Cambridge CXA81mkii Review - Part 1

This is essentially a mid-cycle refresh of the wonderful CXA 81.

My intention was to do a simple AB comparison between my long-term loaner, and the brand new (and wonderful) CXA81 mkii, and talk about the improvements that were made and the sonic differences between these two amplifiers.

And well, it didn't go as planned.

The full review, the proper one is coming soon!

CXA81 MKII

CXN100

CXC CD Player

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Table of Contents

0:00 Start
1:30 Intro
2:40 Specs
4:54 Set Up
6:50 In Use
9:09 Sum Up

#cambridgeaudio #cambridge #audio #amplifier #CXA81mkii

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MY REVIEWS:

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GREAT WIRELESS HEADPHONES

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MY HOME THEATER SET UP

Marantz Cinema 70

Cambridge EVO 150

Q Acoustics 3030i

Q Acoustics 3020i

Q Acoustics 3090 Ci

Q Acousitcs QB12 Sub

Q acoustics m20 HD

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MY HIFI SET UP

CXA81 MKII

CXN100

CXC CD Player

Bowers & Wilkins 606 S3 Bookshelf Speaker

Bowers & Wilkins ASW 610 SUBWOOFER

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A GREAT ALT HOME THEATER SET UP
Novus N5B Bookshelf

Novus N5C Center Channel

Novus N6SR Surrounds

Novus A5 Height/ Atmos

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MY MUSIC:

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Tees:

Posters:

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HOME THEATER SECRETS ARTICLES:

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FTC: This video was made possible by Home Theater Secrets. I’m a contributing writer for them and as such I receive compensation for my time spent making a review. Some of the links above are affiliate, meaning I make a small percentage if you buy though the link but the price won’t change for you! Thanks a bunch for the support!

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[TheIoMeroMero]

Don't hesitate when sharing your own thoughts because that's what most of us experience: there's not such a big difference, if any, between certain hifi gear. Most of all, a lot of studies confirm this. So you not noticing anything different is actually a huge input into the hifi debate.
Kudos!

[rehnkri]

Excellent video. I don’t know how your channel isn’t much bigger yet!

[ramaachalla]

I’ve recently bought the Cambridge audio CXA81 after a price drop since the new model is released after seeing your video I’m very pleased that there is not much difference between both.

[AndersonCriativo]

Thank you so much for your analysis. It will help me save some money.

[StukaUK]

An honest reviewer. Most on YouTube and print media just embellish the tiny differences.

[nippahut]

love your channel, i was blessed to be able to buy the cxa81 original . the Sonus Faber Lumina 2 original, and the Rel Acoustic TX5 subwoofer, for me this combo has been pure audio fun !!!

[PDFFILES-ikog]

Its the new member in my house and its sounds pretty much detailed. Low end is tight. It has all the connections except WIFI, Phono and HDMI.

[JoelOman]

Amazingly beautiful setup. Wish I had the money...and space...and no close neighbours... 😅

[Setright]

Got this recently, as you know Taps.

Just realised a major difference over outgoing Denon and previous Harmon Kardon: The CX81 mkII is dead quiet. ZERO noise when there's nothing playing.

White noise, you can only hear with your head right in front of the speaker doesn't really matter...but it's nice to have none of it.

[MostlyBuicks]

And here I am here with an old CXA80. But hey, I have balance control and tone controls. Yeah, that's it.

[Ben_O_]

I wonder if one could even hear a differernce to the older CXA80?

[HAL-vuef]

Really like your video review style, it’s helping me to decide what to buy. One question, what’s the sexy looking wooden bookshelf speaker behind you in the video and is it any good?

[MichaelShawPhoto]

Just subscribed (though I have flown under the radar for a bit). Great series of reviews on the CXA81 MK II. I see the Q Acoustics and Totem speakers behind you and you mentioned the Sonus faber and B&W; what speaker cables and interconnects did you find worked well with the CXA81 MK II?

[mobilekaos]

Ok i thumbed you up cuz of the chill way you asked but i think i also thumbed you up cuz the content and style was unique but really quite good as well. Maybe ill even subscribe in the future. Ah wth.
I subscribed too

[FabSag]

I paired cxa81 with Dali Oberon 5 and sounds great. Can you recommend a DAC?. Thanks in advance!

[ramin]

In my opinion, both CXN and CXA are popular and acceptable products and they needed this upgrade to remain in the competition, and of course, new buyers are the target, not people like me who have the previous version of these two products.
I am looking to upgrade my system and waiting for a product between the CX and Edge series.

[yanssmekal]

Good day. I wonder if the analog path remained the same or was improved via XLR. Is it possible to include this in your test? Thank you and your good work.

[tessie]

A nice battle Audiolab 7000A vs Cambridge CXA81 MKII :)

[francescodesantis]

Nice video. I own CXA81 with Lumina V original (not amator) and it is a quite good setup.
Did you had the chance to compare Lumina V original with the new amator model? Is the price increase justified ?

[DN]

Apparently it is also the successor to the CXA61.