Digital Drive: REVIEW: Cambridge Audio 640 C CD Player/Recorder by sbrtoy

Model:	640 C
Category:	CD Player/Recorder
Suggested Retail Price:	$500.00
Description:	2004 compact disc player
Manufacturer URL:	Cambridge Audio
Manufacturer URL:	Cambridge Audio

Review by sbrtoy ( A ) on July 17, 2004 at 14:29:20
IP Address: 207.69.136.197

Add Your Review
for the 640 C

I bought the 640C more as an experiment than anything, and came out with several interesting results.

I have been using a Sim Audio Moon Nova CDP for the past 9 months or so, a great piece of gear that has excellent drive and PRAT as well as extended and clean bass and treble. The Sim retails for $2995 so I did not expect the Cambridge to beat up on it, but I had heard good things about it comparing to $1000 CDP's.

First off the Cambridge is a clean player, no grunge or grit in the highs, and an extremely quiet background. The music seems to come from a blacker background than the Sim, though this may be influenced by the fact it does not project the soundstage out as far forward either, preferring to lurk back though with excellent depth behind the speaker plane.

The Cambridge was a very buttoned up player, sounding refined and smooth but it does lack a fair amount of the Sim's resolution in the mids and highs. This little player however was a bass champion, extending as low and as cleanly as the Sim, though with less impact on drums and other transients. It reminds me a lot of the Arcam FMJ-23 I spent some time with a while back, only with less top end resolution. I don't have a lot of experience with British hi-fi, but these two components seem to share a common sound.

The main factor that worked against the Cambridge overall was one of the Sims strengths, a seemingly energetic and engaging tone as well as excellent punch on transients both high and low in frequency. The Cambridge would be perfect if paired with a slightly aggressive speaker and front end, but with my system including Vienna Acoustics Mahlers and a tubed pre, it was just to laid back.

Swapping out a Virtual Dynamics Power 3 power cord did not seem to make much difference on the Cambridge, though it did on the Sim, possibly due to the Sim's higher resolution and slight upper midrange/lower treble bump.

Overall this is a smoking bargain for someone with an entry system, or someone using a universal player for CD's. It outperformed the Denon 2900 and Marantz 8400 as I remember them on CD playback, and it really is a great option for the hundreds of CD's most of us own.

Product Weakness: A little too dark and laid back for my system, images will not get out from behind the speaker plane. Missing some top end and midrange resolution though what is there is very refined with little glare.
Product Strengths: Smooth and refined, wide soundstage though vocals did not have as much bloom as my reference Sim Audio. Great bass extension and definition.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Pass Labs X350
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Rogue 99 Magnum
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	VPI Scout/ Sim Audio Moon Nova
Speakers:	Vienna Acoustics Mahlers
Cables/Interconnects:	Analysis Plus/Kimber
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Rock, pop, Jazz, organ
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	PS Audio P600
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	A little too dark and laid back for my system, images will not get out from behind the speaker plane. Missing some top end and midrange resolution though what is there is very refined with little glare.
Product Strengths:	Smooth and refined, wide soundstage though vocals did not have as much bloom as my reference Sim Audio. Great bass extension and definition.