Cambridge Audio Azur 740C

By Brent Burmester

June 2007

Cambridge Audio Azur 740C CD player. $1599.

Cambridge Audio Azur 740C (click for larger image)

Azur 740C rear panel (click for larger image)

It won’t give your children nightmares, but the new Azur 740C from Cambridge Audio is not a machine you’ll grant pride-of-place in the living room. In fact, it makes a close match to my mid-nineties Plinius amp: a black box, flat aluminium-plate fascia, screenprinted logo, and the inevitable blue LED to indicate power-on. Only the scalloped sides and white backlit LCD display suggest you didn’t pick this up as pre-loved bargain in an online auction.

Was that a bit harsh? Examine the photos and make up your own mind. More importantly, don’t run away with the idea that this CD player isn’t well-built, as it it’s nicely made with a weighty and solid feel. My point, ineptly made though it may be, is that this is a player to own because it’s sexy on the in-side, not the out.

No, ‘Laser’, with an ‘L’.

A degree in electronic engineering and a screwdriver aren’t needed to appreciate the glamorous interior of the 740C. The very high quality sound emanating from your surprised speakers is ample evidence that it’s all good under the hood. Put on something you know intimately, and go about your business. Before long, you find you’ve stopped what you’re doing and wondering, what was that? Does that guitar solo not finish quite where I thought it did? Was that atmospheric synth there last time I heard this? Is the drummer playing extra fills now? 

Welcome to the world of upsampling. The lauded 640C, the little brother to the unit under review, is an extremely competent player, and I’ve urged would-be audiophiles to take it very seriously as a way into hi-fi. This is something else, though. The best way to capture the effect of hearing your favourite CD on the 740C is to imagine the disc has been shaved. It’s as though a hitherto unnoticed five o’clock shadow on the playing surface has been razored clean off. While players over the $1500 mark can grant new insights into familiar music by capturing an elusive rhythm or fitting the parts together more cohesively, the genius of the 740C is to up the resolution so you don’t have to guess at the blurred bits, which we are forced to do all too often.

Sample the goods

Now, what was I saying about upsampling? It was first introduced in the Cambridge range with the pricier 840C. While this doesn’t actually add new information, the change in the way available information is packaged facilitates a less intrusive digital-to-analogue conversion process. The result is the Gillette experience described above. And you’ve guessed where this is going – yes, the same technology, ever-so-slightly diluted, has been passed down to the 740C.

Upsampling has been enthusiastically welcomed by the well-heeled hi-fi fraternity for its ability to push CD into sonic territories thought to be the exclusive preserve of SACD and DVD-A. And here it is, in a very affordable player, and most importantly, done properly. This is the total banana, so to speak, and the virtues of the technique are readily apparent. At first you hear it in the marginal sounds, the fade-outs and off-stage noises: suddenly there seems to be a lot more of them. Then you tune into centre-stage only to discover the primary colours and clean edges you’re used to are unexpectedly smudged and textured. I found it an education to discover so much more about tracks I’d started to think had revealed all their secrets.

A bit of alright

On other fronts, the 740C rates highly. Everything is controlled and precise, bass is firm and well contoured, and treble, thanks to upsampling, is detailed and does not fatigue over the course of a full album, even at high volumes. The midrange, where voices reside, is handled with great confidence, but it can be unnerving to hear unexpected qualities (or lack thereof) in the performance of singers. Some audiophiles might describe the midrange as a touch cool, but I think its better characterised as not imbued with extra warmth. Soundstaging is unambiguous, if not as wide or deep as might be expected. The performance tends to take place from the outer edges of the speakers inwards, and most of the action is slightly forward of the speaker plane.

In conclusion

All things considered, Cambridge Audio is on a serious roll. If the 840C can maintain the same performance advantage that the 740C does over the already excellent 640C, then stand by for fireworks. Offshore reviews suggest that might be too tall an order, however, not because the 840C is lacking, but because the 740C is a marvel. And, if you find it hard to excuse the expenditure of $1599 on a CD player, remember to factor in the savings on having your CDs shaved. Those fuzzy little buggers won’t know what hit them.

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