1. Cambridge Audio Drivers
2. Drivers Cambridge Audio Speakers
3. Drivers Cambridge Audio Review

One of my next projects for The Perfect Vision will be to review one of Cambridge Audio’s Minx-series surround sound speaker systems—in this case the next-to-the-top-of-the-line configuration known as the S325 package (a compact 5.1-channel rig priced at $1399). The system consists of five Minx Min 20 satellite speakers (the larger of the two Minx satellites) and a 300-watt X300 powered subwoofer (the middle model of the three available Minx subs).

The TV5 (v2) is a revamped version of Cambridge Audio’s superb TV5 soundbase from 2015. This new sub-TV speaker has undergone a number of tweaks, including the addition of HDMI ARC – the. Cambridge Audio claims the CXN will operate faster, and with the two streamers side by side, the newer one boots up faster and gets to our music notably quicker than the original. From left to right are, a 3.5MM line input for an mp3 player, a 3.5mm headphone jack, 4 analog input selections, a direct button, speaker A&B selectors, a mute button. High quality audio products stemmed from decades of passion, craftsmanship and innovation. The full Cambridge Audio portfolio of products consists of everything from earphones to speakers to DACs and music systems.

At first glance, the system might seem (nay, it just plain does seem) cute, well made, and appealing, but also familiar. After all, anyone who has been exposed to Bose’s wildly popular Acoustimass systems is by now familiar with the “miniature sat/sub surround system produces big sound” concept, right? And really, given that the formula for this sort of system seems pretty well established by now, how different could the Cambridge package possibly be?

Well, the answer to that question is that Minx systems are very different, and for reasons that have everything to do with the BMR (Balanced Mode Radiator) drivers the British firm has chosen to use in its satellite speakers. What brings this point to mind is a cool white paper I received from the Cambridge Audio PR team a few days ago and that digs into the subject of BMR drivers in some detail. Trust me on this point: the more closely you look at BMR drivers, the more you’ll understand how very different from traditional drivers they really are.

Traditional loudspeakers mostly use what are commonly called “dynamic” or “piston-type” drivers—the types of driver most of us know best and have seen in use in nearly all of the loudspeakers we’ve ever encountered (planar magnetic and electrostratic loudspeakers not included). The general concept behind such dynamic drivers is that they use a more or less rigid diaphragm (think “cone” or “dome,” and you’ve got the general idea), which is pushed forward and pulled inward by an electromagnetic motor, thus producing sound waves.

The motor, generally speaking, consists of a tube-shaped voice coil former around which are wrapped closely spaced voice coil wires. The whole shebang (that is, voice coil former and voice coil wires) is suspended within the gap of a magnet assembly, so that when fluctuating audio signals are applied to the voice coil wires the resulting electromagnetic field interacts with the fixed field of the magnet, causing the motor—and thus the diaphragm to which the motor is attached—to move inward and outward, producing sound waves. About all that’s needed to complete the picture is some sort of suspension system to hold the diaphragm and voice coil assemblies in place while allowing them to move fore and aft, and a rigid frame or “basket” that hold all the elements of the driver in precise alignment. So far, so good.

But in order to work well, piston-type drivers have to meet a number of not always easy to manage requirements. First, their diaphragms must at once be and . Stiffness is needed so that the diaphragm’s surface won’t flex when it moves, thus distorting the sound, but lightness is also essential so that driver will be able to respond quickly to subtle “direction changes” in the audio signal (otherwise, the driver’s movements would be sluggish and sonic subtlety would be forever lost). To understand the nature of the problem, let’s consider the fact that a hypothetical driver diaphragm made of steel might be extremely stiff, but too heavy to be responsive. Correspondingly, a driver made an ultra-thin polymer film might be wonderfully light and responsive, but too flexible to precisely follow the vigorous forward and backward drive motions that music requires. Inevitably compromises must be made.

But there are several more issues and requirements that piston-type drivers must also address, and those have to do with inevitable tradeoffs between requirements (that is, the volume of air that the driver must move in order to produce a desired sound pressure level at a given frequency) versus requirements. In order to produce bass frequencies at satisfying volume levels, it’s necessary to move quite large volumes of air, which means designers typically choose drivers that offer a lot of surface area and that are capable of large fore-and-aft excursions. The trouble is that these large, long-throw bass drivers (commonly called “woofers”) are typically too large (and often too heavy) to handle midrange frequencies well. Thus, designers typically wind up using specialized mid-sized drivers to handle midrange frequencies and even small drivers (typically called “tweeters”) to handle treble frequencies. This is a time-tested approach that works reasonably well, but with some inevitable tradeoffs, some of which I’ll mention below.

Materials/size-induced sonic discontinuities:

As most critical listeners can attest, there are almost always some audible discontinuities to be heard whenever sound output transitions from drivers of one size to another, or from drivers made of one material to another. While these discontinuities can be pretty subtle, and heaven knows that speaker designers burn barrels of midnight oil working to minimize them, they are there nonetheless. In practice, this means that our ears can and often do pick up on what I’ll call “signature differences” between different sizes and types of drivers. (If you don’t believe these exist at all, try listening to identically-sized tweeters made of different materials—say of doped fabric, polymer films, or various metal alloys—to see if you can spot “signature difference” (I’m betting that, with a little practice, you can and will spot them).

Dispersion-induced discontinuities:

As we ask drive units of a given size to reproduce higher and higher frequencies, their dispersion (that is, the ability to produce evenly balanced output levels not only directly to the front, but also well off to the sides) falls off dramatically. At lower frequencies, where the wavelengths of the sound being reproduced are much longer than drivers are wide, dispersion is good. But at higher frequencies, as wavelengths get shorter and shorter—so that they may be about the same length (or even smaller than) the diameter of the driver—dispersion falls way off, so that drivers are said to be “beaming” (as in the way that a flashlight typically throws most of its light output straight ahead, and not off to the sides). In practice, this means most multi-driver loudspeakers can produce reasonably balanced sound “on-axis” (that is, when measured from directly in front of the speaker), but have distinctly lump-looking response curves when measured to the sides or from above or below the central axis of the speaker, which again causes discontinuities that the ear can and does detect.

Crossover-induced discontinuities:

Most multi-driver loudspeakers use electronic crossover networks, which essentially route different portions of the incoming audio signals to the appropriate drive units—bass frequencies to woofers, middle frequencies to midrange drivers, and so forth. But crossover networks also take on other tasks, such a balancing output levels between drivers, and also governing the “steepness” and phase (or timing characteristics) of the overlap between one driver (or set of drivers) and the next. Given the inherent complexity of the crossover network’s job, it’s inevitable for crossovers to contribute discontinuities and distortions of their own. If you doubt this, you might want to check out some of the relatively rare crossover-less speaker designs on the market to see what happens when you remove crossover networks from the sonic equation.

How do BMR drivers help/what makes them different?

Balanced mode radiators (or BMR drivers) have been around for some time, but have only recently undergone the extensive development work necessary to make them suitable for true hi-fi applications. But here’s the general concept, distilled down to its simplest and most rudimentary form.

Suppose you had a driver that seemingly started out as a conventional piston-type driver, and that was equipped with a light, flat, medium-sized, disc-shaped diaphragm (picture a driver about the size of a traditional midrange driver, but one whose diaphragm was neither a cone nor a dome, but rather a flat disc). But here’s where things get really interesting and—truth be told—a little bit strange. Imagine that this disc-shaped diaphragm behaved pretty much like a rigid piston at lower and middle frequencies, but that as frequencies climb higher we deliberately allowed the diaphragm (and in fact, deliberately designed the diaphragm) to flex with so-called “bending modes,” so that its once rigid and flat disc-shaped surface would instead begin to ripple, with waves of motion that spread out in concentric circles from the center of the diaphragm (where the voice coil is attached) to its outer rim (where the “surround” is attached). But let’s be frank: ordinarily, we would consider such flexing of the diaphragm to be undesirable “break up” and would try to avoid it like the plague (or to damp it out). The key in a BMR driver, however, is that flexing of the diaphragm ; instead, it is carefully balanced and used to our advantage, so that—by design—the driver transitions from pistonic (fore-and-aft) motion to ripple motion as frequencies climb higher and higher. This transition buys us several things.

•No need for midrange-driver-to-tweeter crossovers: a BMR driver as used in the Cambridge Audio Minx satellite speakers can and does cover both midrange and treble frequencies, so that no crossover network is needed. At their present state of development, BMR drivers can handle everything from lower midrange frequencies on up, so that a traditional woofer—a small powered subwoofer in the case of the Minx system—is still required. But who knows what future development possibilities BMR technology might hold?
•No dispersion problems: a BMR driver does not “beam” as frequencies climb higher and higher; on the contrary, dispersion remains broad and evenly balanced from the bottom of its range to the top. This is true because the transition to ripple-mode operation allows even fairly large diameter drivers to disperse well—even at extremely high frequencies.
•No phase or timing problems: a BMR stays in phase with itself (well, plus or minus a bit as in any drive unit) across its entire operating range. What is more, there are “lobing” effects to contend with as in normal multi-driver speakers with separate, dedicated midrange and tweeter drivers.

Put all of these factors together, as Cambridge Audio has done in the Minx system, and you have the recipe for a compact system that can produce an unusually big and sophisticated sound.

Just consider this: until the Minx system came along, the only other firm to apply BMR drivers in a high-end audio context was Naim Audio, which uses BMR drivers in its brilliant Ovator-series floorstanding loudspeakers. Having heard Naim’s Ovators, I can vouch for the fact that they sound terrific, but they are also relatively large and expensive (the top Ovator models cost many thousands of dollars per pair). What’s exciting to me about the Minx rig is that, by design, it makes the advantages of BMR technology accessible in compact format and at Everyman prices.

Stay tuned for a full review of the Cambridge Minx S325 system in an upcoming online issue of The Perfect Vision.

Cambridge Audio is a British manufacturer of high-end audio equipment. As the name suggests, it has its origins in Cambridge, England, where in the early 1960s a group of young technology graduates established a high-technology R&D and prototyping business: Cambridge Consultants.

Company history[edit]

Cambridge Audio Drivers

Origins[edit]

Cambridge Audio began life as a division of Cambridge Consultants in 1968. The company's first product was the 2 × 20W P40 integrated amplifier, which was created by a team that included Gordon Edge and Peter Lee. In addition to an advanced technical specification the P40 had a slim case design by Roy Gray, from Woodhuysen Design.

The P40 would also make history as the first amplifier to use a toroidal transformer,^[1] which would go on to be a standard component inside virtually every high-end amplifier produced since.

Cambridge Audio became a standalone business from the group when a new company, Cambridge Audio Laboratories Ltd, was formed, operating from extensive premises alongside the old Enderby's Mill in St. Ives, Cambridge. The P40 was an immediate success, but would prove difficult to manufacture in any volume, a problem that would be resolved in 1970 with the introduction of the new 2 × 25W P50 model, which was a very similar product with regards to both circuit design and appearance, but had been engineered for mass production. Despite strong sales and rapid growth, the company required increased investment and so was sold in 1971 to Colin Hammond of CE Hammond & Co Ltd – then a very successful distributor of Revox tape recorders and other audio products in the UK, Canada and the USA.^[2]

A new company, Cambridge Audio Ltd, was formed, with leading UK electrical engineer Stan Curtis joining as the organisation's technical director. The St. Ives factory was extensive and at its peak employed more than 300 people. Most of the required components were made under one roof including the circuit boards and the aluminium cases. All transistors were made to CA's specification and even carried the company's own part numbers. Every product was extensively tested after manufacture and a printed certificate was produced for every individual unit detailing the actual measured performance results.

1970s[edit]

1971 also saw the introduction of Cambridge Audio's first loudspeaker with the launch of the R50 transmission line speaker, designed by Bert Webb and also produced at the St. Ives plant.

In 1972 new models included the P100 and P50mkII integrated amplifiers, the R40 transmission line loudspeaker and the T50 FM stereo tuner.

Export sales had also begun and were proving very buoyant, in part due to the introduction of export-only products, including the TL100 and 200 transmission line speakers, the P75X integrated amplifier and the T75X stereo tuner.

Stan Curtis put together a new team and re-designed the existing products as well as introducing a raft of new models. 1973 saw the introduction of the P110 integrated amplifier and the company's first turntable, while the P140X integrated amplifier was introduced for export markets.

Drivers Cambridge Audio Speakers

Other innovations included the design of what was believed to be the world's first digital tuner, the T120, which worked well but proved impractical for volume production.

A major change occurred in 1974 with the introduction of the P60 integrated amplifier, which was designed to be not only better performing than the existing models but also significantly easier to manufacture and therefore at a lower cost. The P60 sold in large numbers and became the best-selling Cambridge model to date with a weekly production run of more than 400 pieces.

Also new were the PA100 dedicated power amplifier, the R40mkII and R50mkII loudspeakers, the P80X integrated amplifier and the TL200mkII loudspeakers for export markets.

Probably the most significant new product arrived in 1975 with the launch of the Classic One 2 × 25W integrated amplifier, one of the first to feature a new circuit design from Cambridge Audio and with much of the circuitry contained in custom-made integrated circuits – another world's first – and using multi-layer boards for the first time.

The first production batch was to be followed by the Classic Two amplifier of similar performance, but offering 100 watts per channel output. Such plans were however soon abandoned with the closure of the St. Ives factory as CE Hammond & Co decided to merge their production assets for all their many businesses into one extensive factory in Byfleet, Surrey.

Many of the experienced Cambridge Audio production team also left the business at this time and after some production issues at the new facility the decision was made to abandon the relatively complex Classic Series in favour of an updated version of the P60 called the P80.

Cambridge Audio ceased to be a priority in the CE Hammond empire and sales declined, until in 1980 the business was sold to Vince Adams, a successful UK hi-fi entrepreneur at the time.

Drivers Cambridge Audio Review

1980s[edit]

The business was relaunched as Cambridge Audio Research Ltd. with former technical director Stan Curtis charged with designing a new line of products.

The new range had styling echoes of the original Cambridge products, but broke with tradition by being physically larger, starting with the P35 integrated amplifier launched in 1983, closely followed by the C75 preamplifier and A75 power amplifier. Financial difficulties for the parent company in 1984 led to Cambridge Audio Research being taken over by Stan and Angie Curtis and renamed Cambridge Audio International. The company moved back to St. Ives in Cambridge.

The next four years saw a rapid expansion of the business with over 16 new products being launched and with export markets re-established in over 28 countries across the world. The amplifier range – C75mkII preamplifier, P40, P55 integrated and A250 power amplifier – received excellent reviews.

In 1985 a major innovative step was made with the launch of the CD1, the world's first two-box CD player. At the time this CD player was widely recognised as the best player available and its design featured many new ideas and a ground-breaking specification. Apart from putting the DAC stages into a separate case, the transport was mounted on a lead beam suspension to reduce disc reading errors; a unique audio stage offered the choice of six alternative playback filters; and the digital-to-analogue conversion was performed by six matched DACs to give linearity down to −120 dB at a time when most players were only linear down to about −94 dB.

The CD1 soon became a three-box player with the arrival of a Quality Assurance Module, which monitored all the errors on the disc and quantified those that could not be corrected. This proved popular with many audiophile enthusiasts and also with specialist record companies around the world. The player used Philips' digitally filtered 14-bit 4x DACs, but with a difference: three DACs were used per channel, two in parallel and one for ranging, rounding the result up to 16 bits overall. While the CD1 remained an audiophile player, there was also demand from both customers and distributors for a more affordable model, which arrived in 1986 with the launch of the CD2. At the time many of the best CD players still used a 14-bit, 4 times oversampling conversion technique, so the Cambridge Audio team set out to achieve a step change in performance by offering for the first time a model with 16-bit 16 times oversampling: a massive improvement in the resolution of the fine detail on the disc. Magazine reviews were outstanding and the company found itself in the enviable position of being back-ordered by six months even before the first unit was delivered.

A new C50 pre-amplifier and A50 power amplifier were introduced and by 1987 – on the back of the success of the new products – turnover had grown to £1M per annum.

The next CD player to be introduced was a mark II version of the CD1. This was launched at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 1988.

Like its predecessor it was a two-box player, but it incorporated a radical 16-bit 32 times oversampling conversion technology derived from that used in the CD2. Production was very limited in volume as the company decided to focus on the mainstream Cambridge Audio product line.

The continued expansion of the company put a strain on both its physical and financial resources and at the end of 1988 Cambridge Audio became part of the Hi-Fi Markets Group. The product range underwent another significant change in appearance with the low profile black cases giving way to full height cases finished in a neutral grey colour. Internally though, the existing Stan Curtis circuit designs were retained with key new product launches for the DAC2 and DAC3 digital-to-analogue converters and the T40 FM tuner.

Within two years Cambridge Audio was purchased by the Wharfedale company, best known for its loudspeakers, which set up a production line at its large facility in Leeds, Yorkshire.

Wharfedale was undergoing major re-organisation by a team that included Stan Curtis. Despite his sentimental attachment to Cambridge Audio, he realised the company needed a new home that could focus on the electronics and so the decision was made to divest Cambridge Audio and in 1994 the company would be sold for the last time before beginning more than 20 years of growth, innovation and profitability.

Audio Partnership[edit]

The purchaser of the business in 1994 was the newly-established Audio Partnership, which was formed by two entrepreneurial businessmen, Julian Richer and James Johnson-Flint, who were already enjoying significant success with audio retailer Richer Sounds.

Audio Partnership was specifically formed to look for opportunities in acquiring under-developed brands with the intention of providing the investment to allow stability and growth, both in the UK and overseas. Target companies would be ideally British brands that had already developed exceptional technical and design credibility and popularity, but had been lacking in resources or funding to be consistent market leaders in the UK or other markets.

Cambridge Audio was considered a perfect fit and became the company's first acquisition and remains Audio Partnership's prime focus some 22 years later.

A key element in the purchase of Cambridge Audio by Audio Partnership was the determination that the brand would continue as a true creator, developer and manufacturer of its own dedicated products. From the start of this new era the company was committed to the idea that Cambridge Audio should continue to create ground-breaking, original and proprietary technologies.

From the first day of ownership, work commenced to build an in-house engineering team starting with mechanical engineering and industrial design while exclusive contracts were signed with the most prominent and successful freelance audio electronics engineers of the day, including: Mike Creek of Creek Audio, John Westlake and the engineering team at Pink Triangle (audio manufacturer)

1990s[edit]

One of the first products to benefit was the DacMagic 1 digital-to-analogue converter, which was launched in 1994 – and later, as Dacmagic 2, was Cambridge Audio's first outright What HiFi? Awards winner as the best DAC of the year.^[3] Another product was the launch of the A1 amplifier in 1995, which was initially only available the UK. Consequently, the A1 integrated amplifier was a success both in the UK and on this high the company began to rebuild Cambridge Audio's international network, adding new distributors in France, Canada, the US, Hong Kong, Germany and Denmark.

The A1 would stay in production – latterly as the MKII and MKIII versions – for more than a decade, becoming one of Cambridge Audio's more popular products with more than 200,000 units sold.

In 1999 the company launched the first Cambridge Audio web site while also moving into the home cinema market with the V500 Dolby Digital Decoder.

1999 also saw the S700 Isomagic, combining a DAC with an isolation platform to mount a CD player and other electronics. The S700 was also the world's second DAC to be compatible with the then new HDCD format, after Pink Triangle's Dacapo DAC, whose HDCD implementation was developed in partnership with the inventor of HDCD, Pacific Microsonics.^[4]

2000s[edit]

The creation of a complete in-house team also allowed Cambridge Audio to begin work on its first coherent range of products, culminating in the launch of the Azur series in 2003.

The Azur range featured seven models designed together as an identifiable family that included the 340A, 540A and 640A integrated amplifiers. There were also 340C, 540C and 640C CD players plus the 640T DAB/FM tuner.

2005 saw the introduction of another product with the launch of the M1 touch screen 8-in-1 remote control. Also by 2005, Cambridge products could claim to be on sale in more than 50 countries worldwide.

2006 was another key year in the development of the Cambridge Audio brand with the introduction of the Azur 840A integrated amplifier, 840E preamplifier, 840W power amplifier and the 840C CD player, the first products that the company described as 'affordable' high-end audio.

The 840A integrated amplifier also introduced Cambridge Audio's Crossover Displacement (Class-XD Amplifier) design, which combined the performance of a class A design with the efficiency of class AB. The technology would go on to help the 840A be selected as the 2007/2008 two-channel amplifier of the year at the prestigious EISA Awards.^[5] The 840C was the first product to feature another new technology that Cambridge Audio had developed with Swiss-based Anagram Technologies, Adaptive Time Filtering (ATF) up-sampling.

ATF up-samples any digital signal – such as CD's 16-bit 44.1 kHz – to a 24-bit, 384 kHz signal, which presents a much more accurate audio soundwave.^[6] Both Class XD and ATF remain proprietary technologies only found on Cambridge Audio high-end products.

2006 also saw Cambridge Audio launch the first truly affordable music server, the Azur 640H, a networked CD player that also featured a 160 GB hard disc.

2010s[edit]

2010 saw another product with the arrival of the first Minx loudspeakers, designed as a sub/sat system, but with the emphasis on sound quality.

BMR technology uses a single flat panel to produce an ultra-wide range of frequencies, eliminating the need for a separate tweeter and mid-range driver.^[7]

2011 was another landmark year for Cambridge Audio with the introduction of the NP30, the brand's first network music player using Cambridge Audio's proprietary StreamMagic streaming platform.^[8]

The core IP for the StreamMagic platform, a joint development between Cambridge Audio and Cambridge-based technology company Reciva, brought Internet radio to Cambridge products for the first time.

One consequence of the close cooperation with Reciva on such a strategically important technology was Cambridge Audio agreeing to acquire the company's IP in 2011 as well as taking on the company's software team and establishing a technology hub in Cambridge responsible for the ongoing development of the StreamMagic platform.^[9]

The StreamMagic platform has continued to be developed in the subsequent period and has gone on to power some of the company's products including StreamMagic 6 introduced in 2012 and the Minx Xi introduced in 2013.

The 840 Series was given a thorough update in 2012, with the new 851 series taking a significant step upmarket for both build and sound quality.^[10] The range launched with the 851A integrated amplifier and 851C CD player/DAC but would go on to include the 851E and 851W pre- and power amplifiers, the 851D dedicated high-end DAC and the 851N network player.

The 851A and 851C would also win Cambridge Audio their second EISA Award as the Best Two Channel System in 2012–2013.^[11]

Harking back to some of Cambridge Audio's earliest products, the new range of Aero bookshelf and floor-standing loudspeakers were launched in 2013 and again made use of BMR technology, but in a new third-generation proprietary version.

With the BMR driver covering both mid-range and high frequencies a much simpler and less intrusive crossover could be used lower in frequency in a region where the ear is less sensitive. The result was lower distortion and a more cohesive, immersive and better-distributed sound – which integrated particularly well when used as a 5.1 system with the dedicated AV products from the range.^[12]

The Aero range enjoyed won What Hi-Fi?Sound and Vision magazine's Best Speaker Package of the Year award in both 2013 and 2014^[13][14] as well as pride of place in a key What Hi-Fi? AV reference listening room system. The Aeromax range followed in 2014, using new in-house developed fourth generation BMR drivers, improved cabinet construction and upgraded crossover components.^[15]

2013 also saw a major new development for the brand with the introduction of the first wireless speakers,

initially with the mains-powered Minx Air 100 and Air 200 products, closely followed by the battery-powered Minx Go speaker.

The wireless speakers would introduce Cambridge Audio to a new more mainstream audience; in particular, the Minx would become the brand's fastest selling product.

Reaching a new customer base would also require Cambridge Audio to adjust its distribution model, with direct sales from the company's web site beginning in 2014. In the same year UK retailer John Lewis also partnered with the brand.2015 would see a completely new range introduced with the launch of the CX series, the result of Cambridge Audio's largest investment in a product range and representing a significant step forward in terms of product design, build and sound quality.^[16] The new CX Series included: the CXA60 and 80 integrated amplifiers, the CXC CD transport, the CXN network music player, the CXU universal Blu-ray player and the CXR120 and CXR200 AV receivers.

The CX Series was launched to huge critical acclaim, in particular the CXA60 and CXN were voted Product of the Year at the 2015 What Hi-Fi? Awards,^[17][18] with the CXC also winning Best CD Transport under £500^[19] and the CXU winning the Award for Best Blu-ray Player £300+.^[20]The success continued for a second year at the 2016 What Hi-Fi? Awards, when the CXA60 retained its crown as the outright amplifier of the year,^[21] while the CXN won the award for the best music streamer between £500–£1000. The CX series products were joined by the 851N, which won the outright award for best music streamer 2016.^[22]

Continuing their range of wireless products, Cambridge audio partnered with Marton Mills to release Yoyo, a new range of three Bluetooth speakers revealed in September 2016.

2020s[edit]

Cambridge Audio announced the release of the Melomania 1, a bluetooth wireless earphone in June 2019. The Melomania 1s had reviews from WhatHiFi?^[23]Techradar^[24] and Forbes.^[25] The difficulties of getting a good fit in the ear were noted.

Manufacturing and the company today[edit]

Audio Partnership set up production facilities in China, with Cambridge Audio products manufactured in the country from 1994.

The company established an office in Hong Kong in 2001 and an office in mainland China in 2011, allowing Cambridge Audio to have its own production and QC engineers on site. Sales offices and teams were established in Germany and Hong Kong in 2015.

Investment in new products continues and the company now employs 91 people including an in-house engineering team of 24, based at the Cambridge Audio HQ in London, SE1 and at the company's Cambridge base.

The current annual turnover is in excess of £20 million.^{[citation needed]}

References[edit]

1. ^Colloms, Martin (2009). 'HiFi Critic Vol 3 issue Number 4'. HiFi Critic.
2. ^Cotton, Charles (May 2012). The Cambridge Phenomenon.
3. ^What Hi-Fi team (1996). 'The year's best hi-fi'. What Hi-Fi?.
4. ^http://www.uhfmag.com/Issue61/Isomagic.html
5. ^'www.eisa.eu'. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
6. ^Harley, Robert. 'CAMBRIDGE AUDIO AZUR 840C CD PLAYER'. The Absolute Sound.
7. ^'Cambridge Audio'.
8. ^'Cambridge Audio'.
9. ^'Home'. What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision.
10. ^'The Latest Flagship Components From Cambridge Audio'. Tone Publications.
11. ^'EISA'. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
12. ^'Cambridge Audio Aero 5.1 review'. What Hi-Fi?.
13. ^'Whathifi.com/awards'.
14. ^'Whathifi.com/awards'.
15. ^'Cambridge Audio'.
16. ^'Cambridge Audio'. 26 August 2017.
17. ^'Whathifi.com/awards'.
18. ^'Whathifi.com/awards'.
19. ^'Whathifi.com/awards'.
20. ^'Whathifi/awards'.
21. ^'2016 Stero Amplifiers'. What Hi-Fi?.
22. ^'Best Streamers 2016'. What Hi-Fi?.
23. ^June 2019, What Hi-Fi? 27. 'Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 review'. whathifi. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
24. ^February 2020, Olivia Tambini 04. 'Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 review'. TechRadar. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
25. ^Sparrow, Mark. 'The Melomania 1 True Wireless Earphones From Cambridge Audio Sound Superb, And They'll Play For Up To Nine Hours On A Single Charge'. Forbes. Retrieved 8 September 2020.