Digital Drive: REVIEW: Cambridge Audio 840 C CD Player/Recorder by Luminator

Model:	840 C
Category:	CD Player/Recorder
Suggested Retail Price:	$1499.00
Description:	Q5 upsampling - dual 24-bit 384kHz
Manufacturer URL:	Cambridge Audio

Review by Luminator on July 13, 2011 at 16:26:48
IP Address: 38.122.6.26 Add Your Review
for the 840 C

About once a week, I'll receive an e-mail such as this one:

"Lummy, keep the reviews coming. Too much information my ass! We want more, more, more! Give us more photos, more music, more anecdotes, more cables, more comparisons, more voyeur stuff, more flashbacks, more life experiences, more More MORE!!!

-Stan, Kansas City"

And I get ones like this, too:

"I hate you Lummy. You live in S.F. and Hawaii. You get the Bohemian lifestyle. You have the best music. You get to play with all that cool audio stuff. Your kids know more about music than the [audiophiles]. You write better than I do. You kick ass in sports.

But you know what? I consider you one of us. So don't stop. Keep it coming.

-Robert [from Austin]"

And of course, I get ones like this:

"I don't care how much or little you write. Just give me the links."

Here you go.

El Debarge
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
Belinda
Get On Up & Dance
Forevermore
Spellbound
A Kind Of Magic
Blue
Karate Kid, Part II

My audiophile friend Frick couldn't resist needling me: "Aw c'mon John, what happened to your go-back-in-time style?"

Okay, let's go back to early 1992. George Bush The First. The recession. Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court. Grunge. The Bay Area's 6.66-year drought. Mail order took 6-8 weeks. And I had broken up with my long-time girlfriend. But not all was lost. I was a UC Santa Cruz junior, who was into high-end audio. By then, everyone had CD players. Many of my classmates belonged to CD clubs. So despite the 6-8 week wait, my housemates and friends in the dorms would receive 6-12 CDs at a time. And those CDs kept us busy, gave us lots to listen to.

One Friday evening, my friend Margaret [the same one you have read about in my other Audio Asylum reviews], who was a freshman at UC Berkeley, drove down to Santa Cruz. Margaret brought along her friend, Patty, who was from S.F. State. Apparently, Patty's boyfriend was a UCSC student living out at the university's Oakes College. So after we dropped Patty off at Oakes, Margaret grinned widely, "She's gonna get some!"

When everyone else is getting some, you have to fight off feeling like a loser. For years, my "benchmark" CD players have been the dCS Puccini, Simaudio Andromeda, and Wadia 781i. The Puccini uses high-grade aluminum, and has a rounded front panel. The Andromeda is a huge, 2-chassis affair. The 781i is a big tank. So it's a matter of perspective. If you are used to using such players as the Puccini, Andromeda, and 781i, the Cambridge Audio Azur 840C feels lightweight, nerdy, and flimsy. Its illegible LCD display is going to make you feel kind of lame, as if you aren't getting any.

In early 1992, I had the NAD 5000 CD player at home in San Francisco. That meant I could bring my old Sony CDP-520ESII down to Santa Cruz. If you are used to using these types of CD players, the nicely-assembled 840C won't make you feel like you're getting some, but it might make you feel like you got a new CPU. And yes, like CPU cases, the 840C is available in both silver and black.

My housemate Doug provided a Denon receiver and some punchy JBL speakers. My roommate Eric provided a 19" stereo TV. In addition to the Sony CD player, I provided the AudioQuest Topaz interconnect and F-14 speaker cable. So we were good.

Doug's hobby was film and television production. He would sit in front of the TV, and dryly dissect film. He could tell you about camera angles, makeup, editing, props, studios, and even special effects. Through his dad, Doug had some film industry connections. Doug was a quiet, calm, studious person. One of the only times we saw him smile was when he arched his eyebrows and said, "Oh yeah, Arnold [Schwarzenegger] gets around, if you know what I mean."

I could be like Doug, and dryly dissect the Azur 840C's sonics. But I can tell you that I tried 3 samples, one of which was new. All 3 got around, that is, were used with a wide variety of equipment. The first sample had already been in use for a few years. I thought it sounded promising, so that is why I decided to check out more samples. The second sample was used lightly, and then shipped across country to me. I thought it sounded fine upon arrival. But after about a week's worth of playing time, it opened up, and sounded better. Hmmm. The new sample sounded dry (kind of like Doug's analyses of film), and closed-in. I used it heavily for a month, and then it sounded similar to the other 2 samples.

Anyway, that Friday night in early 1992, there was a dance (come to think of it, maybe it was close to Valentine's Day) at the Crown College courtyard. I was pleasantly surprised that the DJ played a variety of songs from the 70s, 80s, and present. One of the last songs of the night was Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy." I got a kick out of seeing students make like they were taking off their shirts, and playfully singing, "I'm too sexy for my shirt."

On our way back to the Crown/Merrill apartments (where I was living), Margaret and I crossed paths with two girls, possibly inebriated. The two girls giggled, flashed us, and pretended to kiss each other. One of the girls kissed her two fingers, then pressed them lightly on Margaret's cheek. While nodding towards me, the other girl winked at Margaret, "Fuck his brains out!"

Her face lit up, Margaret smiled brightly, looked at me, and proclaimed, "I love this place!!!" She then released her pony tail, flicked her hair. I stood there flabbergasted, as she took off her t-shirt, pinched off her bra, and then tossed it (the bra) at the two girls. The three girls shared a hearty laugh, then parted company.

Look. In those days, I filled my time by listening to music and reading/fantasizing about high-end audio. I lusted after, among others, the Apogee Diva, AudioQuest Dragon, Conrad-Johnson PF-1, and Theta DS Pro Prime. But that incident with the two passers-by forever changed me. It got me to open up, look at things from different perspectives. My writing skills blossomed. And you, my dear readers, are the beneficiaries.

Even when balanced sources conform to the 4V spec, audiophiles complain to me that they are too loud. The Simaudio Andromeda is to spec. But when I placed the 840C next to the Andromeda, the 840C's output was slightly higher. In order to match levels, I had to use the preamps' trim function, to cut about 1.5dB from the 840C. And if you wish to match your 2V single-ended sources, you'll have to cut another 6dB from the 840C's balanced output.

When he finds out what I'm working on, an Inmate always writes, "Hurry it up, Lummy!"

In the early 90s, death metal had its one burst of popularity. Because of its downtuned guitars (they aren't shrieky) and soft, "oatmeal container" drums, Cannibal Corpse's Butchered At Birth is a relatively easy listen. However, there are parts where you'll want to fast forward. Alas, like too many modern-day CD players, the 840C's fast search is too slow and choppy. Pressing with more force on the remote's buttons will not make the fast search go any faster. Using the front panel's fast search buttons is a little faster, but still not fast enough.

I picked up Margaret's t-shirt and bra, handed them back to her. She did not put them on. She grabbed my arm, and we walked the short distance back to my apartment. When we got in, Doug and Eric had already gone to their respective homes for the weekend. My other housemate, Dave, had just taken a shower, and had a towel wrapped around his waist. Now, Dave is very open-minded. So when he saw Margaret (remember, she was topless), he threw his head back, and busted out laughing. Margaret had already visited us the prior quarter, and I had alerted my housemates that she was coming again. Dave smiled, "Oh, it's you!" He made a face at me, as if to point out that I was the only fully-clothed person, twacked me with his comb, and kidded, "Now it's your turn."

Again, the 2 used 840Cs had been used in multiple systems, in multiple homes. When I took receipt of them, I used them with a Classe' CP-500 preamp. The balanced output sounded rolled off, smoothed out up top. If you were to stop at this point, you might point fingers at the 840C. But then I brought the Mark Levinson No. 326S out. Now, there weren't vast differences in top-end response via the balanced and single-ended outputs.

In absolute terms, the dead-silent Jeff Rowland Criterion [thank goodness JRDG now conform to pin-2 positive, just like the 840C. Older JRDG equipment was configured with pin-3 positive] was the best sonic match for the 840C. But c'mon, who (besides reviewer types) is going to use the 840C with a preamp which costs ten times as much? The Simaudio P-8 casts a subtle warmth across the board. In some ways, this was not a lock with the somewhat dry-sounding 840C. The 840C wanted to be quick and focused, while the P-8 wanted to be big, powerful, and voluptuous. OTOH, the P-8 did not add any coarseness or glare. The Mark Levinson No. 326S, with its small and precise images, was a good match. But again, the 326S is a bit out of the 840C's price range. The 840C was a good sonic match for the Proceed PRE. But do watch out for the 840C's high output via the XLRs. That tended to force the PRE to operate at its low end of the volume range.

In the early 90s, a popular audiophile term was "palpable presence." Given that my household was using mid-fi gear, I never experienced "palpable presence" from it. Still, Margaret brought the new Richard Marx CD, Rush Street . Even while we were in the bathroom, Marx's "Hazard," which was playing in the living room, grabbed me. I did not expect Marx to come out with a song like this.

Margaret got out of the shower, and stood in front of the mirror above the sink. She grabbed her thighs, slapped her tummy, and complained, "I've already reached the Freshman Fifteen! And we still have half the year to go."

If you have the 840C, you probably won't complain about the sound being fat. The 840C is capable of razor-sharp image outlines. At the same time, the 840C does not warm up the harmonics, puff up the images, or bloat the bass.

Margaret cupped her breasts, and lamented, "Damn, I've got all this added fat, but none of it went to my boobs!"

For me at the time, that was "palpable presence." Seriously, though, the 840C will draw sharp image outlines. But it doesn't fill in those outlines with enough body, color, substance, and mass. Even when I used interconnects capable of "onion-like" (as audiophiles like to say) imaging, the 840C did not provide it.

I briefly tried running a California Audio Labs Delta, via coax (Illuminati D-60 and MIT Digital Reference, if you must know), into the 840C in "pass through" mode. The overall sound was fairly similar. With the Delta, the images weren't as firmly anchored in space. But there seemed to be slightly more contrast between music and space. I did not have any outboard DACs on hand, so I was not able to test the 840C as a transport.

If you've clicked on the links at the beginning of this review, you will have learned that I found the 840C to be moderately "sensitive" to powercords. By opening up the soundstage, and preserving upper octave air and space, the $5000 Pranawire Maha Samadhi took the 840C to a higher level. But no one is going to use a $5000 powercord on the 840C. Lower in price, the Acrolink 6N-P4030 with Oyaide P/C-046 plugs was excellent. The Tara Labs Air AC is also a fine choice.

I recently reconnected with the guy who has my Creek Destiny CD player and integrated amp. First of all, the 840C operates much faster than the Destiny CD. The Destiny CD better preserves recorded soundstage depth. But in the areas of imaging, speed, top end clarity, and timing, the 840C reigned supreme.

Interestingly, the 840C worked wonderfully into the Destiny integrated amp. Don't care to have balanced equipment? Don't care to look at CD player displays? Don't care about attaining that stereotypical "audiophile" sound? Have no use for hot and noisy gear? You can get the 840C and Destiny integrated amp, hook them up with XLO S3-1 and one of the Signature series speaker cables, select the right speaker for your room, and just be done with hi-fi. And then you'd be free, like Patty, to "get some."

-Lummy The Loch Monster

Product Weakness:	illegible display; balanced analog output seems higher than spec; fast search via remote is slow
Product Strengths:	all four time modes; loads quickly; standard color is silver

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: numerous
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): numerous
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Cambridge Audio Azur 740C; dCS Puccini; Simaudio Andromeda; Wadia 781i
Speakers: Gallo A'Diva Ti; Martin Logan Ethos; Totem The One
Cables/Interconnects: numerous
Music Used (Genre/Selections): rock, pop, R&B, dance, Hawaiian, show tunes, TV
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner

Amplifier:	numerous
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	numerous
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Cambridge Audio Azur 740C; dCS Puccini; Simaudio Andromeda; Wadia 781i
Speakers:	Gallo A'Diva Ti; Martin Logan Ethos; Totem The One
Cables/Interconnects:	numerous
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	rock, pop, R&B, dance, Hawaiian, show tunes, TV
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner