Cambridge Audio Edge NQ and W review
Some companies produce superb value for money audio equipment whilst others operate at the ethereal end with sky high cost no object materials and equally astronomical price tags.
Cambridge Audio has long been synonymous with value for money and tend to attract the buyer who wants top value for his money.
However for their 50th anniversary they have decide to do their own version of the cost no object tour de force equipment and the result is the Edge Series.
First the blurb from their website :
"Edge NQ boasts the very latest version of our award-winning streaming module. Designed in-house, right here in the UK, it features a new, faster chipset and support for both 24bit/192kHz and DSD128 files. The addition of Spotify Connect, TIDAL, Qobuz, AirPlay, Bluetooth aptX HD and Internet radio means you can enjoy your music whatever the source. Roon Ready certification enhances your browsing experience."
The first thing that strikes you is the strain it puts on your back. Be forewarned! These babies are really heavy, especially the power amp !
When you unpack them, the next thing you notice is how gorgeous they are, with that hewn from a single piece of metal kind of feel. Each knob or dial feels hefty and the chassis feels like a Rolex or Tudor. When you’re spending this kind of money, you appreciate things like tip top build quality.
Even though they are no longer made in Britain, you’ll not be wanting more in build quality. The remote is one solid metal thing, even though it’s bereft of a lot of the buttons.
Top marks here.
The Edge W is the simpler one so I’ll begin with it. There are XLR and analogue inputs and even outputs. You can also use it in bridge mode. There are also triggers for the matching NQ Pre amp.
The heft isn’t just from the casework and under the hood you’ll notice two toroidal transformers and more capacitors than that in a multi channel home theatre AV amp. And it ‘only’ gives us 100w per channel into 8 ohms. But you’ll appreciate that it doubles the power into 4 ohms and from my listening tests with the Dynaudio Confidence Platinum speakers, I reckon it will go lower. You’ll never feel your speakers go breathless.
As for the Edge NQ, aesthetically it matches the W, and has the longitude and latitude of their UK HQ written on the side of the chassis, with the same hewn from solid metal feel. However there is only one knob, which might be nice from the aesthetics point of view, but you'll definitely not want to lose your remote and you also want to install the Magic Stream app for full function of your unit. That remote is something you can use to defends yourself if an intruder decides to try and nick these amps. However he would need to be really strong given the heft of the pair..
This is very busy unit, as it's not only a streamer, it's also a proper preamp, and within the heart of the machine are good DACs, and interestingly, there is also a HDMI ARC input. Both units exhibit a strong feel of solid, quality build and you'll never get tired of holding onto the knob and just running your hands along the chassis.
You will also find XLR and unbalanced inputs. Altogether, it's a rather complete unit with most inputs and outputs present, except perhaps, the subwoofer output and the Bluetooth / Wifi dongle is a small factor add on instead of antennas. One wonders if it will do the job and as you will find out later, whether LAN will do a far better job.
So first thing you should do after unpacking is to download the StreamMagic app, which will be a definite requirement for the proper function of the pair. It's reasonably intuitive, but there are some quirks and handling of the devices as well as trying to search for radio stations takes some getting used to.
The remote is a simple affair that makes you cycle through the various inputs, and the nice thing is the ability to set four presets, which can be individual radio stations as well as selected inputs. This is quite handy as it's a lot easier than using the app to get to the stations or channel surfing. The pair uses the same RC 5 system as the Marantz / Philips system so it might turn on and off your other devices using the same system.
There is a very nice and bright OLED screen which gives a good amount of info, and with decent sized fonts that make viewing from your listening position a lot easier than other streamers.
There's a 3.5mm type cable which will allow you to turn on and off the W together. You can use it as a preamp or with the fixed line output mode to a stereo amplifier and use that to adjust the volume instead. I found that using it in the preamp mode gives a tad better resolution and sound somehow, I'm not sure why though..
Setting up wifi was fine, but in my tests, I would strongly suggest using LAN and getting a decent LAN cable. I have 1 Gb optical fibre internet, and a good wifi signal, but when I use LAN, it just seems to sound better. The dongle is a small form factor wifi / Bluetooth one, that plugs into the USB socket at the back.
Speaking of USB, the NQ has more trouble with large collections of music plugged into it, and the user interface to find songs is a bit weak. But once you get it going, I found that the USB stored music sounded better than music that was streamed.
So onto the music then : how does it sound?
I had previously tried the Edge integrated, and it was a sound I felt really good about, so you can guess where this review is going.
Firstly, you have to know this basic principle:
Garbage in, garbage out. Feed it a bad source, and it will hiss and spit it out back at you with vehemence, and your speakers, your ears will hate you for it.
Second, you can't really use it as background music. The music is so clean, detail and well resolved, you just have to put that book down. The sound is very refreshing, and the soundstage is central, upfront and wide as well as deep.
I typically use the unplugged version of the Corrs rendering "Everybody Hurts", which I have on CD, as well as a high resolution file and I also stream it via Airplay and finally I also tried streaming it from my phone which has the song in an uncompressed version.
In addition, I also use a high resolution version of Micheal Jackson's "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" as well as a track from the demo CD provided by Usher Speakers: "Swing Rhythm" by Diamond Revolutions. That track is really good for testing PRAT: Pace, rhythm and timing.
Once you get going, you will find fantastic separation, with individual singers easily located, the definition of each instrument well delineated, and there is a immense space between the singers with the right depth. As for bass, the power amp is up to the task with my 4 ohm speakers and handles lows with great aplomb, and will easily push them to plunge the depths nicely. There was deep strong bass, that made my friends who come around to have a listen start looking for the imaginary subwoofer.
Now the mids are rich and you'll love the vocals. As for the treble, it tends to go on the brighter side of neutral, so if you like details, you'll love them. Just don't partner them with speakers that are already very bright. A nicely acoustically treated room will certainly help.
Oh, I can't help repeat myself and say, please use good sources, as this system is brutally revealing and poorly recorded tracks or low resolution radio stations will not be sweetened.
However if you throw it a nicely recorded track, a complex orchestra or even a movie at it, it will resolve nicely.
In fact I did spend some time with it and my TV, using the HDMI ARC function - it's not eARC and you have to send it PCM not a bitstream signal. With some speakers that can give decent bass, you may not miss that soundbar or even the home theatre system that much, especially if you don't want to run speakers to the rear.
So who will want this? I think those who want good sound from their music collection, or have access to high resolution streaming and like to use it with their TV in their living room, will appreciate the top drawer build, the sound and the pre-power setup. Perhaps some tweaks to improve their app and user interface will be the main issue, and the unforgiving nature of the resolution.
I have no financial interest or other interests in any of the items / events I write about.
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