Jalen Sigh Tech

Verdict

The EXA100 takes everything that the CXA81 MkII does, proceeds to do a bit more and then goes on to do it all that little bit better. It’s a seriously capable amplifier that never loses sight of being an absolute joy to listen to

Introduction

When it comes to the business of making integrated amplifiers, Cambridge Audio has a pretty formidable track record. It’s a category that the company has been active in for decades and they’ve turned out some truly outstanding models in that time.

The EXA100 is the latest arrival and its role is pretty straightforward. Cambridge Audio makes the (excellent) CXA81 MkII at £1000 and it also makes the (no less excellent) Edge A at a rather more significant £4800. The EXA100 is intended to bridge that gap, combining a little of both models to give you a taste of Edge ownership at less than half the price. That’s a pretty enticing proposition.

The catch to this is that the reason the Edge A costs a lot of money is because it’s very, very complex. Counterwound transformers, direct coupled output, curved casework and integrated volume and input controls are very cool things but they all contribute to the asking price.

There’s also the small detail that the EXA100 looks… quite a lot… like the CXA81 MkII (so much so, I took pictures for this review in a different place to the CXA81 MkII images to try and make sure they didn’t look too alike). Is this an affordable amp pretending to be something else or the new sweet spot of the range?

Availability

The EXA100 is available now and in the UK it is yours for £1999. In the USA, it is available for $2199 (a direct sales model helping to keep pricing particularly keen in this instance). In Australia, the price is $3799 AUD and it is listed as being available in the region already.

This is a fair amount of money for an integrated amplifier but, as I shall cover, the amount of additional equipment you would need to build a system around the EXA100 need not be very extensive at all so you would be able to divert the better part of your budget towards it if you wanted.

Design

• Substantial, all metal casework
• Direct input selection
• Grey… with a hint of black

Let’s cut right to the chase on this one. The EXA100 looks a lot like the CXA81 MkII; quite a lot more than it looks like an Edge A anyway. The two amps are the same size, have the same basic layout and the same controls.

What might not be conveyed terribly well in the photos though is that the EXA100 feels considerably heftier than the CXA81 MkII. The front panel is thicker and more substantial and the volume knob is more tactile. The effect is still that of a CXA81 MkII that has had a glow up but that glow up is more effective than you might think.

One feature of the design is shared with the CXA81 MkII and that is a very welcome one. This is an amp with no less than ten inputs (don’t worry, I’ll cover them all in the next section) and every single one of them can be selected directly from the front panel and the remote control. This sounds very minor but it is actually a pretty rare thing in this day and age.

It’s very unlikely you will use all ten inputs on the amp and it’s equally unlikely that they’ll all be next to each other on the cycle so this gives you the means to go direct to the connections you actually use. What’s more you can do this on the supplied remote handset as well.

The large black strake at the front of the EXA100 is the major visual difference to the CXA and this looks better than I thought it would. In recent years, Cambridge Audio has stopped offering products in black and silver and instead moved to a ‘one shade fits all’ grey. I’ve mixed feelings about this; while I think that Cambridge Audio products are good looking things, they don’t tend to match other devices that well. That black section on the EXA100 means it does a better job of sitting with black devices than either the CX or the Edge models and that’s no bad thing.

Features

• 100 watts of power
• Digital input board- now with HDMI eARC
• Analogue inputs and outputs but no phono stage
• Still needs a digital source… and the matching one is probably overkill

If you are looking for mountains of extra power from your additional outlay, you have come to the wrong place I’m afraid. Power rises slightly to 100 watts into 8 ohms and 155 watts into 4 ohms. These are better numbers than the CXA81 MkII (and more than enough for domestic use) but it’s not exactly a dramatic increase. The numbers don’t tell the whole story though.

The EXA100 uses a single shielded toroidal transformer mounted in the centre of the chassis which is flanked by heatsinks and it’s still an extremely substantial quantity of amplifier, backed up by improvements to the components in the output stage. It retains the same A and B switchable speaker outputs too which is potentially handy.

The EXA100 features a digital board that is pretty much a complete carry over from the smaller CXA81 MkII. Built around an ES9018K2M DAC, it offers two optical, two coaxial and one USB B input, together with support for aptX HD Bluetooth. Maximum sample rate handling is via the USB input and stretches to PCM at 384kHz and DSD256 which is slightly less than dedicated Cambridge Audio streamers but still pretty respectable numbers and more than enough for most needs.

The significant addition to the EXA100 is an HDMI eARC connection. This makes connecting a TV much easier and I have to say that this is one of the best implementations I’ve ever tested. The Cambridge Audio will start every time a TV is powered on regardless of the input that was selected when it was switched off and the volume sync is perfect.

The analogue connections are also carried over wholesale from the CXA81 MkII. It’s equipped with a single XLR input supported by three RCA inputs and another RCA input that is shared over input 1 with the XLR connection (which again can be selected on the remote). There are separate stereo pre outs and a mono subwoofer out which is usefully flexible. What you don’t get is a phono stage. Cambridge Audio stopped fitting internal phono stages some years ago and hasn’t been tempted to start again. If you are a turntable user, the presence of that input would have me looking at some of the interesting balanced devices hitting the market.

The caveat to this is that Cambridge Audio doesn’t make such a thing. In fact in terms of partnering equipment, nothing the company makes is a truly perfect fit for the EXA100. The phono stages are good but really designed for the CX models and the matching EXN100 streamer is a superb bit of kit in its own right but doubles up a lot of the functionality that the EXA100 has already. This is the sort of amp that would really benefit more from something like the Volumio Rivo, than the streamer notionally designed to partner it.  

Sound Quality

• Delivers the Cambridge Audio ‘house sound’
• Exceptionally consistent across digital and analogue inputs
• Excellent with TV and Film
• Genuinely good fun

I have been lucky enough to have used an Edge A integrated amplifier as a piece of test equipment for a long time now. I’ve notched up literally thousands of hours with it over the years and I know it very well. As such, please don’t take it lightly when I state that the EXA100 sounds closer to its big brother than its little one, however much it might look like the latter. Key to this is a ‘house sound’ that Cambridge Audio products have been demonstrating for a few years now. Like the CXA81 MkII, the EXA100 won’t blow you away in the first fifteen minutes but after two hours, you’ll be completely onboard.

What makes this amp so appealing is how it is able to handle anything you throw at it without it favouring any one style. You can ask it to play the modern, arty jazz of Portico Quartet’s Knee Deep in the North Sea and it captures the delicacy and fluidity of the material. Nothing is forced or strained and the level of tonal realism and sheer presence on offer is enough to make you forget that there are electronics involved in the performance.

You can then, change tack completely, fire up King of the Streets by Lazerhawk in all its kitschy eighties synthy glory and the EXA100 is potent, fast on its feet and genuinely ballistic. It doesn’t matter what’s in your music collection, the EXA100 will sound good with it. This exceptional even handedness is something the company excels at and it’s very evident here.

Where the EXA100 is more akin to the Edge A is that there is a greater sense of scale and authority on offer here that allows larger scale material to sound more confident and expansive. I have used the review sample with a pair of Neat Petite Classic standmount speakers; a compact if surprisingly potent little thing. The EXA100 simply extracts more bottom end from them than you would reasonably think is possible. Combine this with that unforced presentation and the EXA100 simply sounds more confident and effortless than the CXA81 MkII does.

Something that is also very welcome is that this impression holds up over both the analogue and digital boards. I’ve tested the review unit via its USB input from a Roon Nucleus, via a matching EXN100 streamer and with a Technics SL-1300G turntable and iFi ZEN 3 Phono stage and, while there are differences reflected in the character of the sources, the basic qualities of the amp have never wavered. Even using my Oppo phone via aptX HD Bluetooth keeps a significant portion of what the amp can do. It doesn’t really matter how you see yourself using the EXA100, it’s going to deliver what it is capable of.

It also works brilliantly as a partner for TV and film work. You can watch the final city sequence of the original Transformers movie and every moronic syllable of dialogue is intelligible while the (many) explosions retain a satisfyingly visceral welly to them. Again, that all round ability shines through here. This is an amp as happy with Taskmaster as it is The Three Body Problem and it further helps the perception that you’ll use it all the time rather than for special events.

And you will use it all the time because, beyond the user friendliness and even handedness, this amp is plain and simple good fun. At one point, I found myself listening an album by Fingerprintz; a near forgotten Scottish post punk band called Distinguishing Marks. Until very recently it was only available on vinyl and the combination of Technics 1300G and the Cambridge was a sublimely enjoyable way of enjoying these effortlessly catchy tunes.

More than technical excellence, it’s this ability to get you caring about the music that impresses and the Cambridge Audio absolutely excels at it.

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