A Brilliant Budget Buy (Cambridge Audio A300)

Name: mrfunkyman

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Product:	Cambridge Audio A300
Date:	18/01/01 (1622 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great sound, works well with most products.

Disadvantages: No digital channel, Phono stage is extra

I've had this amp for a little under a year, before that I had smaller somewhat underpowered Ariston job I picked up quite cheaply.

The Cambridge A300 has never let me down yet, except for a little scare with the input jacks, but that turned out to be the Interconnects I had.

The amp itself has 6 input channels, 1 out (for recording or sending to a power amp). It is bi-wireable, depending if you want 1 or 2 pairs of speakers. I had previously been looking to get a Technics or Denon amp, but was recommended the Cambridge. My set-up has changed over the last year or so, but the one thing that has remained the same. I have upgraded my speakers from Eltax Liberty 5+ to B&W DM601 S2 and my CD player to a Phillips CDR, although I now use my Technics SPLG590 CD player for playback over the Phillips.

The speaker output is excellent relatively clear and noise free, which is great from my low(ish) budget set-up.

Now for the downside - The stereo needs a Phono stage added internally, if you need to power a Record player, mine set me back £40. The amp doesn’t have a digital channel, not a problem unless you only use your minidisc or CD through it, I found phono cables perfectly adequate. The sound is excellent overall, although it seems to flatten out at high volumes.

If you learn any thing from this review I would suggest you invest in you system with good quality interconnects and speaker cable.

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