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Cambridge Audio AXA25-25 Watt Separate Integrated Stereo Amplifier HiFi System Featuring Tone and Balance Control with Front Aux Input - Lunar Grey

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There’s a shortage of high-quality hi-fi electronics at the budget end of the market, so it’s good to see Cambridge Audio produce an amplifier with the musicality and all-round appeal of the AXA35. It should be noted though that abusing the tone controls to get more bass out of a low-powered system is not always a good idea. It’s nothing to do with some snobbish view that “it’s not how hi-fi should be heard” blah blah, but because with a 35W amp excessive use of the tone controls at high volume will cause the amp to clip sooner. Clipping, a flattening of the peaks in the audio waveform, is more often than not the cause of blown speakers, not excessive power. Thus you’re more likely to damage your speakers with this amp if you turn the bass to max and crank up the volume than you will if you leave the tone controls flat.

With a front port, these bass reflex speakers are punchier than you might expect and in no way could they ever be described as tinny. Over all, they may be small but the sound is grown-up, with excellent staging, realism and surprisingly powerful. The AXA35 like the AM10 predecessor is essentially a commercial ‘Gainclone’ implementation. The LM3886 output devices can theoretically deliver 68W per channel into a 4Ω load and 38W per channel into an 8Ω load with a symmetrical power supply delivering +/-28V. Cambridge’s specification of 35W into an 8Ω load is therefore a sensible one. The AXA35 will actually deliver the 38W into 8Ω before clipping. To help get you up to speed, let’s look at who is classed as a young driver, why insurance can cost them more and how you can keep your insurance price down. Who is classed as a young driver?At 360mm wide and taking up not much more space than an LP’s footprint, this Denon turntable fits where others don’t. The smart silver design stands out from the crowd but uses a matte finish for practicality. One of the key differentiators is the user interface. The AXA25 has old-fashioned analogue knobs for bass, treble, volume and balance. I presume that it is a fully analogue component design, though I don’t have one here so I can’t lift the lid to say for sure. The AXA35 has a digital interface as evidenced by the push-button input selection and digitally-controlled volume, complete with volume level display and tone and balance controls hidden behind a simple menu system. Assuming I’m right about the AXA25’s implementation of good old-fashioned potentiometers, the better AXA35 should be a significant jump in performance without the channel mismatch and noise issues associated with cheaper analogue pots. Otherwise the amps are functionally similar, broadly speaking. One reviewer referenced past Cambridge amps as having “something of the biscuit tin about them” with “casework that wasn’t what you’d call well-damped”. Neither comment I feel is justified based on my experience with multiple iterations of the A1, the A5, early CD players and the first models in the Azur range. By the standards of a long-in-the-tooth concept like an affordable stereo amplifier, the AXA35 is quite a good looker: the smoky grey finish is pretty sophisticated (to my eyes at least − no one ever accused me of being a slave to fashion). It’s not all that bulky and is visually quite arresting thanks to the minimalist selection of fascia controls and equally minimalist display. The built-in phono stage means that you don't even need to use an amplifier or system with a dedicated turntable input - any system with an AUX input in will do. If you do have an amp with a phonostage built-in, however, you can turn off the Denon’s, making it completely flexible with compatible amps.

some of these web prices are cheaper than in-store, so please mention that you've seen these offers online) Paying a higher voluntary excess– there’s two different types of excess: voluntary and compulsory. While you can’t choose how much your compulsory excess is, you can for your voluntary. A higher excess tends to bring down the price of your car insurance. However, make sure you don’t end up choosing a total excess level which is higher than the value of your car. If you do this, you may not be able to make a claim for any damage to your car. At the heart of the 3020 are new drive units. Starting at the top, the new Ring Dome tweeter provides a more accurate response, for precise reproduction of even the most subtle aspects of music. The tweeter unit is decoupled from the rest of the cabinet, meaning that it isn't affected by vibration from the bass unit. The new Aramid fibre/paper woofer cone is light, rigid, and helps give the 3010s their punchy, agile sound quality.

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The AXA25 makes do with conventional knobs for volume, input selection and so on, while the pricier (!) AXA35 looks rather more grown-up with a display and a menu system, creating a much less cluttered fascia. The display shows input and volume levels as a default, while pressing the ‘menu’ button beside the volume control will allow access to bass, treble and balance functions. The Fyne Audio F300i has a neat and compact presence that makes it ideal for so many different uses. Perfect for stereo sound in a smaller room or as a desktop speaker system, its big-hearted sound defies its dimensions. The highly dynamic sound also makes it ideal as a home cinema satellite speaker. Passing your driving test is a rite of passage for many teenagers. With it comes a newly found freedom to go where you want, when you want.

Boasting 35 watts per channel, the AXA35 is 40% more powerful than the smaller AXA25. This not only means it’s better at filling larger rooms but also in delivering a richer, more dynamic sound at lower volumes. Just like the partnering CD player, the AXA35 feels solid when you lift it. There’s no flex in its casework which is perfectly fitted and neatly presented with the side screws in deep recesses to obscure them from view. The top of the amp is vented with a grid of tiny holes to let the heat escape, though it doesn’t get above mildly warm in operation. Cambridge do not give a spec into a 4Ω load, which is unsurprising given that the power supply isn’t built to drive difficult or low impedance loads. Larger reservoir caps, for example, would have given the AXA35 a significant bump in headroom and a bit more grunt. It’s not uncommon to see 4700UF caps as a minimum on the PSU rails of a DIY-built Gainclone. You could up the voltage too – the LM3886 can handle peak input voltages of +/-94V, and comfortably up to +/-40V with ample cooling, which the AXA35 certainly provides. Skilfully engineered, the Cambridge Audio AXC25 puts the emphasis firmly on sound quality. Features such as separate power and output circuit boards and a centrally mounted CD transport help reduce distortion and maximise the potential of the high quality Wolfson DAC (Digital to Analogue Convertor). Features are basic but the sound is certainly a step above its rivals.

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These tips should help you bring down your insurance price as much as possible. We know that it can be frustrating that you have to pay more because of your age. However, by driving safely and building up your NCD, you should hopefully start to see your price come down over time. Time to get on the road

I gave it an all-around listen − Neil Young’s Cortez the Killer via Spotify, on a smartphone, through the 3.5mm input, sounds confident, straight-edged (as much as Neil Young can ever sound all that disciplined) and there’s plenty of detail revealed about the condition of both Young’s larynx and the state of his guitar strings. The low-level dynamics are handled well, and there’s well-controlled impact to the drumkit. Putting the AXA35 on a little plastic plinth that’s − to all intents and purposes – invisible, is a canny move on Cambridge Audio’s part, too. It makes the amp look a little like it’s floating, and in a sector of the market where aesthetics play a distant second fiddle to cost considerations, it’s a very welcome design oddity. Cambridge Audio AXA35 features − Defiantly old-fashioned when it comes to connections and features Adding a safe driver to your policy– this tends to be a parent or family member. Having a more experienced driver on your policy may help bring down the price. However, they can’t be added as the main driver if you’re going to be driving the car most of the time. This is called fronting and it’s illegal. This also means you can’t have your parent as the policyholder or main driver and yourself as a named driver, if you’re going to be the person who drives the car most of the time.

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The cabinet isn't just compact, it's also very solid. This combination gives the Diamonds an extremely accurate sound quality as the cabinet doesn't flex or vibrate. Equally impressive are the drive units. A soft dome tweeter gives the clarity and smoothness of sound you'd expect from a more expensive speaker, while the woofer cone uses a carbon fibre type weave to offer extremely taut and responsive bass. There are four pairs of stereo RCA inputs on the rear panel, plus an additional 3.5mm input on the fascia. The rear panel also has stereo RCA outputs for connection to a recording device. And, just to prove that the old school and the new school can sometimes be the same thing, there’s a moving magnet phono stage for use with a turntable, accessible via RCA inputs on the rear panel. For ease of use, the DP-29F is a fully automatic design. Simply select the size of the record and the tonearm starts at just the right place. It also features auto-return, so you don't need to worry about damaging the stylus at the end of the record.

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