A musical budget amplifier with all-round appeal
STEREO AMPLIFIERS
The Cambridge Audio AXA35 is a 35W per channel stereo amplifier, positioned at the budget end of the market. Out of the box, it looks understated and reasonably elegant for an affordable amp. The dark grey finish that Cambridge has adopted for many of its recent products looks stylish and helps add a sense of purpose.
You are confronted by quite a slender hi-fi separate, just over 8cm tall. This, combined with a minimalist front panel, makes rivals such as the Marantz PM6007 look fussy in comparison.
From the front, it appears as though the AXA35 is floating, an illusion created by a thin plastic wedge running under the front edge, which lifts up the chassis and is set back just enough to blend into its own shadow. The dot-matrix display is bright and easy to read head-on, but because it appears to be set back quite far from the front panel, you don’t always get a clear view from a more acute angle.
Under the display, there is a row of four buttons, each corresponding to the relevant analogue input on the rear. A volume dial and menu button are on the right, while a 6.35mm headphone output and 3.5mm auxiliary input sandwich the amp’s infrared receiver. There are balance and tone controls, but these are tucked away in the amp’s menu system.
If you own a budget turntable, you can take advantage of the amplifier’s built-in moving-magnet phono stage. There’s no Bluetooth connectivity or USB input, though – the absence of the latter is understandable at this price, but the lack of the former is a little disappointing.
Confident sound
The first thing that strikes you about the AXA35 is just how confident it sounds. There’s no wavering over the placement of notes, no blurring of lines. Whether it’s carving out a bassline, delivering the leading edge of a drum thwack or placing a vocal inside its stereo image, the AXA35 delivers them all in a precise, assured way.
There’s a real sense of power and weight attached to the rolling, rumbling bass notes during Like A Dog Chasing Cars from The Dark Knight soundtrack. Those low notes are tricky to master at the best of times and the Cambridge Audio does a commendable job of controlling them.
The AXA35’s dynamic skills come to the forefront when conveying the drama of the track. The dynamic swell of e
