UHF 59 - Review Cambridge D500 player

Can you expect expensive sound from a low-cost player? In a sense, yes. Players costing from $1500 to $3000 (those are Canadian prices) are now -- sometimes at least -- providing spectacular sound, but the sound you used to get in that price range can now be had for about a fifth of the price.
     Oh, not consistently. While upscale players have been improving, mass-market gear has actually been getting worse, its sagging quality dictated by declining prices. But Cambridge in the recent pass had bucked that tragic trend, and we were hoping its engineers were staying the course. Judging by this new entry-level player, they are.
     The D500 looks much like previous Cambridge players: a black box with the logo embossed into the top (it looks like a thumbwheel, but of course it doesn't move), and a green-on-green fluorescent display. The display shows the track number and the elapsed time on the track, and can't set to show anything else. The rear panel is simple enough, with BNC and TOSLINK digital outputs (a glass optical link is an upgrade option), and a pair of analog output jacks. A nice touch: the jack labels are repeated upside down, so you can read them even when you're bending over the player. The power cord is a standard IEC type, and can of course be upgraded.
     After the obligatory break-in period, we began the listening session with Fabio Biondi's explosive version of Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Opus 111 OPS 56-9120)...

Model: Cambridge D500
Price: C$600, US$450
Dimensions: 43 x 30 x 8.2 cm
Warranty: 2 years, transferable



			(Reprinted from issue 59 of UHF Magazine. To purchase the issue, click here. Or click here to subscribe to UHF) The Cambridge D500 Here's hoping this one is as good as its predecessors.
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			Can you expect expensive sound from a low-cost player? In a sense, yes. Players costing from $1500 to $3000 (those are Canadian prices) are now -- sometimes at least -- providing spectacular sound, but the sound you used to get in that price range can now be had for about a fifth of the price. Oh, not consistently. While upscale players have been improving, mass-market gear has actually been getting worse, its sagging quality dictated by declining prices. But Cambridge in the recent pass had bucked that tragic trend, and we were hoping its engineers were staying the course. Judging by this new entry-level player, they are. The D500 looks much like previous Cambridge players: a black box with the logo embossed into the top (it looks like a thumbwheel, but of course it doesn't move), and a green-on-green fluorescent display. The display shows the track number and the elapsed time on the track, and can't set to show anything else. The rear panel is simple enough, with BNC and TOSLINK digital outputs (a glass optical link is an upgrade option), and a pair of analog output jacks. A nice touch: the jack labels are repeated upside down, so you can read them even when you're bending over the player. The power cord is a standard IEC type, and can of course be upgraded. After the obligatory break-in period, we began the listening session with Fabio Biondi's explosive version of Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Opus 111 OPS 56-9120)... Model: Cambridge D500 Price: C$600, US$450 Dimensions: 43 x 30 x 8.2 cm Warranty: 2 years, transferable (So how did the Cambridge do? Check out the full review in the print edition of UHF Magazine.) PARTIAL TEXT: Putting Vinyl on CD, the Montreal Show, Digital Radio, the Moon Eclipse, the Linn Genki, the Rega Jupiter and Io, the Cambridge D500, the Oskar Kithara FULL TEXT: MaxiVision 48 film. Testing CD Players, the Linn Ikemi, Listening in the Nearfield, State of the Art [READING ROOM] [BUY THIS ISSUE] [HOME PAGE]