Cambridge Audio?

[James_Russell]

Hey guys, my first post on the consumer electronics forum!
My 19th birthday is in a couple of weeks and I'm looking to buy new amplifier/cd player seperates. I've heard cambridge audio amplifiers and I'm a whisker away from buying an A5 amplifier
http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=CAMB-A5BLK
and a CD5 CD player.
http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=CAMB-CD5BLK
I was just wondering if anyone here has any experience with these products to share and/or suggestions of others to try?
-James

[Professor Tom]

I've got a Cambridge Audio amp and CD player, the same ones you are interested in and they both work fine but don't be fooled by the labels on the outside of the boxes that says "designed in England". They are made in China and the only label that states country of origin is on the back of the items after you have unpacked them. I have no problem with the quality but I feel that they lied to me about the country of origin. A lie by omission is still a lie in my opinion. I would not have bought them if I had known. I buy British or American by choice if possible.

[James_Russell]

Update: Today I placed a deposit on a second-hand C.A. Azur 540 AV receiver so thats the amp potentially sorted, but still wanting the CD5. Prof, how sensitive is this CD player to poor quality/damaged discs? has it been 100% reliable?
thanks for the reply,
-james

[Professor Tom]

Update: Today I placed a deposit on a second-hand C.A. Azur 540 AV receiver so thats the amp potentially sorted, but still wanting the CD5. Prof, how sensitive is this CD player to poor quality/damaged discs? has it been 100% reliable?
thanks for the reply,
-james

I have no damaged discs but I have a few that were difficult on my previous player (a Denon) but they play perfectly on the CD5, the player has been very reliable. No skips or jumps so far after about a year of fairly light use.

[James_Russell]

Thats what I like to hear!
I've had another change of heart and I'm now stretching my budget to azur 340 amp and cd player... the AV receiver seems far too complicated and I was never going to plug it into a TV.
However, I'm likely to end up with no amp or cd player as (since my car's cambelt broke tonight) I'm going to have to use public transport and I'll probably get mugged...

[Professor Tom]

Thats what I like to hear!
I've had another change of heart and I'm now stretching my budget to azur 340 amp and cd player... the AV receiver seems far too complicated and I was never going to plug it into a TV.
However, I'm likely to end up with no amp or cd player as (since my car's cambelt broke tonight) I'm going to have to use public transport and I'll probably get mugged...

Mugged !
Where exactly do you live ?
I had a broken cam drivebelt once and the valves on both sides had the tops chopped off by four of the cylinders which then punched a hole in the engine block. I hope yours is nothing like as bad as that.

[James_Russell]

Well I'm exaggerating with the whole 'mugging' thing, its just that everyones going to know whats in the boxes. I live in Epsom and I'll be buying from richer sounds, kingston.
I think the engine in my car is 'safe' in that it is designed in such a way that the pistons at TDC can't hit the valves even if they are open. I hope so anyway. There was no compression when I turned it over, but there weren't any nasty vibrations or sounds when it cut out. I'm just glad my dad runs an auto repair shop! I'm also glad I bought him a stevie wonder discography for fathers day, he had to get the truck and help me!

[Professor Tom]

Well I'm exaggerating with the whole 'mugging' thing, its just that everyones going to know whats in the boxes. I live in Epsom and I'll be buying from richer sounds, kingston.
I think the engine in my car is 'safe' in that it is designed in such a way that the pistons at TDC can't hit the valves even if they are open. I hope so anyway. There was no compression when I turned it over, but there weren't any nasty vibrations or sounds when it cut out. I'm just glad my dad runs an auto repair shop! I'm also glad I bought him a stevie wonder discography for fathers day, he had to get the truck and help me!

On first glance I thought your post said that you bought the car from Stevie Wonder !
I hope the car doesn't cost too much to repair and that everything is fine.

[James_Russell]

Now that would be something...
...You'd have to wonder (no pun intended) how he drove it though...
I wouldn't want to buy a car thats been driven by a blind man for 58,000 miles.
I hope it doen't cost much either. Its my birthday on tuesday so I'll be drinking all my money, and I'm only working part-time in waitrose earning £75 a week. Its times like these I'm glad my dad dedicates so much of his life to his auto repair shop! Its nice to be able to call him and have him turn up in the recovery truck with a flask of tea and some hobnobs to look after you!
...He has just got a new employee who is eager to impress, so we may be able to peruade him to do the belt after hours. It may come in at under £100 if theres no valve damage.
...fingers crossed. At least my loft will sound nice with my new amp.

[James_Russell]

Finally bought my amplifier yesterday- an azur 340 SE (SE has ipod compatability and 5 extra watts per channel). I'm very impressed. mind you, the only amp I have for comparison is a 1983 AKAI AM-U22 which produces 25watts per channel, so this one was bound to blow me away.
My dad ended up having to repair my engine himself, having not done this sort of engine work in 25 years... hes been managing his bodywork repair business for all that time, so hasn't been getting his hands dirty. He used to work for cosworth and lotus though, so this is a toy engine to him. He seemed to enjoy doing it all again though.
so I didn't pay for labour and all the parts were trade discount, so I ended up paying £296 for valves, gasket kit, cambelt and tensioner. car lives again!
I'm starting a new thread about computer sound cards here, as most of my music is coming out of a 3.5mm socket on the back of my compter at the moment, which (I think) is less than ideal.
-James