Cambridge Audio CXA81 SERIES 2 Integrated Amplifier - Lunar Grey

With the original CX Series, we decided to march to the beat of our own drum. We wanted to show that it was possible to build a system that offered all the convenience and simplicity of digital, but made sure that music was placed firmly, squarely, in the centre stage. A system that was precise and detailed. A system that respected music.
For five years, our CX range of two integrated amplifiers, a network audio streamer and a CD transport has been a widely admired, award-winning success story. Five years can be a long time though, and Cambridge Audio isn’t a company to rest on its laurels.
Half a decade after the CX range redefined performance at its price point, it’s time to reimagine, re-engineer and reinvigorate.
The all-new CXA61 and CXA81 integrated amplifiers build on the foundations laid (and the awards won) by CXA60 and CXA80, but with a fresh and progressive perspective.
CXA81 is poised, effortless and sophisticated. Its 80 watts per channel give it complete authority over music, and it wrings every emotional and musical nuance from your whole collection.
CX Series 2 from Cambridge Audio. The Sound of Progress.
How do you take an admired and successful integrated amplifier, one that’s won respect and plaudits around the world, and make it even better? Well, if you’re a Cambridge Audio engineer, you examine every aspect of the performance - and then you do everything you can to make it ‘more’. More refined, more precise, more engrossing… more musical. CXA81: it’s everything you loved about CXA80, but more so.
CXA81 is designed to bring your music to life, no matter how it’s stored. So it features an entirely new digital board, including the cutting-edge ESS Sabre ES9016K2M digital to analogue convertor. Which means digital audio files up to a heady 32bit/384kHz, or DSD256, are brought dramatically to life, with every detail and nuance delivered intact and in full. CXA81 combines unparalleled accuracy with vivid musicality, without sacrificing convenience.
Thanks to relentless dedication to progressive engineering, CXA81 is a complete solution. Its combination of versatility, power and audio excellence means it can form the centre of your musical experience for years to come.
Thanks to numerous improvements and upgrades - and an over-specified toroidal transformer - the CXA81 delivers a prodigious 80 watts of power per channel. This means the CXA81 has complete authority over even the most demanding speakers, it means big dynamic shifts in music are handled with total control, and it means the whole musical picture is available no matter if you’re playing at discreet background levels or at party-time volumes.
CXA81 covers all connectivity bases, giving you complete freedom of choice. As digital optical and digital coaxial inputs, it features unbalanced stereo RCA inputs alongside balanced XLR sockets - and wireless connectivity via Bluetooth’s cutting-edge aptX HD standard is on board too. So there’s no need to compromise on performance in the name of convenience.
All the research, all the development, all the time and effort that’s been expended on CXA81 has been for one reason alone: to make this the most accomplished and absorbing integrated amplifier ever offered at the price. Every component selected, and every engineering decision taken, is based entirely on the desire to progress. CXA81 has been designed and specified without compromise, in order to deliver the complete musical picture.
At the heart of CXA81 beats a completely reimagined and redesigned power amplifier stage with optimised capacitor values. The resulting sound is pristine but not clinical, with unrivalled musical coherence no matter the source.

Features

80 watts per channel with Class AB amplification means precise and powerful audio performance
Separate, symmetrical left and right channels are carefully engineered to deliver incredible sound-staging
Extensive connectivity for playing music from digital and analogue sources, including a USB Audio input
Designed for digital music with built-in ES9016K2M digital analogue converter (DAC)
Balanced XLR inputs offer a more accurate audio connection with less noise, even with long cables

Power Output: 80 Wrms into 8 Ohms, 120 Wrms into 4 Ohms
DAC: ES9016K2M
Frequency Response: < 5 Hz - 60 kHz ± 1 dB
Analogue Audio Inputs: 1 x balanced XLR, 4 x RCA
Digital Audio Inputs 1 x S/PDIF coaxial, 2 x TOSLINK optical, 1 x USB audio, Bluetooth (integrated)
Compatibility:
- TOSLINK optical: 16/24-bit 32 - 96 kHz PCM only
- S/PDIF coaxial: 16/24-bit 32 - 192 kHz PCM only
- USB: Up to 32-bit 384 kHz PCM, up to DSD256 or DoP256
- Bluetooth: 4.2 A2DP/AVRCP supporting up to aptX HD (24-bit 48 kHz)
Outputs: Speakers A+B; 3.5 mm headphone; Preamp Output; Subwoofer Output
Max Power Consumption: 750 W
Standby Power Consumption: < 0.5 W
Dimensions: 430 (W) x 341 (D) x 115 (H) mm
Weight: 8.7 kg

Turnaround

Orders will usually dispatched within 2 working days of receiving cleared payment.

Shipping Rates

We calculate your shipping rate based on the total weight of your items and your delivery address. Standard shipping to the UK Mainland (excludes Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Channel Islands) is free, except where specifically indicated. Don't worry, you'll always see the final shipping charge displayed before you reach the payment step (on the checkout page).

Carriers

We despatch the bulk of our UK mainland items on a 24 hour service.  Non-Mainland locations – Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, the Scilly Isles, the Scottish highlands and Islands, the Channel Islands and Northern Ireland may take a day or so longer. Smaller items are delivered using Royal Mail 24 or special delivery. Larger items are delivered using a courier service such as UPS and occasionally by a Pallet service.

Order Tracking

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