All-in-One Player by Cambridge Audio EVO 150

I purchased the EVO 150 in early November and wanted to listen to it for a month or two before commenting. I actually don't usually comment on Amazon, or any other site, but after listening to the EVO 150 I wanted to leave some feedback. First, let me say I am no professional audiophile at all. I have always been searching for the perfect sound through separate devices over the years, always to be satisfied but not overwhelmed. I have spent a lot of money over the years with NAD, Denon, Marantz, Onkyo, etc. and I have demoed various speakers many times throughout the years. I have reached a time in my life that I am tired of separates and always tweaking my system. I just want to sit back and enjoy the sound. Second, I have given away all of my equipment, except for my speakers. I purchased Monitor Audio GS60's, sometime around 2009 in Piano Black, and I wanted to try to find a piece of equipment that would drive them properly. Trust me I was very hesitant that any one piece of equipment would be able to drive my speakers properly. However, I never had Cambridge Audio equipment and always wondered if they would match up good with my Monitor Audio speakers since they were both from England. So after a lot of research I decided to pull the trigger on the Cambridge Audio EVO 150. I chose the 150 for its increase wattage and flexibility. I plan on adding a turntable next. Again, I did not want a separate streamer, DAC, AVR, Amp, etc. I just wanted simplicity and good sound. Good sound would have been nice, however I am here to tell you the sound out of this unit is GREAT! My speakers have never sounded so good. I am shocked at the performance of the EVO 150. The sound is crisp and the separation of the various instruments and voices are amazing. For now I have been using the device 100% as a streaming device through Apple Music. I do have my settings on Hi-Res. The display on the EVO 150 shows I am streaming at 44.1kHz/16bit and the artwork is a joy to observe as various songs are played through this unit. All I can say is that after all of these years (ok I am 55 years old) I am 100% satisfied with the music being played from the EVO 150. I think the last time I felt this way was the first time I played a SACD of Pink Floyd through a surround system I had, but that's another conversation. I saw there was one person that gave this unit 1 star for the quality build. Ok maybe his was delivered in bad shape, but I have to believe that was an exception, not the norm. Cambridge Audio is known for high quality equipment and I believe my unit came triple boxed and packaged beautifully by Cambridge Audio. The 1 star is not a fair review because it had nothing to do with the sound the EVO 150 produces. I am trying not to sound like a Cambridge Audio "fanboy" but I will admit this one single piece of equipment has me streaming music I have not listened to in many years, and everything sounds better than I ever remember. As you can tell I am very satisfied with this purchase. Yes I was hesitant based on the price, but when compared to buying separates, I can honestly say I would have spent more on separate pieces, and I doubt the sound would have been as good.

No regrets. Money well spent -- I love this thing! My set up is Rega P6, Kef R3 Meta and Kef KC62 Sub. For me, this hits the sweet spot in almost every way.. I can not overstate how well the deign is... Extremely well thought out both functionally and visually. Also I truly underestimate how much of a difference the DAC would make -- it is fantastic... Streaming, "Radio" and HD tracks are significantly better now. The Amp can handle a lot and never feel like its staining. There app works very well too.. If i had to give a "negative" -- The App can probably be tweaked a little by adding a few features for me, but marginal type of changes. The App is very good, but the design of the Amp and Remote set such a high bar that the App's design feels slightly less thought out. Overall bottom line: I highly recommend this Amp.

I purchased this unit directly from Cambridge Audio, so this review will not carry a "Confirmed Purchase" tag. This is basically a very good amp. However, the upper partials of the sound are output as so bright that they almost border on the shrill. I had to purchase a subwoofer to balance the high/low spectrum. And I was disappointed with the layout of the connections area on the back of the unit. I could no longer use my usual "banana" plugs to connect my speakers because the power-cord plug of this unit is totally in the way. Instead I had to do it the old-fashioned way -- strip insulation off the speaker wire and then insert bare copper into the unit’s apertures. Pretty retro for a $3,000 component.

It took me a while to comprehend the equipment after replacing an older generation amp. Now that streaming is the thing, there are lots of options for playing music or listening to the radio and the EVO does a great job of providing many inputs. My only caveat is that my phono is a moving coil but I already had a phono preamp so it plugs directly into the Auxiliary input. I was pleasantly surprised that I could record LPs on my computer using the pre-amp output plugged directly into my computer's sound card. The sound quality is terrific. Using the StreamMagic app allows you to adjust the bass and treble. Overall a great amplifier.

Excellent product

Open box and what I see - rust outside on some screws ... wood side panels are bent. It's incredible !

A modern interconnected sound system!! Impressive dynamics and imaging. Well worth the $$$! Easy setup and conversion with my multiple independent DA convertors and phono amps! Did the right move investing in this integrated system.