers to be toggled on and off. Refer to the Front Panel or Remote Control section of this manual for more information on the Speaker A/B operation. 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. A powerful, fully equipped amp pairs with a quality tuner to deliver a stereo receiver with true hi-fi credentials – the Cambridge Audio AXR85 delivers it all.

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