No love for Cambridge Audio? (CXR200)

802Diamond

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I am saving money for a new AV receiver and some of the contenders are (amongst others) Denon X6200/7200, Anthem 720, Arcam 550.

Since I keep going back and forth (this will be a one shot purchase for a long time), a friend invited me today to visit iEar, a hifi shop in Tilburg, Netherlands, to have a look at possibilities (he is a hifi bug, more than I am.)

Long story short, talked to the rep there and after listening to my story, the only thing he says 'I am surprised you are not considering Cambridge Audio.' He invited us into a listening room installed as a home theatre, where he played Skyfall. We watched several scenes and switched receivers. All I can say after listening to X7200, Arcam AVR450 and AVR750, a Yamaha Aventage and the Cambridge, all I can say is 'wow'! The Cambridge beat them all (ok, the Arcam was not too far off, but taking price into consideration it was.)

The good news is that I am settled on the CXR200, the bad news is, after going trough both this forum and the internet, no one seems interested. There isn't a single thread on the CXR 120 or CXR200 on this forum, and all you find on google is some pages where they announce them.

What I am missing? Thinking CA is a British brand I would have thought something would have surfaced on this forum?

Anyway. Has anyone experience with CA? Someone has one of the CXR's? And why so little interest?
Any input more than welcome!
 
Thank you for contacting Cambridge Audio. HDMI 2.0a added support for High Dynamic Range (HDR) video. As this update to the specification came out after the development of the CXRs, the HDR format is not supported and is a hardware change, meaning that it willl not be possible to add this to the CXR. If you require any further information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us again.
 
True, but it has HDMI 2.0 and is HDCP 2.2 ready. That also accounts for something, doesn't it?
I can also think of 2 more absences: limited streaming capability, and no auto calibration worth mentioning.

Let's face it, if you look for specs no one will beat the Japanese companies. That said, IMHO if you are looking for sheer SQ (like I do) and you don't have unlimited financial power (like I do), the Cambridge is worth considering. After having listened to it yesterday, I sure do...!
 
I bought this year but never considered it as an option since it is only 7 channel and no Atmos or DTS:X.

If those had been of no interest then it would have been on the shortlist.
 
Ive had an anthem mrx300, CA 751r and currently have an arcam avr400. I so miss my CA 751r!! Best sounding receiver ever. Build quality and user interface wasn't the greatest though. Richer sounds customer service made up for the buid quality though and I could put up with the lack of user interface.
 
Ive had an anthem mrx300, CA 751r and currently have an arcam avr400. I so miss my CA 751r!! Best sounding receiver ever. Build quality and user interface wasn't the greatest though. Richer sounds customer service made up for the buid quality though and I could put up with the lack of user interface.
Would you say that the 751r sounded better than the Arcam?

I think the new generation has caught up regarding build quality, sure looks that way anyway. Regarding user interface, what exactly do you mean?
 
Yeah the CA was better. The user menu wasn't very good, no on screen volume interface, had to look at the tiny window on the receiver. Very basic use menu. From what I mind it had no room control although I don't think it required any.

Arcam is vastly superior with user control, build quality. Sounds fantastic for music. Just lacking a little something where the CA excelled at.
 
I think the CA has a very real life sound to it. Everything sounds very realistic and it keeps you excited. It never sounds harsh, it's incredibly clear & precise. With 2 channel music no AVR i've heard even comes close (never heard the Arcam units though) Marantz, Denon, Yamaha all made me very border very quickly.

Having demoed 2 high quality Atmos setup, i would personally settle for and excellent sounding 5.1/7.1 and skip Atmos/DTS-X

I'm very interested in the new CXR range. Before i tried the Audiolab combo (also excellent) I called RS and they was out of stock of the CXR120 but could possibly sourced a CXR 200.
 
The 8200ap and matching 8200x7
 
I think the CA has a very real life sound to it. Everything sounds very realistic and it keeps you excited. It never sounds harsh, it's incredibly clear & precise. With 2 channel music no AVR i've heard even comes close (never heard the Arcam units though) Marantz, Denon, Yamaha all made me very border very quickly.

Having demoed 2 high quality Atmos setup, i would personally settle for and excellent sounding 5.1/7.1 and skip Atmos/DTS-X

I'm very interested in the new CXR range. Before i tried the Audiolab combo (also excellent) I called RS and they was out of stock of the CXR120 but could possibly sourced a CXR 200.
I can concur: after hearing the Cambridge I immediately left the idea of an Atmos set-up. What I heard from the CA was incredible: easily two steps up the Yamaha 3050 and the Denon 7200, and was better than the Arcam (although I have to say the difference was less...)
 
Just found this summary for the cxr120

ImageUploadedByAVForums1446584477.979820.jpg
 
ARCAM and AV offer a much better music experience than the alternatives at the cost of some useful highend features.

The new AVR550 and AVR850 models feature seven HDMI 2.0a inputs with HDCP2.2, as well as high-end room correcting technology from Dirac Research. This suggests ARCAM see a departure from previous designs necessary to gain wider acceptance.

Additionally offer options to upgrade to ATOMS which make the ARCAM more attractive to me
 
I am interested in the CXR120/200 AV amps. I have owned a 751r v1 for 1yr 9mths and love the quality of the sound particularly playing multichannel SACDs on the 751BD, it is very very good & extremely powerful, such a bargain @ £900 in 2014. The main annoyances with the 751r are HDMI related when playing Blu-rays, firstly as has been documented in forums etc switching/locking signal via HDMI is slow & inconsistent, particularly 3D Blu-rays, also there is no HDMI bypass with the amp in standby. The switching between surround modes is also annoying having to cycle thro many modes to get to the one you want.
I havent seen a review yet that addresses whether these have been fixed.
I guess I will have to go along to Richer Sounds for a demo.
Not sure if paying the premium prices for these new AVRs, £1500 or £2000 is worth it just for small annoyances as I'm not sure the sound quality will have improved from the 751r which is outstanding.
 
I also had the 751r for a few years and it was excellent, especially the sound. I recently had the cxr200 for about a week before sending it back. The sound quality was genuinely excellent for the time I had it but it seemed to have problems with locking on to a digital signal which was incredibly annoying.

The sound of the newer CXR 200 is different from the 751r. The newer CXR sounded smoother and more refined to my ears. Loads and loads of detail and it also has warmer sound to it.
 
I also had the 751r for a few years and it was excellent, especially the sound. I recently had the cxr200 for about a week before sending it back. The sound quality was genuinely excellent for the time I had it but it seemed to have problems with locking on to a digital signal which was incredibly annoying.

The sound of the newer CXR 200 is different from the 751r. The newer CXR sounded smoother and more refined to my ears. Loads and loads of detail and it also has warmer sound to it.

When you say it had problems locking to a digital signal was that via HDMI from the 751BD? I have found if I switch the player on 1st & then the 751r in that order then it will sync/lock ok for music playback but if the TV is on for Blu-ray then sync/lock takes longer & sometimes struggles to sync.
The ARC seems to work fine tho by pressing the Aux/TV button twice on the
751r remote which is why I am using HDMIs from player to amp to TV.
Interesting that you say the CXR200 did sound different, the 751r sounds smooth & refined & is known for a warmer & more detailed & musical character than most of the other AVRs. Perhaps they've managed to get more of the same out of the CXR200.
 
When you say it had problems locking to a digital signal was that via HDMI from the 751BD? I have found if I switch the player on 1st & then the 751r in that order then it will sync/lock ok for music playback but if the TV is on for Blu-ray then sync/lock takes longer & sometimes struggles to sync.
The ARC seems to work fine tho by pressing the Aux/TV button twice on the
751r remote which is why I am using HDMIs from player to amp to TV.
Interesting that you say the CXR200 did sound different, the 751r sounds smooth & refined & is known for a warmer & more detailed & musical character than most of the other AVRs. Perhaps they've managed to get more of the same out of the CXR200.


With the CXR 200 it was from both SKY HD and the 751bd. I never had any problems with the 751r locking on to a signal.

I found the 751r was able to keep me on the edge of my seat. Very exciting, very clear and ridiculously dynamic. I only had the CXR a week so I can't really give a detailed opinion but initial impression were excellent, besides the signal not locking on.
 
Thankyou for that info, it looks as if they still have HDMI handshake problems then even with the latest AV amps. Its such a pity because the sound quality of these amps is very good & way better than some others at a similar price point.
I will stick with the 751r for the time being, seems it was ridiculous value at £900 when I bought it even with the occasional annoyance, many thanks.
 
You could always get a home demo, I may have just had a dodgy unit. A direct comparison between the two models would be worth while.

I used to play Tidal from my MAC over USB to the 751r and sound quality was excellent.
 
I have the 751R for about 2 months now and can't praise it enough. The reason for buying the 751R and not the CXR200 was (besides price) the integrated USB DAC. Soundwise it blows anything away that I previously had (Sony, Denon, Onkyo, Marantz.) Loads of detail, warm sound, punchy bass.

While the analogue part of the amp is sublime, I must confess that the digital part is so-so. Troubles I had so far:
- no sound in USB-class 2 mode with Audyssey engaged. New USB cable partly fixed that. Sometimes I have no sound. I didn't look deeper into the matter (leave Audyssey off.)
- sometimes drop of sound when changing channels TV-box (connected with HDMI) this is only when some surround mode is engaged that I forgot to turn off. Changing to stereo and I have sound again.

No handshake issues so far.

Overall I am very happy, but I do agree that CA should work better on the digital part of things...

About the CXR 200: never heard them playing' side by side, so it's very difficult to compare of course, but since what I get from the 751R is so close to what I remember hearing from the CXR, I would be very surprised if there was much difference (if any.)
 
Did you auditioned the CXR 200 against the high end Denon 7200, Marantz 7010 or the Yamaha 3050? I am interested in the CXR but not sure whether I should renounce DTS X or Atmos since these formats are not supported by CA!
 
Both the Denon and Yamaha couldn't come close to the SQ of the CA...
 

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