Leaflet

SOUND >> 83%
FEATURES
>> 75%
BUILD
>> 80%
VALUE
>> 96%
>>
VERDICT – 640P
90%
>>
CONCLUSION
The 640P shifts the goalposts,
bringing dynamic contrast,
tonal variety and bass weight
to the vinyl it amplifies. It’s
worthy of mid-price systems.
SOUND >> 74%
FEATURES
>> 60%
BUILD
>> 80%
VALUE
>> 96%
>>
VERDICT – 540P
85%
>>
CONCLUSION
A great phono stage for the
money, capable of putting a
good budget turntable on a
par with a digital source of
twice the price.
result, the music is more engaging. It’s well
worth the extra £20, if you can stretch to it.
With the weedier output of a van den Hul
Condor moving coil cartridge, you can
appreciate the improvement in high-frequency
extension and detail, but you don’t get a good
idea of the dynamic and spatial skills of the
cartridge. That said, this is a silly combination
(the cartridge costs over two grand) and with
lower-cost systems, the 640P makes a lot more
sense. If your turntable and amp are in the
sub-£500 category, it’s a cost-effective way to
get more from your vinyl.
HFC
Jason Kennedy
V
inyl is enjoying a revival on an
unprecedented scale. Sales of seven-inch
singles are up 80 per cent, which
equates to 800,000 small black discs finding
their way into people’s homes. But what are
they playing them on? There’s been an upturn
in ‘quality’ turntable sales over the last few
years, but not on this scale – there are clearly
lots of souls that need saving in terms of
getting the most from the groove. To the
rescue comes Cambridge Audio, with a brace
of cost-effective phono stages.
These compact boxes contain the
amplification and equalisation required to turn
the pitifully small voltage coming out of a
turntable’s cartridge into something that any
normal amp can, well, amplify.
The 540P is a basic, moving magnet stage
with inputs and outputs alongside the requisite
earthing post. According to the literature, it’s
built with Class A gain stages, active
equalisation and discrete transistors, the latter
setting it apart from most of the phono stages
you’ll find in budget integrated amps. Power is
delivered by a plug-top supply and the whole lot
comes in a neat steel and aluminium box.
The dearer 640P offers moving coil and
moving magnet inputs as well as a rumble
filter to cut out undesirable low frequency
energy. Inside the case, paralleled capacitors
are used to achieve RIAA equalisation accurate
to 0.3dB up to 50kHz; the power supply is also
slightly different, though no more ostentatious.
It does not specify what impedance is offered
to the moving coil cartridge, but to be fair it’s
not aimed at high-end cartridges which can be
fussy about such things.
SOUND QUALITY
Used to amplify the robust output of a Music
Maker MkIII moving magnet cartridge, the
540P put in a stout performance reflecting the
solidity of bass that this cartridge is capable of
extracting. Vocals – especially female vocals –
are not perhaps as well defined as possible, but
it’s easy enough to hear what’s being sung and
the detail of the presentation is not impeded.
More energetic tracks produce a suitable
response from the 540P. It does what even quite
ambitious CD players struggle to achieve, and
produces acoustic space in a natural fashion.
This level of performance puts it on a par (at
least) with other inexpensive stages around, like
those from NAD and Pro-Ject, which means it
will better those found in budget amps as a rule.
The 640P is a more refined beast. It adds
dynamics and weight as well as improved
image precision to the 540P’s sound. We
particularly enjoyed the fact that voices and
instruments became palpably more lifelike and
real in the room, thanks to the greater level of
resolution it brings to the party. Everything
from the bass up is more articulate and as a
PRODUCT Cambridge Audio 540P and 640P
TYPE Phono stages
PRICE (540P) £40; (640P) £60
CONTACT 콯 0870 900 1000
q www.cambridgeaudio.com
Stage two
Looking for a low-cost phono stage to give your vinyl a boost? One of these should do the job...
Cambridge Audio 540P and 640P phono stages
[
Review
]
march 2006 HI-FI CHOICE 65
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