Cambridge audio receiver opinions needed

[JohnnyBoy83]

A) what brand of speakers pair well in general with cambridge audio.

B) your opinion of cambridge audio. I picked up a receiver for free and never owned one before.

 

[SiliconTi]

Cambridge is good stuff, should work well and sound great.

It should be able to run any speakers you want at reasonable volumes.

Some speakers you can not go wrong with:

KEF LS50

Pioneer SP-BS22-LR

Advent Large Advent

All for starters.

 

[JohnnyBoy83]

Being a brit receiver ..do you think missions or b&w would be okay?

 

[Pyrrho]

You don't have to match equipment with country of origin. The main issues for speaker matching with amplifiers are impedance and sensitivity of the speakers, for impedance capability and power output of the amplifier. I ran some British speakers with a Japanese receiver in my main system for over a decade, and it sounded good.

Since you asked: What do I think of Cambridge Audio? For free, it is awesome. In absolute terms, I think they are overpriced for what you get. But that does not mean it is bad equipment, just that it costs more than some other gear that I think is comparable. I don't really want to get into an argument with a fanboy of Cambridge Audio, so I don't plan on trying to convince anyone of this opinion. You asked for opinions, and I gave one, and I will leave it at that.


Your best option, if you can do so in the current world, is to listen to as many speakers as you can find, of as many different types as you can find (e.g., domes, horns, ribbons, whatever), to figure out what sorts of speakers you like. And then you can think about whether what you like in speakers matches up with the capabilities of the receiver you have.

 

[Dazaa]

Nothing British about CA stuff other than the name IMO. Chinese crap, sounds alright for free or very cheap. Some of the newer higher end stuff looks OK, but I see enough of it at the recyclers to know it's not stuff you expect any long term use out of.

 

[trinhsman]

The dealer I have bought stuff from is not to keen on CA stuff. I take this with a grain of salt, since he doesn't sell the brand. However, he does sell some amazing brand gear that is extremely well regarded in the industry. He also has NEVER tried to sell me anything. He gives advice and lets me decide. One time I was looking into getting another set of speakers at a certain price range. He told me what I had was as good as what he could sell me at that price range, and to not buy. You have to respect someone like that.

I looked at one of their streamers recently but ultimately decided against it.

If you got your amp at a decent price, enjoy it. It may give you exactly what you want. There are quite a few decent reviews on CA stuff online, so for me, I really can't give you any direction other than what I have heard and read.

 

[musichal]

I have a low-powered, small-form-factor CA receiver which I bought new about six years ago. SQ is good and I've had no issues with it in a tertiary system for my MIL, who passed away last year. Until then, it was never turned off. So my experience is a positive one.

However, for a main or secondary system, I admit that I would be much more likely to acquire one of the CXA-series of CA integrated amplifiers, even though I still listen to FM at times. I just add a separate tuner.

In fact, I had considered replacing the Yamaha AS500 in my bedroom with a CA CXA, but the Yamaha drives my Monitor Audio speakers so well in that room that I decided to simply keep it.

A free CA receiver seems a keeper to me, barring a significant upgrade. Enjoy your good fortune and don't worry about what anyone else thinks. If it sounds good to you, that's all that matters.

As for speakers - as mentioned above, if the receiver will power whatever you have, or acquire, at your desired levels without strain then you're good to go. As a Monitor Audio fan - a British brand - I think they'd be a good choice. But not because they share some sort of British heritage - as some else said, it is not necessary to match countries of origin, which would merely restrict one's choices to no advantage.