The woofer units are carefully designed to balance clear, articulate mid-range with powerful bass. The multifibre cones are attached to the chassis by fluted rubber surrounds. These effectively damp unwanted resonances, making the speakers sound exceptionally smooth and life-like. Just like the partnering CD player, the AXA35 feels solid when you lift it. There’s no flex in its casework which is perfectly fitted and neatly presented with the side screws in deep recesses to obscure them from view. The top of the amp is vented with a grid of tiny holes to let the heat escape, though it doesn’t get above mildly warm in operation. Having said that, the AXA35 arguably sounds clearer and has a more neutral tonal balance, doing more than enough to justify a five-star rating at this price point. It looks and sounds the part, and if this is just a hint of what the rest of the Cambridge Audio’s AX range has to offer, we’re in for a sonic treat.

The AXA35 has plenty of power to fill a mid-sized room providing you’re using efficient speakers. Most budget amps of the ‘70s and ‘80s were this way, and they survived many a party. The A1, the amplifier that revived the Cambridge brand after the Audio Partnership takeover, was only 25 watts per channel and it can make a lot of noise with the right speakers. By the standards of budget-conscious stereo amplifiers, the Cambridge Audio AXA35 is a remarkably self-assured listen. No matter the sort of material you serve it up, there’s no suggestion it ever feels out of its depth.Otherwise the amps are functionally similar, broadly speaking. One reviewer referenced past Cambridge amps as having “something of the biscuit tin about them” with “casework that wasn’t what you’d call well-damped”. Neither comment I feel is justified based on my experience with multiple iterations of the A1, the A5, early CD players and the first models in the Azur range. It should be noted though that abusing the tone controls to get more bass out of a low-powered system is not always a good idea. It’s nothing to do with some snobbish view that “it’s not how hi-fi should be heard” blah blah, but because with a 35W amp excessive use of the tone controls at high volume will cause the amp to clip sooner. Clipping, a flattening of the peaks in the audio waveform, is more often than not the cause of blown speakers, not excessive power. Thus you’re more likely to damage your speakers with this amp if you turn the bass to max and crank up the volume than you will if you leave the tone controls flat. Skilfully engineered, the Cambridge Audio AXC25 puts the emphasis firmly on sound quality. Features such as separate power and output circuit boards and a centrally mounted CD transport help reduce distortion and maximise the potential of the high quality Wolfson DAC (Digital to Analogue Convertor). Features are basic but the sound is certainly a step above its rivals.

It's hard to believe that the original Wharfedale Diamond is now past its thirtieth birthday. All those decades ago, it was the Diamond speaker that proved, for the first time, that excellent quality sound could be achieved from a small, budget speaker. Since then there have been dozens of imitators, but the Diamonds remain amongst the best available. The AXR100 mostly mirrors its brother's spec sheet, building on it with a 100-watt output as well as twin optical and single coaxial inputs.While car insurance may seem expensive for new drivers, there’s a few things you can do to help bring your price down:

This care also extends to the DAC or digital-analogue convertor which turns that series of ones and zeros from your CD into the traditional analogue wave form. It’s important to keep everything in the right place and neatly in time so the analogue wave sounds as natural as possible. Cambridge have use a WM8524 chip at the heart of this circuitry which is a great component at this price point. One thing to note: you don’t have to use the internal DAC on the Cambridge AXC35. Unlike the AXC25, you can choose to bypass the internal DAC and send the digital signal from your CD player out to an external unit which can do an even better job. It’s a great feature for those keen to tinker and improve their sound in future. A unit like the Cambridge Audio DAC Magic Plus would be a great upgrade here.It’s true to say that the new casework is better, but examples of poorly damped biscuit-tin casework are more prevalent in boutique British equipment at several times the price of any Cambridge. Poorly built casework and preschool electronics design aside, some of that gear is ugly enough to offend a blind man’s sense of aestheticism.