Solid build quality of unit and remote; expansive soundstage; very good detail and nice vocal rendition.
Bass quite tight and restrained in comparison to my bass-heavy DVD player.

Hit and miss reliability or quality control; a unit that simply wont recognise discs should not end up in a store.

Note: Bought new June 2008, but drop-down menu only goes to 2006.

Having played CD's with my DVD player for some time, I took the plunge with a dedicated CD player. I nearly bought a Marantz CD6002, but when comparing in store I opted for the Cambridge; it had more bass punch and cleaner vocals than the Marantz, although the Marantz did sound good.
I was initially very disappointed; upon getting it home, it refused to read any discs at all and it had to go back.
The second unit worked without a hitch, and I have to say it sounds superb out of the box (I'm comparing it to my DVD player though). I look forward to it opening up a bit more with time, as I'm assured it will. The biggest leap was in stereo separation which seems to push the soundstage beyond the outer edges of the speakers; it's even better though headphones! Detail is also fantastic, although I noticed this shows recording flaws with a few poorer CD's, which generally stay hidden with cheaper players.
I have to wonder why Cambridge called this the "Version 2" of the 640, as it could almost be regarded as a different model with twin DAC's, new power supply etc.

Price, reliability, overall smooth sound regardless of source musical stylings.

NONE at this price point.

Really... for under $600...

What to expect? A very solid CDP I have been spinning for over a year @ 20+ hours per week. Overall a damn fine unit with few faults. I run a very pedestrian setup - Cambridge 640C V.2, Denon PMA-200 IVR, and a pair of Paradigm Studio 100 v4. Mogami cable throughout., 10Ga to speakers. Fairly big room with 10' ceilings.

I listen to all sorts of music, and the Cambridge 640C v2 is a fine player that sounds good and is reliable. Even sound across the board.

Customer Service

Never had an issue, works every time I power it up...

Similar Products Used:

Denon, Sony

Natural Tone, Great remote control, Midrange.

Bass focus, treble, soundstaging.

The Azur 640C V.2 is a pretty good player for the price. Build quality (at least from feel and weight) is good. The player's remote is great for the price and operationally the player is good.

The sound is laid back but with fair rhythmic integrity. It has a really nice tone and will play any genre of music well. The midrange is its best talent. I found its focus was lacking, the bass power and control isn't great, the treble isn't detailed enough for me and can be splashy and soft at times. Dynamic resolve isn't as good as the magazines reviews suggest. The soundstage isn't very wide at all.

However, how much can you expect for a budget player. I think in the right system with an owner who appreciates its laid back sound I think it will be a good player.

Unfortunately, I found it boring and ended up having a system playing background music and not holding my interest in music that normally really connects with me.

Very refined and smooth sound

Long burn-in

I need to preface this review by saying I have the 640C v.2. It is the second generation of the product described in the previous reviews. Secondly the dropscreen prompting a model year did not give 2007 as an option. So I indicated 2006 which is incorrect.

Getting down to the nuts and bolts this is a great CD player. After a burn-in of about 150 hours it produces a very smooth and laid back sound. It does not suffer from being overly bright. It will not create the magic of making bad CDs sound good however. Good CDs will sound better than ever which is a satisfactory goal.

So far I would say the classical music in my collection has shown the most improvement in presentation. Crummy low budget jazz stuff still suffers. Popular music like Lyle Lovett sounds surprisingly good.

Looks, remote control, connections.

Build quality

Arrived defective out of the box. Both the salespeople and friends in the business have told me that the ribbon connectors are flimsy and often break in transit.

Error messages common regardless of quality of the CD inserted.

Customer Service

Good from Audio Advisor. Took the unit back without hassle but I had to pay over $16.00 in return shipping charges.

Similar Products Used:

Samsung CD/DVD player, Hitachi (Denon) CD changer

Excellent sound - but reliablility makes it useless - AVOID!

Very unreliable - left channel stopped working on two models in less than a month!
Hard-to-read display

I brought my 640c V2 less than a month ago & as soon as I got it connected, I was hooked on the clarity & depth it brought to so many CDs - I felt like I was rediscovering my music collection. However, after one week the left channel stopped working. I took it back to Richer Sounds who expressed their suprise. Two weeks later and the replacement has developed the same fault. Astounded, either by the extent of my bad luck or the poor reliability of the player I wanted to find out which of these it was - many of these reviews have mentioned the same fault! I then thought maybe this was a bad batch, but the reviews on this site are two years old - how can a company with such a reputation for excellent products turn out such unreliable rubbish? Mine will be going for good tomorrow - trouble is I don't know what to replace it with...

Customer Service

Richer Sounds helpful, although I'm now doubtful that CA are as good as they claim.

Similar Products Used:

None

build,detailed,lifelike and real presentation without any artificial sweetness created by rolling off highs(remember old alfa series of arcam cdp)

initially it may pu spoil the mood by being very very brash, non coherent and upfront. see the out come after at least 70 to 80 houres of burning in , not continious though. sometimes open close/ button response is slow. transport intially noisy. dont go for amp on bright side.( i am using it with marantz pm7001)

very detailed,may shame some sacd players in details and dynmics. it may sound thin and flat to some but that is what should be the freqency response of a cdp. very much a 3d sounstage with very clear noiselessness. brings the details which were previously faint. try diana krall love sceans cd , you will realize the abilty of this player to make every thing lifelike. at this price nothing can match.

Customer Service

good

Similar Products Used:

onkyo liverpool

very much detailed and clear sound, very good build

initially sound so much brash. takes at least 70 t0 80 hours for burning in. cd mechanism noisy intially.not for scrached cds.tray open button responds poorly.

very detailed.very good sound staging.tried diana krall love sceans album, felt like diana singing in the room itself. plenty of air,seperation. good for every kind of music.detail and clarity wise it beats some sacd players also.

Customer Service

good

Similar Products Used:

onkyo liverpool

Great sound at an entry level high price

The highs lack that last bit of "air" but still very good, especially at this price.

As I readsome of the reviews for this player by the so called professional reviewers, I read comments like shallow soundstage, with somewhat harsh highs, and tonally thin. I guess that’s why reviews are subjective because I don’t get that with this player, my NAD C272 integrated amp, and my Definitive Technology BP7006 speakers. The soundstage is huge, extending at least three feet beyond the speakers with very good depth. In my system in my room, the soundstage almost envelops you with the right source material. Image placement is also excellent with a palpable “you are there” presence. The player is very detailed, reproducing all of those little things in recordings that you don’t hear with the average budget player. The base is tight and extended, with neutral mids. I would never describe the highs as light and airy but this could also be the NAD and BP7006 speakers as neither is the last word in producing high end air. I would say that the highs are detailed without any digital harshness. Maybe just a tad bit thin-especially when the music gets complex - but only in absolute terms and when compared to players costing much, much more. Substituting interconnects and system matching may also help. It is still way better than the average budget or most other entry level high end players that I’ve heard. Ultimately the Cambridge Audio 640C II offers more than a glimpse of high end sound at an entry level price.

Excellent imaging with a wide and deep soundstage
Good value - Lot's of high end sound at an entry level high end price. You would have had to spend a lot more money just a few years ago to get this kind of performance.

Highs lacking a bit in high end air but generally well done.

As I read the reviews for this player by the so called professional reviewers, I read comments like shallow soundstage, with somewhat harsh highs, and tonally thin. I guess that’s why reviews are subjective because I don’t get that with this player and my NAD C272 integrated amp and my Definitive Technology BP7006 speakers. The soundstage is outstanding, extending at least three feet beyond the speakers. Depth too is very good, with very good (not excellent) layering. Image placement is excellent with a palpable “you are there” presence. The player is very detailed, reproducing all of those little things in recordings that you don’t hear with the average budget player. Tonally, the base is tight and extended, with neutral mids. I would never describe the highs as light and airy but this could also be the NAD and BP7006 speakers as neither is the last word in producing high end air. I would say that the highs are detailed without any digital harshness. Maybe just a tad bit thin-especially when the music gets complex - but only in absolute terms and when compared to players costing much, much more. It is still way better than the average budget or even entry level high end player. Substituting interconnects and system matching may also help. Ultimately this player offers more than a glimpse of high end digital sound at an entry level high end price.

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Replaced a highly modified Marantz CD-67 SE