21-04-2013, 10:04 AM
No worries Mike - it sounds like Alan had an old copy of the thread open on his browser, so didn't see my reply...
Cambridge Audio date back to the late '60s. I'm not aware of any connections to the big companies - they were always a small-ish concern focusing solely on hi-fi. One of the great British cottage industries. There were lots of those, as you can imagine - none of them attempted to hang on to the coat tails of the names we'd consider as "greats". Indeed, it was often the other way around - the big companies like Rank would swallow up the great names like Bush and Arena to get a foothold. Back then, hi-fi was a big scene, and not as easy to break as you might imagine. Especially if you wanted to make loudspeakers; no large company could get close to producing a Spendor BC1 or a Quad ESL.
They were acquired by Audio Partnership in the mid-1990s. This is a company that is owned by Julian Richer (51%, according to Wikipedia) - that's Julian Richer of Richer Sounds fame - and that's why you can only buy Cambridge Audio in Richer Sounds. Funnily enough, if you ask their sales staff for advice, the answer is always Cambridge Audio! The products are designed in the UK and manufactured cheaply in China - build quality is a bit marginal on the stuff I've seen, although I haven't looked at the latest products.
For a while, Douglas Self worked with them (no idea if he still does), and he produced some great designs which were very well-reviewed. I don't think the A500 was one of them...
Interestingly - or perhaps not
- there was a company called A&R Cambridge which was formed in the mid-'70s and did much the same sort of thing as Cambridge Audio. As you can imagine, this caused some confusion! For that reason, A&R Cambridge are now known as Arcam (I think that happened sometime in the 1980s). Arcam are still their own company as far as I know, and apparently do a fair bit of manufacturing in the UK. They make pretty good stuff - I have 2 of their CD players and an old amp, and recommend them. The design and build quality is streets ahead of the Cambridge Audio stuff I've seen.
Here endeth the lesson
Good luck - here's hoping those transistors are OK...
Mark
Cambridge Audio date back to the late '60s. I'm not aware of any connections to the big companies - they were always a small-ish concern focusing solely on hi-fi. One of the great British cottage industries. There were lots of those, as you can imagine - none of them attempted to hang on to the coat tails of the names we'd consider as "greats". Indeed, it was often the other way around - the big companies like Rank would swallow up the great names like Bush and Arena to get a foothold. Back then, hi-fi was a big scene, and not as easy to break as you might imagine. Especially if you wanted to make loudspeakers; no large company could get close to producing a Spendor BC1 or a Quad ESL.
They were acquired by Audio Partnership in the mid-1990s. This is a company that is owned by Julian Richer (51%, according to Wikipedia) - that's Julian Richer of Richer Sounds fame - and that's why you can only buy Cambridge Audio in Richer Sounds. Funnily enough, if you ask their sales staff for advice, the answer is always Cambridge Audio! The products are designed in the UK and manufactured cheaply in China - build quality is a bit marginal on the stuff I've seen, although I haven't looked at the latest products.
For a while, Douglas Self worked with them (no idea if he still does), and he produced some great designs which were very well-reviewed. I don't think the A500 was one of them...
Interestingly - or perhaps not
- there was a company called A&R Cambridge which was formed in the mid-'70s and did much the same sort of thing as Cambridge Audio. As you can imagine, this caused some confusion! For that reason, A&R Cambridge are now known as Arcam (I think that happened sometime in the 1980s). Arcam are still their own company as far as I know, and apparently do a fair bit of manufacturing in the UK. They make pretty good stuff - I have 2 of their CD players and an old amp, and recommend them. The design and build quality is streets ahead of the Cambridge Audio stuff I've seen.Here endeth the lesson
Good luck - here's hoping those transistors are OK...
Mark
