Owners view on the Cambridge Audio A1 Intergrated amplifier (Cambridge Audio A1)

Member Name: sentientphil

Product:	Cambridge Audio A1
Date:	21/07/09 (137 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great clarity, can recognise delicate sounds, for the price its unbeatable !

Disadvantages: it wont break any windows in terms of volume ! it lacks any digital input !

For a budget amplifier you get oodles of clarity! its punchy, and delivers the most delicate of high frequencies too....
i have paired it up with an old pair of Kef Cresta 3's and have used several diffent speakers and different cables....

the first lot of cable i tried was specially handmade gold in, silver out @ £600 per meter! and the current cable is cheapy £2 bell type wire, and to be honest, it made very little difference in the quality... maybe a tad clearer, but nothing vastly notable).. so as another plus, it will make a very low budget system sound very good!
so positives are

amazing sound quality, from bassy club music to delicate classical, it delivers all with a convincing realism, and thats using a standard cd player on my pc! its bass is very punchy if need be and is quite apparent even at low volumes!!!
clarity is top notch for a budget amp, i have had people put cd's of their favourite music, and after one song be thoroughly disapponted and never listen to them again! it does reveal some hidden sounds... but bear in mind im using Kef Cresta 3 speakers, which are superb budget speaker in itself!

so in reality, this amp will cater for budding audiophiles and hardcore ravers alike...
the negatives are

very few actually, it doesnt really have alot of eardrum bleeding volume! but for a single room, who needs more! i would recommend using banana plugs for the speaker cables as i never trust screwing a clamp onto bare wires!
ok some specs....

on the back it has enough inputs for 5-6 devices (tv, pc, dvd, another amp, cd, tuner etc), all in phono (red and white) and all the terminals will accept cheap and expensive phono plugs and the terminal posts for the speakers will accept loose cable and banana plugs and will hold them pretty well... it is a single amp, but would pair nicely with two of them! also, i have my speakers bi-wired, and the terminal posts would take a bi-wireable configuration in bare wires with no problems!
at the end of the day, the money in production has gone into quality of components, so in terms of features it is basic, it has treble, bass, volume, balance, and device knobs, it also has an in/out button for tape/ md monitor, and on the back there is an earthing terminal for a turntable/tone arm.... just to add, all my tonal adjustments are set to 0.... for line direct listening... and it delivers everything as it should be without fail!

in summery, it is a top notch budget amp, you can get them new for very little and paired up with a cheap cd player/tuner, and a set of floorstanders you have a decent entry level hi-fi... but in the same breath, paired up with a cd/tuner with bookshelf speakers, you have a decent mini hi-fi! and would cost you half the price in quality of sound than buying a "single" unit seperate system! it is always worth buying componants individualy.. as companies like sony, wouldnt suit each seperate up to its self, and you can get so much more from brand swapping, or model changing..... and usually for 50% of the price!
try the "Richer Sounds" website! absolutely fantastic!

Summary: Fantastic budget amplifier... will not disappoint for the price!

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Ease of use:
Features:
Sound quality: