Cambridge Audio Azur 851W Power Amplifier - Black

very good~~

I switched over from a Emotiva UPA-2 to this unit for my music set up. I use it with a Emotiva stereo preamp, dac, Cambridge Audio CXC, Clearaudio Concept turntable and KEF LS50. It sounds great. But how much better than the Emotiva unit I still have to figure out. I was expecting it to get very hot based on reviews I have read, But it does not which is a good thing I guess.

I was fortunate enough to find one refurbished on Amazon at a significant discount. Unit arrived double boxed and packed very well. When I opened the box I expected to find some blemishes/dings but even after enlisting my super picky wife, we couldn't find a think wrong with it. It was immaculate! Hooking it up, the improvement in midrange, width and depth of soundstage with Definitive 8060's was immediately clear. They now sound so much better, even at lower than 'eviction volume'. Very happy with my purchase.

Yamaha V-1700 makes 130w a channel. I have (lightweight) 3 way speakers that I replaced all the drivers/speakers with better/'handle more power' units and 130 was no longer enough. I added big sub's too which created a need for more power to match their loudness.I could crank it to 70 percent before getting distortion from my receiver. So with the Cambridge supplying the watts and the receiver supplying the signal only, the receiver can be turned up to 90% or more; almost all the way up. At low volumes I don't hear a difference, there might be? I put spacers under the feet to add space for additional cooling. The .005 distortion is the wow factor that allows the volume to go up without distorting the signal so there is no substitute for a clean signal and there is no substitute for new drivers that demand higher wattage so Cambridge Azur 851W provides the rare ingredients. Addition to original post.It did get hot, and I started using a fan, but on day fifteen I dozed off on the couch with the volume way down and was woke up to a loud pop. No sound from the right speaker and confirmed that it was the unit. I sent it back and will try the Emotiva that puts out 550 rms watts per channel and will not have to turn it up so high. I hope that mine was just a fluke and that your's lasts many years.