Cambridge Audio Edge A

Edge A Integrated Amplifier Built to celebrate musicality – Our most detailed integrated amplifier. Hand-picked components – hours of listening to select only those that sound the best. Twin Toroidal Transformers – huge reserves of power for consistent tonality. Cambridge Audio proprietary Class XA Amplification - no audible crossover distortion. Ready for digital – built-in DAC with digital inputs including TV ARC and Bluetooth aptX HD. OVERVIEW Our Most Detailed Integrated Amplifier Edge A is made to celebrate musicality. Riffs, phrases, percussive rolls – take in every detail of your music thanks to its dynamic setup. Effortlessly powerful, but with incredible depth, the overall sound is breath-taking – like you’re sat in the recording booth with the musicians. Breathtaking Musicality Edge A is designed to bring musical detail to life. It delivers a finely balanced sound with a depth and clarity that come through with every note. We developed the system by ear, testing every component and only choosing those that blew us away. The end result is a ground-breaking arrangement that produces a much cleaner signal path and lets your music breathe. Edge A perfectly delivers our classic British sound – nothing added, nothing taken away. More Musical Detail We pioneered the use of toroidal transformers in amplifiers, which led to improved performance. In Edge we take this one step further, using opposing symmetry twin toroidal transformers. This cancels out electromagnetic interference whilst offering outstanding power and maintaining consistent tonality, no matter how loud it’s played. Effortless Power Without Distortion Using standard Class A amplifier technology wasn’t going to be efficient enough for Edge A. Instead we added a bias voltage to a traditional Class AB design, reducing distortion to inaudible levels. This unique configuration also produces less heat and makes the whole system much more effective. Hi-Res Bluetooth Pair any Bluetooth device to your Edge A to easily stream your music. With aptX HD support, you can play your audio at up to 24-bit/48kHz quality for an incredibly rich listening experience. Sonic Balance Edge A was designed with a unique PCB. Our engineers replaced conventional capacitors with a DC coupled topology and also added a solid-state volume control. The end result is a clean signal path that’s perfectly balanced at any volume.   Perfect Partners Edge systems are designed to work in perfect synchronisation. Match the performance of Edge A with loudspeakers to make the foundations of a hi-fi system unlike anything else.   REVIEW & AWARDS Cambridge Audio Edge A review - Read More "If you’re looking for a fit-and-forget integrated amplifier, we can’t think of anything at this level that sounds better. Add the impressive build, smart styling and ample feature count into the equation and there’s no denying that Cambridge Audio has come up with a winner here." Review: Cambridge Audio Edge A Integrated Amplifier: A Complete Package - Read More "The Cambridge Audio Edge A is a stunner with looks and performance aimed to do more than please. In my eyes and ears, Cambridge has done their history proud by making one of easiest integrated amplifiers to heartily recommend without reservation. Bravo!"   Cambridge Audio Edge A integrated amplifier - Read More "I've reviewed many integrated amplifiers for Stereophile. Heck, Herb Reichert and I may together hold the record for most integrateds reviewed in a single year. None has provided me with as much simple, exuberant, at times jaw-dropping fun as Cambridge Audio's Edge A. Totally satisfying, and capable of getting the best out of LPs, CDs, and streams, the Edge A provided a funhouse of music enjoyment, bringing fresh light to old discs and new discoveries with every medium. Granted, I provided very good components upstream, to challenge the Edge A to dig deep. But when an amp can so effectively reveal the true nature of its accompanying components, bringing to the party clarity, spaciousness, good tone, and solid drive, I'd say it's worth your time and your $5000." - Ken Micallef Cambridge Audio Edge A Integrated Amplifier-DAC - Read More "Cambridge Audio’s Edge A had very good but not great bass, and might have some difficulty driving very insensitive speakers to rock-approved levels, but for most people it will be more than enough integrated-DAC for any conceivable application. For straightforward reproduction of two-channel recordings, I’d choose the Edge A over Anthem’s similarly priced STR Integrated, for the former’s utterly beguiling midrange and sweet, extended highs. However, if I had a room with frequency-response problems, or wanted to integrate one or more subwoofers into my system, the Anthem would probably be the better choice. Otherwise, the Edge A is an outstanding integrated-DAC with the intangible, sometimes fleeting and ethereal sonic qualities of a true high-end component that will doubtlessly endear it to audiophiles." - Roger Kanno CAMBRIDGE AUDIO EDGE A INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER REVIEW - Read More "While the integrated amplifier market gets ever more crowded, the CAMBRIDGE AUDIO EDGE A stands out with its stunning good looks and equally lush sound quality." Cambridge Audio Edge A Integrated Amplifier Review - Read More "My memories are still fond of the Cambridge Audio DacMagic that was released back in 1996, and it's hard to believe that it was that long ago. Perhaps I'm showing my age. To my mind, Cambridge Audio has always represented great value and produces products that punch well above their weight. Cambridge Audio's Edge A is no exception.." Cambridge Audio Edge A Integrated Amplifier Review - Read More "There is a positive trade off to this though. Using the Edge for film and TV work is outstandingly effective. Across a wide selection of film and TV work, the Edge A has used that same unsentimental presentation to absolutely excel. It checks every box I could realistically ask for in terms of dialogue, soundstage and the sense of immersion critical for two speakers to create a realistic listening experience. Coming hot on the heels of the Parasound, the Edge A has its work cut out but it more than meets the challenge. No less importantly, all the boring bits of the process work too. Latency is perfect and the autostart with HDMI also works well. The Cambridge Audio is indisputably a relatively high end stereo amp but it doesn’t fail at the sort of things that a £150 soundbar can get right. It asks very little of itself in return for being a superb partner for your TV." Cambridge Audio Edge A - Read More "With the Edge A, Cambridge Audio has come up with an outright winner that puts the gold in its golden jubilee. This amp ultimately succeeds thanks to an enviable combination of superb engineering, top-notch build quality, simple yet classy aesthetics and, most important, a performance that leaves its audience begging for more. Of course, you’d be more than justified in expecting nothing less from a bit of kit that costs this much. But I have found that a wallet-busting price tag is no guarantor of a mind-blowing performance. This amp gives Cambridge the high end edge."   Cambridge Audio Edge A integrated amplifier - Read More "The fact I want more people to enjoy the Edge A is a mark of how good an integrated amplifier Cambridge Audio has built here. Cambridge Audio has long held a reputation for making affordable giant killers. In its 50th year, it made its own giant, and even that is still a giant killer in its own right. Although there are amplifiers that bring their own sense of musical taste to the audio party, one has to think in many respects spending vastly more on your amplifiers is sometimes more to do with vanity and brand than pure sonic benefit. If you think there’s a law of diminishing returns in high-end, Cambridge Audio is its leading Edge."   Cambridge Audio Edge A Integrated Amplifier Review - Read More "Cambridge’s celebratory amplifier is obviously directed at a specific sort of buyer: audiophiles. Some of these, at least, surely believe that a separate power and preamplifier is the only way to achieve point-of-diminishing-returns sound quality. But as the Edge A integrated stands ready to show, they’re wrong. I’ve heard the proof."   Cambridge Audio Edge A integrated amplifier - Read More "Ambition is rewarded in the Edge A. The Cambridge brand may in recent years have been better-known for entry-level/midrange hi-fi, but this is a truly high-end contender with totally convincing performance, design and build, and capable of compelling delivery of music. You’d have to spend considerably more to match or better the quality on offer here, making this nothing short of a conspicuous bargain."     SPECIFICATIONS CONTINUOUS POWER OUTPUT 100W RMS into 8 Ohms; 200W RMS into 4 Ohms THD (UNWEIGHTED) <0.002% 1kHz at rated power (8 Ohms); <0.02% 20Hz – 20kHz at rated power (8 Ohms) FREQUENCY RESPONSE <3Hz – >80kHz +/-1dB S/N RATIO (REF FULL POWER) >103 dB CROSSTALK @ 1KHZ < -100dB INPUT SENSITIVITY Input A1-A2 (unbalanced) 380mV RMS INPUT IMPEDANCES Input A3 (balanced) 47k Ohm; Input A1-A2 (unbalanced) 47k Ohm INPUTS Balanced, Coax S/PDIF, TOSLINK, USB Audio, Unbalanced, Bluetooth, Audio Return Channel (ARC) OUTPUTS Speakers, Preamplifier, Headphones (impedance of between 12 and 600 ohms are recommended) USB AUDIO INPUT USB Audio Class 2.0 supporting up to 24-bit 384kHz PCM, or up to DSD256 BLUETOOTH 4.1 (Smart/BLE enabled) A2DP/AVRCP supporting formats up to aptX HD TOSLINK INPUT 16/24 bits, 32-96kHz COAX S/PDIF INPUT 16/24 bits, 32-192kHz MAX POWER CONSUMPTION 1000W STANDBY POWER CONSUMPTION <0.5W DIMENSIONS 150 x 460 x 405mm (5.9 x 18.1 x 15.9") WEIGHT 24.4kg (53.7lbs) IN THE BOX Edge A Integrated Amplifier; 1.5M Power Lead; Edge Remote Control; 3 x AAA Batteries; Bluetooth Antenna; Edge Link Cable; Edge A User Manual