Cambridge question

[duckpin76]

I am looking at a pair of Ohm I (eye) speakers tomorrow. They’re are rated up to 1000 wpc. I would love to get a Cambridge setup to power these as I already have a CXC V2 streamer. What is a good combination to get the most out of these speakers? I have read that 200-300 wpc is a good start. I’m looking at the CXA81 mark 2 to start, but wonder what else I could add. The EXA100 is at the very top of my price range.

Also would consider other new British brands that are in the same price range as Cambridge. But looking at Cambridge first. Thank you!

 

[charles 1973]

The matching Cambridge EXA100 might be fine with its 155 wpc 4 ohm rating. But like many British high-end amps does not include a balance control I consider crucial.

I like the Arcam A25+ Integrated Amp which does include a balance control, and outputs 165 wpc at 4 ohms. That should bring those speakers to satifying SPL's safely, Just don't run a second pair of speakers the same time.

I bought my Bryston Integrated Amp over a few others because it had a balance control and was FTC rated @180 wpc into 4 ohms.

 

[John3655]

Cambridge audio are very good, wouldn't get carried away too much by watts but I suppose it depends what your musical tastes and sound levels are likely to be. The cxa81 you mentioned would likely be very competent. Others Roksan Atessa & Caspian, Rega, Exposure, Chord kinda spoilt for choice.

 

[charles 1973]

I agree with John3655 that you need not be concerned about the 1000w max power unless you want Concert level SPL's in your room. More important is the 100 wpc minimum suggestion. The 80 wpc your CX81 delivers at 8 ohms is a barely audible 1 db less then the recommended minimum power. So give the CX81 a chance first.

What the Cambridge EXA100 and Arcam A25+ bring to the table has more to do with Quality then quantity. Better resolution from both the analog amps and the on board DAC's. But the SPL will only increase about 1 - 2 db's.

 

[MrLem]

I understand that First Watt make very low power amps which sound great and produce surprisingly adequate volume levels, because perceived loudness diminishes with increased volume, meaning you get a lot from the first watt and diminishing returns thereafter. On the other hand, there's a lot to be said for headroom and damping factor, so both ways are legit imo. I know power a bit better so I'll speak to that.

A theoretical perfect amp delivers twice the power into 4 ohms compared to 8 ohms. Most amps won't actually do that, or even get that close. For example I have a fairly mighty oldschool PA amp which puts out 525W into 8 ohms, but only 871 into 4. It is very suitable for driving 4 ohms loads with it's 66% increase. However, if you're driving a 4 ohm load and you don't have a huge amount of headroom I would go for something which doesn't sag too much when the impedance drops. If the power only increases by say 20%, I'd imagine that amp would sound p flat into 4. That is unless it was built and optimised for 4 ohm, in which case the 'error' would be when driving 8.

Anyway, I guess the point is that those Cambridge amps look adequate, especially given the reasonably high sensitivity of the Ohms. If you wanted to get a lot more power to really work the things you'd be in the realms of either fairly expensive rack-mount fan-cooled (noisy) pro amps like MC2 (British), or very expensive stuff like Bryston or Krell (not British).

It sounds like you want new, but if a refurbished British classic would be of interest you could also look at Quad 606 or 909. Bags of power and good with 4 ohm loads. All of the amps I've mentioned are power amps and require a separate pre. It tends to be that way once you get into higher power levels.