Ken Davis, sales manager, Upscale Audio, with the Cambridge Audio EVO 150 SE in our video studio.
"This is not your grandpa's class-D amplifier."
Like so many of us, Ken Davis, our sales manager, didn't take all-in-ones seriously until recently, when he realized they've become really good. This is especially because more manufacturers have realized that the power supply design is an area of huge potential improvement. Today's supplies for all-in-ones produce cleaner power on different taps and radiate far less hash into the component.
It was the original Cambridge Audio EVO 150 that won Ken over (helped by its beautiful DeLorean edition), so he was excited to hear there's a new model out, the 150 SE.
In addition to a cleaner aesthetic design, the 150 SE now uses Hypex NCOREx output modules, offering a big step up in performance. In fact, Steve Novakoski, national sales manager, Cambridge Audio, says that when Hypex was developing its NCOREx class-D technology, Cambridge Audio's engineers assisted them with tuning suggestions based on their extensive experience with the NCORE modules used in the original Evo streaming amps.
The result, says Steve, is the new ‘Tuned by Cambridge’ module. A representative of the Cambridge design team, writing to us via Steve, said, "At Cambridge, we’re still huge fans of class-AB amplification, and the SE takes class-D closer to that warmer AB sound, with a wider and more textured soundstage, while still delivering a massive 150W per channel from a compact footprint."
Another internal upgrade that has significantly dropped the noise floor is the use of TI OPA1612 op-amps. In addition to being used just after the DAC chip, they are in the XLR/RCA analog input stage. Importantly, as our Cambridge Audio contact wrote, "the Evo 150 SE is fully analog end to end when using the analog inputs, provided DSP/EQ settings are off in the StreamMagic app."
What We Thought
Ken took the EVO 150 SE home to properly evaluate it for the video, and once he brought it back, others on the team grabbed it too and shared their thoughts.
The first thing that hits you about the sound of the EVO 150 SE is how immensely capable it is, from the deep, lithe bass to the top-end extension and tremendous detail. While extremely musical and emotional compared with earlier class-D implementations, we agreed it's on the emotionally cooler side, so pair with care if you have overly incisive, light-footed speakers.
We heartily recommend the Cambridge Audio EVO 150 SE as a first hi-fi system, and for the hi-fi enthusiasts among us, as an excellent bedroom, office, or workshop system. It's not just capable and beautiful, but that nice big volume knob makes it easy to turn down the music when the Zoom call starts, the FedEx package arrives, or you need to listen for that elusive rattle in your cafe racer build. For more information, watch Ken's video or visit our product page.