I use an Alpine class D amplifier on the car stereo. I have to say that I’m very impressed with what it does. It drives two Focal tweeter and two Focal midrange/bass units. It’s very fast, clean, very neutral and actually quite musical when used with a good Alpine head unit. It gives a remarkable insight into the music.
I’m slightly disturbed that it can get within spitting distance of my 500 system on dissecting what’s being played. Especially when the whole system costs less than a Super Lumina interconnect.
I get loads of comments from people who have heard it play.
If anything, I think they have totally nailed it with the design. Especially that there is no obvious brand marking to be seen.
Imagine those snooty types at the hifi shows looking, listening and not knowing the slightest to the brand recognition syndrome.
If it sounds as good as it looks - CA seem to be on a great roll at the moment - I’m sure it will.
No, class H is not at all similar to class D. Class D uses pulse width modulation, transforming the signal. Class H does no such thing, leaving the signal intact, being fully linear like class AB.
Class H, unlike class D isn’t even a real class of it’s own. It’s an enhancement of class AB.
The type of power supply isn’t directly related to the type of amplification.
What Hi-fi does not appear to see the Cambridge Evo as threat to the Uniti range at the moment as they are still praising it and recommending over the rest.
Congratulations to Naim for getting 4 products in to this list. KEF also did well, getting 3 in.
I think it may depend on what aspect you call the ‘amplification’. The output stage is indeed not switching, so in that sense it isn’t similar to Class D. The power stage however is switching and is then offloaded to a rails, from which the output stage is fed.
Anyhow, i’m fine with concluding that they are not the same principle, so upvote for you!
Well I think a lot of these all-in-ones will be placed on storage units and tables where top access is a lot more convenient. With my Atom sitting next to me on my desk, I certainly prefer my knob on top.
I received an email back and essentially at this time they cannot find what is causing my problem. They said they are still looking into it.
I have now switched off the HDMI input because it is too frustrating to keep trying. I am now just using the optical input. It’s a shame as the HDMI was the reason I purchased the atom in the first place.
We will keep trying, @Mark84 - for example, investigating the recent LG firmware update to see whether that maybe part of the issue.
Naim has engineered its products to be fully compliant with HDMI specifications - not every manufacturer is so diligent… We’ll get there! @Arnsider Do email Naim support, as they have found fixes for many people, and the more incidences we log and work on, the easier it is if anything pops up in future.
If it helps with your research, I purchased a second hand el cheapo Yamaha receiver for a friend and tested it with the HDMI on my tv and it worked flawlessly with the new tv software update.
I am not trying to be smart by saying this, just thought it be good to know that it does work with a different amps HDMI input.
Not to worry. I have made peace with it not working now anyway. If it gets fixed in the future, bonus.
Quite so @PeakMan I am sure that this is how it was intended to be used, however, I use mine in a rack so placing the knob on the front of the unit allows for both methods of installation.
Pressing the ‘touch’ buttons located on the top of my Bluesound node 2i is a bit fiddly mid rack!
It does look a very nice piece of kit. I used to own the P40 as the first hifi I amp I bought myseldf rather than inherit. Loved it I regret ever parting with it these days.
I heard one briefly this afternoon in Richer Sounds in my town, when I went in for something else.
The Evo 150 is a good looking, compact package with very discrete branding on the top. Matched with the right speakers it could be what many people want. I was surprised to be told that it has a MM phonostage built in.
There is an interesting video on Youtube that was streamed on the launch day of the EVO range. It is a live talk between the Canadian distributor of Cambridge Audio and CA’s head of product marketing, Tony Stotts.
The video for some reason has less than a 1000 views, which is pretty strange for a period of 10 days.
In the talk they not so subtly talk about their primary marketing strategies, Naim and NAD are mentioned as their main competitors in the market.
They seem to make a few references that to me suggest they have at least some pretty good insight in the current state of affairs with their competitors, things that stood out to me were:
They keep emphasizing their in-house software development strategy, and how well both their streaming platform and their app work.
They have quite a long section about the different types of amplification and why they feel that Class D is the best path forward in this market segment.
They emphasize details that would normally be not so important in the grand scheme of things, but to me feel like subtle jabs at their competitors, like:
– MQA support
– Asynchronous USB (use the EVO as a DAC / output or sound card from a computer)
– Bidirectional Bluetooth
Anyway i thought it was interesting to see, you can find it on YT by searching for the Trends Electronics channel.
I fully agree with your first point, Naim prides itself on building things itself in Salisbury. The software now being a core part of their product, not just some addon it should be moved in-house (assuming it isn’t already, which I don’t think is the case). Maybe you can outsource some elements like UI design, but the core should be developed in house IMO.
The second one can really just be merged with the third. They use Class D, Naim does not. Of course they’re going to highlight the difference and claim their way is better. Naim would do the same.
I think in this price range pure audio quality may not be the primary deciding factor for customers, it is not primarily targeted at audiophiles who will gladly pay more for the best quality. It is all about features, convenience, aesthetics and ease of use at an affordable price point.
In this sense it has to sound ‘good enough’ for most normal living rooms, it perhaps doesn’t have to sound better than for instance an Atom. As long as it doesn’t sound noticeably worse, most potential buyers will not care.
