Cambridge Audio 540D

[Paul H]

I've been reading some very favourable reviews of the Cambridge 540D as a CD and DVD-A player. The general sense seems to be that this is an extremely good value in a low-mid priced player. It also seems to get good comments on build quality, which suggests that it might (thinking of future upgrades) make a good transport to accompany external DAC's.

All of which is very well, but I can't seem to find any info, comments, anything on whether or not this player will output decent video - which seems rather odd to me as it is after all a DVD player.

Anyone own/tried one of these and have comments? (particularly video)

Thanks,

Paul

[Paul H]

It would appear that there aren't an overwhelming number of 540D owners on this forum

I borrowed one from a local audio shop yesterday and checked it out last night - good cd playback, good video - nothing awe-inspiring, but very good. Exterior build quality and loading/navigation speed are excellent.

One odd thing though - the analog audio output of this player is about 6 dB lower (as measured in the room with RS meter) than either my yamaha cd player through analog cables or my jvc player through digital. Is there something wrong here?

Paul H

[Paul H]

Oops, the 6 db difference was from the recording levels on two different cd's of the same song - not the players.

Paul

[David Meek]

Hi Paul. You're right, there doesn't appear to be anyone here with a Cambridge. :nonod:

That's funny about the mismatch in the CD's. That's the kind of thing that can make you crazy sometimes. Good catch.

How does it handle the layer-change on DVD's?

[Paul H]

I tried to check the layer change but couldn't find one ..

I looked up a review on Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven film that listed the specific time and scene of the layer change - I checked that location and then watched 10 minutes before and after of that time, which was approximately 1/2 way through the movie.

This particular layer change is supposed to occur when the scene changes from a dark rainy night in the forest to a shot of Gene Hackman in town in the daytime - there may have been a very brief pause but I wouldn't have noticed even when looking for a layer change unless I knew the time and scene of the layer change.

Not exactly a secrets benchmark review I'm afraid

Paul

[JonMarsh]

Do you have an AVIA or VE disk? You could check the de-interlacing/misflagged tests, and also the resolution patterns.

It's one of those funny things about players, these days, is that it seems to really get noticed in the market place, there has to be something that kind of stands out, gives it a hook. Maybe the CD and DVD-A for the Cambridge is the "hook" that they focussed on in development.

It is using Crystal 24/192DAC set for the analog output, and it has 12 bit 54 MHz video DACs, so some oversampling and smoothing is possible there. It's also progressive scan on both NTSC (480P) and PAL (576P), so if you have some PAL DVDs, or are contemplating them, this could be a plus. It also has a built in 5.1 decoder, so it's a good add on for someone with a Prologic system IF it has discrete 5.1 inputs.

How do you think it sounds and looks? What are you running it with?


~Jon

[Paul H]

Jon et al,

I have an avia disk and used it to calibrate the pj (Sanyo Z2) for this player. I didn't run the other tests though, and I brought the loaner 540D back this morning.

I think build and looks are great - it's heavy, with a nice aluminum panel on the front (silver or black), and the whole case is sturdy and well-fitted. The power cord is detachable.

It has very fast access speed, for menu selections and fast-forwarding to different scenes. I also tried numerous DVD's and they all went directly to the main menu, fast, as I soon as I loaded them and hit the menu button - as opposed to ignoring me while the FBI warnings etc played as some players do.

I played music almost entirely in two-channel, using full-range speakers and no sub, so I can't comment on 6-channel DVD-A or bass management.

Compared to an old cheap yamaha cd player sound is incredible on the 540D - more controlled yet fuller bass, clearer highs. Using the analog feeds on the 540D compared to a digital feed through my receiver (Yamaha RX-V3300) the difference is more subtle, (you have to really sit and listen) but the 540D is better - again tighter bass and just slightly softer (less harsh?)cleaner mids and highs. Soundstage seems slightly more defined as well.

Video, compared to another old cheapo player, is noticeably improved, but not perfect. On the negative side I still saw some "jaggies" during, for example, camera pans of scenery, although not as much as on the cheapo player - note that I was looking hard for any faults, I may not normally have noticed. The most visible improvement was on the detail within dark scenes and black objects - I gotta watch the whole LOTR series again, because I think I only saw 1/2 of it with the old DVD player

As far as other equipment I'm using - I built this set of main speakers recently that some call dual ported M8N's, using info from two crazy dudes I found on the web

I haven't bought the 540D yet, as I was impressed but not blown away. It's very good, I think an exceptional value, but I have a nagging doubt that I should get something higher end - I'm going to look at one or two other players, in the more expensive range, before I decide. I'd like to look at a Denon, but can't get past the fact that they sell for 40% more (after considering exchange rate) north of the border than in the US.

Note that I read somewhere that measured jitter on the 540D was 6 nS - not quite a benchmark dac1.

Paul

[JonMarsh]

Jon et al,


Note that I read somewhere that measured jitter on the 540D was 6 nS - not quite a benchmark dac1.

Paul

Ouch! 6nsec? Well, for a DVD player, that's not as bad as you might think- may of the early ones were in the 200 nsec range!

From your evaluation, it sounds like it has some nice characteristics, but not exactly a knock out punch.

It's not easy to find a great all in one player. Myself, I think that if build quality, video, and other basic are good, then if it works well as a transport for a good external DAC (like the DAC1), you might have a relatively winning combination. Finding reasonable build quality like you describe isn't easy these days- the nice "midrange" units seem to be disappearing, and everything else is built pretty cheaply.

I'm using what's a relatively low buck Philips CD player that has been modified to the gills to turn it into a pure transport. It was a better sounding "transport" for a DIY DAC based on the Crystal CD4390 than my Sony SCD777ES- but with the DAC1, I can't really hear any difference between it and the Sony. I think the DAC1 is more immune to transport jitter than most, (consider that Stereophiles measurements were with a PC sound card!), so it might make a reasonable combo even with any number of DVD players. Haven't really tried that experiment yet, like with the Zenith or a new Skyworth scaling DVD player I'm evaluating. I'll probably have to do that some time. That's the key- finding time!

Let us know what else you check out and what you think.

~Jon

[ti33er]

I am a Cambridge Azur 540D owner

Greetings Gentlemen!

Sorry, I only came across this thread now - I have owned a Cambridge Audio 540D for just over a month, and I think that it is a great little player for the money - I owned (and traded in the 640C for the 540D) the Cambridge Audio 640C CD player which has been rated as a "STORMING" CD Player, and to be quite honest, can hardly tell the difference when it comes to CD replay! ? - I don't think that either of the players were mind blowing as far as audio is concerned, but they are both good, and above average nonetheless!

Video with the 540D is good too, sometimes the colours seem a little unnatural/overbright or even washed out on my Infocus 4805 Projector (this is compared to my Microsoft Xbox on component cable, which actually performs brilliantly for what it is!) but for the money I dont think that there is anything out there that is "better" ! - this is why I went for it --> in saying that, these components of my HT are interim solutions, I intend to do a massive Audio overhaul in the future - they are not cream of the crop if that makes any sense?

Later 8)

[markusp]

I too have owned the 540D for a couple of months and think it is a good little player. It sounds quite nice for CD playback via analog connection and pic quality is quite nice as well in comparison to my older Toshiba Sd-4700.

Happy so far but looking for a dedicated CD player.

[Paul H]

Nad T533

I also will be looking for a dedicated CD player down the road, but first I need a decent DVD player.

I borrowed a NAD T533 today and checked it out. Like the previous Cambridge 540D "review" I put in this thread, I calibrated the picture using Avia, watched some DVD's and listened to two channel music.

Exterior build quality is ok but not impressive - light metal box, plastic face plate and somewhat flimsy tray - all round better than your typical $100 player, but nothing special, and not close to the 540D's.

Picture was good, but again nothing spectacular. Smoother and clearer than my cheapo jvc (an easy standard to reach ), but not as sharp and detailed as the 540D. According to the avia test, the NAD is cutting 15-20 pixels from each of the left, right and top, and about 10 pixels at the bottom.

Sound quality is very good, similar to the 540D, but a hair smoother on the high notes and vocals - some would call it less bright. On a side by side comparison I think neither would be "better", they just have a slightly different tonality.

The remote was awkward (commonly used buttons are on the very bottom of a long remote), felt cheap and I found I had to point it right at the player to make it work.

Access directly to menus and speed of jumping from song to song or scene to scene was again nothing to really complain about but not fast either - the Cambridge access speed is phenominal by comparison.

Executive summary: NAD T533 returned, buying Cambridge 540D.

Paul

[theMaximus]

I have owned 540D for about a month and so far pretty happy with it. It basically plays anything but SACD and also is completely region-free which is a big plus if you watch foreign DVDs. DVD-R play back is also very good and can play PAL. Therefore, it ranks very high on versatility scale. As far as picture is concerned, it is not earth shattering but still very good. I noticed very little difference in picture quality between my 540D and Denon DVD-2800, which was known for extremely good picture quality. Build quality is also very high and remote appears to be very attractive with real aluminum face. CD play back in 2-channel isn't as good as my CA Azur 540C CD player (hooked up to Rotel RSX-1056 receiver and B&W 704 speakers), but digital audio play back from DVD movies are excellent for its price range. I was a little concerned at first that it is made in China, but CA seemed to have done a good job with quality control. Definitely worth a look if you are looking for a budget DVD player w/ DVD-A play back.

[markusp]

Just discovered another great thing about the 540D - it plays PAL dvds on my NTSC tv! I bought a couple of european Hitchcock dvds that I can't buy in North America (Foreign Correspondent and Suspicion) and played them without a problem, even though they were not region 0 and were in PAL format. This is definately a nice feature to have as there are quite a few dvds that are only available in europe that I long for.

[monks]

Problems with prog scan on this unit

Hi all,

I have had a CA 540D for a few months now. Only recently though have I been able to test it with my new FP (hitachi pj-tx100 lcd - 1280x720), which was the reason I upgraded my DVD player.

Connecting via component, the picture through the pj is much better sent as 576i compared to 576p (switched with a remote button). Image is notably blockier and less smooth in progressive mode. The internal deinterlacer is not too hot imho; hopefully I've got it set up right. I know the previous CA DVD players with pscan didn't do the job that well, so i think it is the player.

Other than that though, it is a good player, especially if you are looking at playing a lot of audio and don't need the pscan output.

Also, weirdly, my unit always sticks the subs on if I've changed settings (not sub settings), so I always have to turn them off again when playing a disc after messing with the options.

I'm on the lookout for a player that can scale to 720P over DVI. Nothing springs out at me yet, so I have registered here to look into maybe making a HTPC instead

Thought I'd share my opinion,

Jon