Silver Medal "Turntable Accessories" 2008 - Hi-Fi Choice Magazine

"One of Hi-fi's Great Buys"

Small box. Wide-open sound. Cambridge Audio does it again with another worthy addition to their critically acclaimed Azur series.

Cambridge Audio's flagship model Azur 640P phono preamplifier employs a comprehensively specified (MM) Moving Magnet stage, as well as the higher gain needed for compatibility with high-end (MC) Moving Coil cartridges. An impressive raft of onboard technologies combines to offer a hugely dynamic, involving and open sound.

Hi-Fi Choice Award Winner

England's Hi-Fi Choice magazine was so enamored with the 640P that in its Awards 2008 issue it honored it with a Silver Medal for "Turntable Accessories."

The September 2006 issue of England's What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision magazine calls the Azur 640P "one of hi-fi's great buys, bringing the joy of vinyl to phono-stage-less set-ups everywhere. A real bargain."

"The 640P Shifts the Goalposts"

Praising the Azur's amazing value for the buck, England's Hi-Fi Choice magazine for March 2006 opines, "The 640P shifts the goalposts, bringing dynamic contrast, tonal variety and bass weight to the vinyl it amplifies."

"Exceptional Value Award"

"A few years ago, you had to lay out big money to get a phono preamp that offered this low of a noise floor," notes Marc Phillips in his joint review of the 540P and 640P for Tone Audio, Issue 21, 2009. "These phono preamplifiers are just too good to ignore and I am happy to nominate them for one of our Exceptional Value Awards for 2009."

"Well-focused, realistically sized and dimensional images are placed on a large soundstage," reports Michael Wong in the December 2005 issue of New Zealand's high-end audio journal AudioEnz . "Don’t be fooled by the low price, this is a real giant killer of a phono stage."

Exceptional RIAA Accuracy

In this age of music file downloads and portable MP3 devices, the trusty turntable is currently enjoying a renaissance. True to form, Cambridge Audio is answering the demands of audiophile vinyl lovers with the Azur 540P compact phono preamplifier.

The Azur 640P uses superior amplification circuitry for its MM and MC stages to provide the lowest possible distortion and noise. The multi-parallel capacitors achieve exceptional RIAA accuracy of only 0.3 dB up to 50 kHz and feature a defeatable subsonic filter.

"The sound of the 640P moves away from the cheerful but somewhat oppressed NAD style, leaning more towards the taut, well controlled precision of the Dynavecto," reports AudioEnz magazine. "There’s a sense of realism that will raise goosebumps with good recordings. This is a remarkable achievement for a product that retails for less than half the price of the Dynavector."

Single-ended 'Class A' Gain Stages

The 640P's design features single-ended 'Class A' gain stages and discrete transistors instead of the more common integrated circuits. This gives less crosstalk and interference across the signal path.

Topping off the features list is the superior Azur acoustically damped steel chassis and a robust anodized aluminum front plate.

The rear panel benefits from gold-plated input connectors to minimize signal path interference and reduce surface degradation. An external power supply comes standard.

• Outboard preamp for (MM) moving magnet and (MC) moving coil cartridges
• Single-ended 'Class A' gain stages
• Multi-parallel capacitors
• Discrete transistor circuitry design
• Defeatable subsonic filter
• Active RIAA equalization system
• RIAA accuracy of only 0.3 dB up to 50 kHz
• Compact chassis
• Rear panel gold-plated connections

• Nominal output: 300 mV
• Gain @ 1kHz: 39 dB / 55 dB
• Sensitivity for nominal output: 3.35 mV / 0.5 mV
• THD 20 Hz - 20 kHz: <0.007%
• RIAA curve accuracy: <+/-0.3 dB 20 Hz-50 kHz (subsonic filter off)
• Signal to Noise Ratio: >85 dB / 82 dB using Audio Precision RIAA-1 with grounded inputs
• Crosstalk @ 20kHz: >76 dB / 72 dB
• Maximum Power Consumption: 5W
• Dimensions: 8.5" wide, 1.8" high, 5.2" deep
• Weight: 2 lbs.

'Best Phono Stage' -- What Hi-Fi? Sound & Vision Awards 2006, December, 2006.

"it is most impressive with the crucial middle octave ranges. Indeed, it was better than a similar pre-amp costing six times as much."

-- Hi-Fi Video Test, January, 2007.

"Pop it between your deck and stereo amp and its timing and focus will impress."

-- What Hi-Fi? Sound & Vision Awards 2006, December, 2006.

"One of hi-fi's great buys. Bringing the joy of vinyl to phono-stage-less set-ups everywhere. A real bargain."

-- What Hi-Fi? Sound & Vision, September, 2006.

"There's a sense of realism that will raise goosebumps with good recordings. Don’t be fooled by the low price, this is a real giant killer of a phono stage."

-- Audio Enz, December, 2005.

"I must admit that during this period I was focusing on what the Azurs were going to do wrong. Putting a $99 phono stage into a $35,000 system, after all, would reveal some pretty profound shortcomings. But once I had the 540 warmed up and ready to go, I only noticed what it did right. I immediately noticed how quietly both of these preamplifiers performed."

"A few years ago, you had to lay out big money to get a phono preamp that offered this low of a noise floor. The 540 also offered precise, stable imaging and solid low-frequency performance. Finally, this phono preamp offered a smooth, fatigue-free presentation that is uncommon for phono preamps under $500, much less $100."

"Keeping everything else the same, I swapped the 540 for the MM section of the 640 and was rewarded with a lower noise floor and a slightly more forward overall presentation."

"Going forward, this pair of phono preamplifiers from Cambridge will be my first suggestion to anyone entering the world of vinyl. For $99 and $179, these phono preamplifiers are just too good to ignore and I am happy to nominate them for one of our Exceptional Value Awards for 2009."

- Marc Phillips, joint review of Cambridge Audio Azur 540P and 640P, Tone Audio, Issue 21, 2009