Cambridge 840c Initial Impressions

[blackraven]

Well, my 840c arrived earlier today after exchanging the 740c for it. I have about 4 hours of playing time so far. My initial impressions are that this cdp was worth every penny and then some. It is very detailed with great resolution and transparency. I can not detect any graininess or jitter. I can close my eyes and pick out the position of each instrument playing. Treble and cymbals sound fantastic. Bass is excellent and very tight sounding with out any boom or muddiness. The music has more of a natural live sound. Even my wife and kids notice the difference. In this respect the 740c was similar but the 840c has a slightly warmer sound with even more detail and resolution, slightly deeper bass and clearer treble. Other reviews say it takes about 200 hours of playing time for this CDP to come into its own, so I will update reviews at 50, 100 and 200hrs. The 740c that I had sounded much better after 50hrs on it. I think that the extra $400 is worth the improvement in sound and I'm saying this with only listening to the 840c with unbalanced IC's. It;s supposed to sound better with its XLR connections.

One last note, when I had the 740c and marantz SA8001 side by side the 740c sounded much better in standard CD than the Marantz but the marantz sounded better in SACD.
I think that the 840c comes close to the marantz's 2ch SACD sound but with tighter bass and better detail. I wish I had all three here to compare them directly as audio memory is unreliable.

Larry

I forgot to mention, the 840c is solidly built and almost 5lb's heavier than the 740c, weighing in at 18.7lbs It has an all metal chassis. The transport is smoother and more quiet.