Cambridge Audio EVO 150 Review

Cambridge Audio, UK, announced a high-value and high-performance product at its London headquarters-the Evo integrated audio system! Its advent means tremendous reform and progress! And here is the introduction of Cambridge Audio EVO 150.

For more than 50 years, Cambridge Audio has been at the forefront of audio innovation in the UK, even worldwide. Evo represents a development in the HiFi field: a music player that combines timeless design, cutting-edge technology, intelligent streaming and incredible audio performance. You only need to add a pair of speakers to start listening to music.

Simple and Elegant Design

The chief designer of Cambridge Audio, Ged Martin, chose the best quality materials and used the most elegant industrial design principles in his London studio to create Evo. This product advocates simplicity and durability.

Evo draws inspiration from the wooden decoration of Cambridge Audio’s iconic product P40, with beautiful walnut side panels that complement the smooth black alumina panels. Evo also offers moulded black side panels made of Richlite, an innovative new material mainly made of recycled paper. The side panels can be replaced according to the style of each customer.

Cambridge Audio EVO series is Cambridge Audio’s new all-in-one products, including EVO 75 and EVO 150. In appearance, there is little difference between the two, the whole structure and even the design are the same. What is so special about the design? It uses the flagship model Edge series, the same coaxial volume control and the source switch knob concept. The feel is very similar to the Edge series.

High-Quality Full-Power Audio

At the London headquarters, a team of talented engineers spent hundreds of hours listening to Evo and adjusting it to perfection. All of this ensures that Evo provides an enjoyable sound performance, no matter what you are listening to.

Cambridge Audio Evo 150 streaming player uses high-quality components powered by the revolutionary Hypex NCore® Class D amplifier, which can reproduce every detail in music while remaining compact and energy-efficient. The Evo 150 has a rated power of 150 watts per channel, and Evo 75 has a power of 75 watts per channel.

The output power of the two devices using the Hypex NCore Class D digital amplifier circuit for the first time is also higher than that of Cambridge Audio’s previous products. So the degree of freedom when matching speakers is also greater. In addition to the amplifier circuit, EVO 150 and EVO 75 also have a little bit of decoding different technique. Although ESS produces both, Evo 150 uses ES9018K2M, and Eco 75 uses the sampling rate supported by ES9016K2M.

Streaming Features

The core of Cambridge Audio Evo 150 is Cambridge Audio’s powerful StreamMagic platform. It is designed to be the best streaming media platform, supporting the latest digital music formats and services. Both Evos use the powerful ESS Sabre DAC to ensure that all digital music can be converted to analogue sound. And every ounce of detail, precision and dynamics are intact.

Whether you use Roon to organize your digital library or use TIDAL Connect to stream high-resolution MQA tracks, Evo can be capable of all of them. And StreamMagic will ensure that you can hear your music with the best sound quality, no matter where you play it from, regardless of the source sound quality.

Supporting Cambridge Audio Stream Magic platform, it can connect to different streaming platforms such as Tidal, Qobuz or other international streaming platforms that are familiar to everyone and play different high-definition music, including the ability to read DSD256 directly from the NAS server or USB. It can directly play the MQA full codec, so it is a very integrated and comprehensive function.

Connections

Cambridge Audio Evo 150 all-in-one player includes a large number of digital and analogue connections, so you can add any source: from your existing turntable or CD player to using Evo as your TV sound system. In addition to the optical, coaxial and RCA inputs, a TV arc input is also needed to connect a TV with an HDMI cable.

A 3.5 mm headphone jack allows you to plug in your favourite headphones and listen to music at any time. You can also use Evo’s built-in aptX high-definition Bluetooth to connect your wireless turntable and wireless headphones, allowing you to enjoy high-definition streaming music without any wires.

Cambridge Audio EV 150 Ocan be directly connected to your smartphone via AirPlay 2, Chromecast. And EVO 150 has two sets of speaker binding posts connected to A/B speakers to play with Bi-Wire. If these are not enough, there are others too. EVO supports Bluetooth aptX HD input and output.

When you connect your mobile phone to listen to music, your family can enjoy the Qualcomm aptX HD Bluetooth codec when using Bluetooth headphones. It is also equipped with HDMI ARC output terminals. What’s the use of this function? The main reason is that the 150 or 75 of this EVO series can also be directly connected to the TV to play. It doesn’t even need fibre, which is very convenient.

To achieve the ultimate convenience of “plug and play”, Cambridge Audio has specially developed a pair of Evo S speakers with excellent sound quality to create a complete Evo system. EVO S, this speaker has a 1-inch silk film tweeter and a 6.5-inch woofer. The back of the speaker also has a pair of gold-plated posts that look like a bookshelf speaker. The curved design at the bottom makes it more stable.

The speaker cabinet is composed of an MDF board. The top and front baffle are made of aluminium. The goal is to let the product be launched on the market as a complete EVO music system. Users can plug and play, easy to play two-channel design is also the concept of the design goal of the EVO series.

Sound Performance

Talking about the sound performance, I used two pairs of bookshelf speakers to match the Cambridge Audio EVO 150 during the test. The first pair is KEF R3. All in all, EVO 150 can make R3 have a very rich low-frequency performance and a very outstanding sense of music. That is unexpected. Although the music format supported by EVO 150 has exceeded the mainstream high-definition music, a device that will not be outdated.

But its sound is the orientation of traditional audio. The atmosphere of the sound is essential to make you immerse in each song. The overall image, the width of the sound effect and the sound field placed in different positions are also naturally present. If you were very interested in KEF’s R3 before, and this time you have heard of EVO 150 streaming network player and feel that its functions can satisfy you. This combination is very worthy of your attention.

Pair with B&W 706 S2 to match Cambridge Audio EVO 150. When I tried the Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M last time, I also used the 706 S2 speakers to match it. Of course, the loudspeaker is different. The sound difference between the two can be distinguished. More musical, with emphasis on streaming.

Conclusion

Cambridge audio Evo 150 network streaming player can let you indulge in the song and enjoy the kind of touch that this music brings to you. Moreover, the low frequencies introduced by the two speakers are pretty shocking. So I’m sure this equipment, the bass energy, is excellent. Retractable details, potential low-frequency control, and its driving force are perfect.

Moreover, compared to the DacMagic 200M, the EVO 150’s integrated performance and sound are significantly more expensive than the 200M. It is already a high-end product of Cambridge Audio.

Its performance can also meet its marketing target. It is extremely rich in functionality, in addition to the functions that a streamer should have. Its physical connection is also vibrant. Almost all the equipment in your home can be connected to this Cambridge Audio EVO 150 for playback. It can make your different source equipment have better sound performance.

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Cambridge Audio EVO 150 Specs

• POWER OUTPUT: 150W into 8 Ohms
• AMPLIFICATION: Class-D Hypex Ncore®
• DAC: ESS Sabre ES9018K2M
• FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 20kHz +0/-3dB
• ANALOGUE AUDIO INPUTS: 1 x RCA, 1 x balanced XLR, 1 x Moving Magnet Phonostage
• DIGITAL AUDIO INPUTS: 2 x TOSLINK optical, 1 x S/PDIF coaxial, 1 x TV ARC
• USB AUDIO INPUT: USB Type B conforming to USB Audio Class 1 or USB Audio Class 2 (user selectable)
• BLUETOOTH: 4.2 A2DP/AVRCP supporting SBC, aptX and aptX HD codecs
• COMPATIBILITY: TOSLINK optical: 16/24bit 32-96kHz PCM only S/PDIF coaxial: 16/24bit 32-192kHz PCM only USB Audio Class 1: Up to 24-bit 96kHz (asynchronous) USB Audio Class 2: Up to 32-bit 384kHz (asynchronous) and up to DSD 256 Bluetooth: 4.2 A2DP/AVRCP supporting up to aptX HD (24bit 48kHz) UPnP, Local USB media, Airplay 2, Chromecast built-in, Internet Radio, Spotify Connect, TIDAL, MQA, Qobuz, Roon Ready.
• AUDIO FORMATS: ALAC, WAV, FLAC, AIFF, DSD (x256), WMA, MP3, AAC, HE AAC AAC+, OGG Vorbis
• OUTPUTS: Speakers A+B, 3.5mm headphone, Preamp Output, Subwoofer Output, Bluetooth: 4.2 A2DP/AVRCP supporting up to aptX HD
• ETHERNET: IEEE 802.3, 10 Base-T or 100 Base-T
• WI-FI: Dual Band 2.4/5gHz
• MAX POWER CONSUMPTION: 700w
• STANDBY POWER CONSUMPTION: <0.5w
• DIMENSIONS (W X H X D): 317 x 89 x 352mm
• WEIGHT: 5.3 kg
• ACCESSORIES: Evo 150 All-in-One player, Quick Start Guide, Safety Guide, Mains Lead, Remote Control, 2 x AAA Batteries, Customisable Side Panels x 2