Hi-Fi World – September 2019

just what the Cambridges can

provide in terms of sound quality.

Right from the off it was

evident that the AX A35 integrated

is the star performer here. The

reason? It has a natural agility and

a good sense of poise about its

sound. Through the Q Acoustics

loudspeakers Lynyrd Skynyrd’s

‘Sweet Home Alabama’ kicked-in

well. The driving guitar line had

plenty of detail with excellent

leading edges to the notes. Both

dr ums and bass came across in a

natural fashion without any obvious

faults. On Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of

The Moon’ I could hear well into

the mix of the various tracks.

The amplifier has tone controls

that when dialled in can give a

rather obvious and palpable boost

to bass. Playing James Blake’s ‘Limit

To Your Love’ through the Q

Acoustics and a pair of Spendor A1s

with the bass pushed up had a very

obvious effect - but a somewhat

false one. However, on repeated

listening I found it a little boomy.

This amplifier sounds best set 'flat'

in its basic state – and at £299 it

excels. With Arvo Part’s ‘Tabula

Rasa’ the piano and violin had a

natural, almost valve-like quality.

The whole package has been

engineered to provide a natural,

fuss-free sound that allows music

to flow freely, helped by use of a

neat linear power supply I suspect.

The only thing missing is the sense

of grunt and power that the likes

of a Naim Supernait 2 can provide

• but then again you are comparing
  a £3000-plus amplifier against one
  costing £299.
  The AX C35 CD player is a
  rather different beast, however. It
  doesn’t lack for dynamic range but


• like CD players of old – has a
  slight air of sterility around it.
  With Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole
  Lotta Love’ things started to sound
  a little digital and mechanical. Not
  in a bad way but without the fluidity
  that the AX A35 brings to the party.
  Swapping it for an Audiolab
  8300CD player made an immediate
  difference. Now the gruff vocals
  on Nick Cave’s ‘Where The Wild
  Roses Grow’ alongside Kylie
  Minogue’s silken tones really came
  across. There was no doubt this

combination worked much better

• a testament to just how good the
  Cambridge amplifier is.
  But the AX C35 is no slouch
  overall. I dug out an old Marantz
  CD player and compared them

REVIEW

28 HI-FI WORLD SEPTEMBER 2019 http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

A full set of analogue inputs, including Phono for a turntable, but no digital in the AX A35 amplifier.

The AX A35 amplifier has a linear power supply with toroidal

transformer (left) and vertical heat sink at centre. It is powerful

enough to drive efficient loudspeakers.

The AX C35 CD player has a switch-mode power supply (top left),

eliminating the need for a large mains transformer. At right is a

compact digital circuit board and at bottom the mechanical trans-

port mechanism.