Winning formulaIf you’re quick, you can snap up this incredible Cambridge Audio/KEF system for £900!

PRODUCT Cambridge Audio Azur 740C, Cambridge

Audio Azur 740A, KEF iQ7

TYPE CD player, amplifier and loudspeaker

PRICE £899

KEY FEATURES (Cambridge 740C) Size (WxHxD):

43x11.5x31.5cm P Weight: 6.4kg P 24-bit/384kHz

upsampling P (Cambridge 740A) Size (WxHxD):

43x11.5x35cm P Weight: 10.7kg P Power output:

100w/8ohms P (KEF iQ7) Size (WxHxD):

22x86.5x32.7cm P Weight: 14.5kg P Sensitivity: 90dB

CONTACT � 0870 900 1000 q www.richersounds.co.uk

Combine a Cambridge Audio CD player

and amplifier: Azur 740C and 740A,

(both winners in The Hi-Fi Awards

2007, HFC 300) with a KEF speaker (iQ7) and

you can expect to pay something in the region

of fifteen hundred pounds. Alternatively, if

you’re quick, drop by your nearest Richer

Sounds, sporting a copy of Hi-Fi Choice and

the complete system can be yours for under

£900. We first spotted this bargain last issue,

but the deal is still on (see details on p90).

Both the 740C CD player and 740A amplifier

come recommended from past tests. And as

mentioned, both products have won awards,

too: the former grabbing a Gold Award in the

£500 to £1,000 CD player category, while the

latter snatched a Silver Award in the same

price bracket for amplifiers.

Being a part of the Richer Sounds empire,

the choice of Cambridge product makes a and

48 HI-FI CHOICE february 2008

HFC303.cambridge 48HFC303.cambridge 48 14/12/07 16:20:1414/12/07 16:20:14

great deal of sense. But the decision to include

the KEF iQ7 speaker, instead of an in-house

brand like Mordaunt-Short, is less obvious.

According to Phil Jubb, a member of the

company’s purchasing team, “It’s (KEF) an

iconic speaker that we really like and it really

works well with the Cambridge”.

It also looks remarkably good for a simulated

wood finish and is available in a range of

colours including apple, black and walnut

(pictured). All three are complemented with

subtle badging and cable terminals. The

tweeter on the Q series models sits in the

midst of the midrange driver in a coaxial

arrangement, that’s designed to produce better

imaging. The idea being that by having both

drivers working from the same point source, it

should mean the wavefronts they produce will

be aligned. The only drawback with the

arrangement is that the tweeter sits behind the

midrange cone and thus aligning the two,

time-wise, is a challenge for the engineer who

only has a passive crossover to work with.

Cambridge’s 740 series benefits from the

work done on its flagship 840 series and offers

many of the features found on the more

expensive units, including LCD displays and, in

the case of the amp, variable input gain.

Recordings tend to vary in level rather more

than source components usually do, unless you

have an old tuner or tape deck. So it’s not

always possible to maintain consistent volume

from source to source even with such a feature.

Given that both source and amplifier were

designed and engineered by the same people,

the chances are that they will have the same

intrinsic character, strengths and weaknesses.

So the key compatibility issue with this, and

any system, is matching the amplifier to the

speaker in terms of power availability from the

amp, compared with the sensitivity of the

speaker. Here we have a high-powered 100-

watt amplifier and a high-sensitivity (90dB)

loudspeaker – a pairing which, on paper at

least – looks very sensible indeed.

SOUND QUALITY

The Azur 740C is a lively and dynamic CD

player with a good sense of timing, but is not,

perhaps, the most refined in terms of balance.

It has a surprisingly upfront and engaging

sound and – in the context of this system –

does a great job of pulling you into the music.

The Azur 740A backs this up with bags of

power, which it delivers with remarkable ease.

The bass is taut and solid, so bass guitars,

double basses and kick drums have real body

and weight. In some other systems, the 740

amp can seem a little dry: its high frequencies

lacking the fluency of some of its competitors,

but in this particular Cambridge/KEF combo it

doesn’t appear to be the case.

The sound at first is a little on the small side,

but this improved when we extended the

spikes at the front of the speaker and tilted it

Cambridge Audio 740C/740A and KEF iQ7 system [ Review ]

“Cambridge’s 740 series benefits from the work done on its 840 series and offers many features found on the more expensive units.”

backwards. Experimentation here is worthwhile

and pulls the sound together to form a

cohesive image with better tonal balance and

considerably larger scale.

Under these circumstances, you can hear

right into the mix and begin to appreciate the

level of resolution. This extends to hearing

pretty much everything, from the tap of fingers

on a table to the snap of a snare drum. You

won’t always be able to tell precisely how

each instrument or voice has been recorded,

but there’s no missing the fundamentals.

With a male choir piece, such as Born in

Bethlehem by the Blind Boys of Alabama, you

can easily appreciate the variety of voices in

the mix, as well as the broad dynamics and

timbral textures of the recording.

Tonally, it’s not the sweetest of systems,

something that with the better recordings

firms up the leading edges and adds

definition. But with more popular titles, the

sound is slightly metallic and this can be a

february 2008 HI-FI CHOICE 49

HFC303.cambridge 49HFC303.cambridge 49 14/12/07 16:20:1914/12/07 16:20:19

VERDICT

OVERALL SCORE >>

shade fatiguing. Cabling proved to be the

key here, our test DNM interconnect being one

of those inexpensive cables that oddly works

better with an ‘expensive’ system. Our Chord

Chameleon cables took the edge off the

midband further and delivering a more

fulsome sound that suits rather well, even if it

does take some of the edge off the timing.

This system’s sense of timing allows

everything it plays to have the requisite drive,

however, whether it’s simple singer/songwriter

stuff like Gillian Welch, or full blown orchestral

works such as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

It’s not a quality to be underestimated either,

as some pretty ambitiously priced equipment

can also fall down here from time to time.

It is very hard to criticise this system given its

incredible asking price. If pushed, we would

identify its limited ability to produce a concrete

image. It’s difficult to tell whether it’s the

speaker or the electronics that restricts the

image depth, however. But in truth, asking for

a walk-in soundstage is too much a demand at

this price, a mere £900 for the whole system.

We mentioned earlier that the Azur 740A

and iQ7 looked like a sensible match on paper,

but this pairing would seem to extend beyond

the merely technical to the musical. Combined

with the 740C CD player, the system provokes

a lively and dynamic sound that should have

you on the edge of your seat. Snap it up and

you’ll be as pleased as punch. HFC

Jason Kennedy

SOUND >> 85%

FEATURES >> 90%

BUILD >> 80%

VALUE >> 98%

R PRO

An impressive selection of

quality kit for the money,

features aplenty and well

timed, wide band sound.

S CON

Sound could be a little bigger,

tending to be a shade too dry

for some tastes. Setup also

benefits from a low seating

position for the best results.

Smooth sounding cables are

also an essential requirement.

CONCLUSION

Richer Sounds consistently brings the best deals to the high street. But this one takes the biscuit, with electronics that are among the best in class and very capable speakers. Coupled with the limited-period price tag, this is a definite winner.

92%

CAMBRIDGE AUDIO AZUR 740C

The latest CD player in the Azur range is

based on its 840C sibling and incorporates

the same 32-bit DSP (digital signal

processing). It uses this to upsample the

16-bit/44.1kHz digital signal to 24-bit/

384kHz for the purpose of employing a

Bessel filter. Conversion to analogue is

courtesy of dual Wolfson WM8740 DACs

used in differential mode to minimise noise

and maximise channel separation.

It has digital inputs and allows changes to

word width (bits) and dither on the digital

output, but this is only relevant when

making digital recordings. The metal faced

remote handset operates both the player and

any Azur series amplifier, as well as offering

basic iPod controls if a dock is connected up.

CAMBRIDGE AUDIO AZUR 740A

As with the 740C this amplifier benefits from

the R&D that Cambridge put into the 840

series, thus you get the option of changing

input names and adjusting the gain for each

input in order to match level across different

sources. It’s specified to deliver 100 watts per

channel and can accept up to six line level

inputs as well as having support for multi-

room integration. The volume/balance

control uses a silicon gate rather than a

potentiometer and level is indicated both

with a large numeric display and a series of

markers that form a semi-circle above the

number.

KEF iQ7

This KEF floorstander matches the Cambridge

electronics in the value for money stakes.

An elegant boat tail cabinet that’s finished

in very convincing vinyl wrap veneer, contains

a Uni-Q coaxial midrange and tweeter with a

titanium coated 160mm cone and a 19mm

aluminium high frequency dome, as well as a

long-throw bass driver. Very saucy chrome

plated bi-wire terminals come with proper

cable links rather than the popular, but

sonically degrading flat links. 8mm spikes

help the bass driver to deliver plenty of grip

and grunt. The MDF cabinet’s shape is

designed to kill internal standing waves in

the back/front direction and substantial

baffles keep the whole thing braced.

[ Review ] Cambridge Audio 740C/740A and KEF iQ7 system

50 HI-FI CHOICE february 2008

HFC303.cambridge 50HFC303.cambridge 50 14/12/07 16:20:2214/12/07 16:20:22