Although the 651p sounds good, it also has an incredibly low MC gain: 55 db only!
If you have an MC cartridge under 0.35 mV, forget about this phono amplifier.
If you have an MC cartridge under 0.35 mV, forget about this phono amplifier.
Is the Cambridge Audio 651p better than the 640p?
He** yeah!
I'd been waiting for some reviewer to provide some feedback regarding what improvements they had heard when comparing these models, but only found reviews without any comparison.
So, I decided to bite the bullet and buy the 651p.
My 640p had given me many hours of listening pleasure and the refinements talked about on the CA website sounded interesting.
So to the task at hand - compared to the 640p the 651p has...
- larger and more precise sound stage
- much smoother reproduction of strings/wind
- much fuller sound overall
- much Improved details, probably due to the improved sound staging
- much deeper low-end
- Improved dynamics
- better control of sibilance
My turntable is custom built with an Audiomods Series 3 arm with silver litz wire, that supports a modified Denon dl103.
The power supply I use for the 651p is custom built with a large toroid transformer capable of delivering 2 amps at 12v - not the poxy little wal-wart unit supplied.
If you've been wondering like me - now you know at least one persons opinion.
It's not a giant killer, but I've heard the Sonic Frontiers tube phono stage in my setup, and the 651p isn't that far behind!
For $250 taxes in - it's a very good buy for the budget minded and it handles mm and mc
Happy listening :-)
I'd been waiting for some reviewer to provide some feedback regarding what improvements they had heard when comparing these models, but only found reviews without any comparison.
So, I decided to bite the bullet and buy the 651p.
My 640p had given me many hours of listening pleasure and the refinements talked about on the CA website sounded interesting.
So to the task at hand - compared to the 640p the 651p has...
- larger and more precise sound stage
- much smoother reproduction of strings/wind
- much fuller sound overall
- much Improved details, probably due to the improved sound staging
- much deeper low-end
- Improved dynamics
- better control of sibilance
My turntable is custom built with an Audiomods Series 3 arm with silver litz wire, that supports a modified Denon dl103.
The power supply I use for the 651p is custom built with a large toroid transformer capable of delivering 2 amps at 12v - not the poxy little wal-wart unit supplied.
If you've been wondering like me - now you know at least one persons opinion.
It's not a giant killer, but I've heard the Sonic Frontiers tube phono stage in my setup, and the 651p isn't that far behind!
For $250 taxes in - it's a very good buy for the budget minded and it handles mm and mc
Happy listening :-)