setup was the easiest and most elegant in hifi. so nice to enjoy the unboxing and being playing music in minutes

After a little fussing around with the initial set up, I was really pleased with the overall sound quality and the Stream Magic app.
My Edge NQ is paired with Quad Platinum cd, Power amp, and Quad Electrostatic Speakers. The sound excels, it’s very musical with tight punchy bass and detail.
Streaming is a joy, I use Tidal and the delivery is fabulous cd quality. The Edge NQ works brilliantly with my system. I use the TV arc into my Oppo DVD player and send the sound to the Edge via the digital optical connection. I have no sync problems and am happy with the sound back from Netflix, Apple, YouTube etc.
All in a great sounding Streaming Preamp

Okay, so we didn’t get off to a good start. Towards the end of lockdown, I had some money to throw at a streamer and amp to replace my ageing Roksan Kandy and BlueSound Node set-up. The Dali Oberon 5’s and REL T9x would stay for now, and I, like many folks influenced by the press, began my quest to bag a Naim combo. I say ‘quest’ because that’s what it became, very quickly and very widespread across all the retailers, as the chip rut made Naim waiting lists commonplace.
Now, I’m as weak willed and impatient as the next audiophile with cash in hand, and it wasn’t long before I’m on the hunt for a new champion; burning the midnight oil in search of the holy grail v2.0. Long story short, my research suggested the Cambridge Edge NQ was worth every penny of its asking price and it seemed to partner rather well with the non-too shabby W power amp as well. This led me down the route of buying a refurbed NQ from Richer's and a refurbed W direct from Cambridge.
I have to say, I was a little disappointed at first: unimpressed, underwhelmed and a bit deflated with my purchasing decision. Problem being, I’d bought them mid December and had waited until after moving house (mid January) to unbox them, so the 14 day, no quibble was now quibble. I decided to wait and see if weeks of burn-in would prove me wrong.
It didn’t. I blamed the Dali’s for ‘holding out’ on the Cambridge duo’s potential and got myself a pair of ATC 40’s, which also sounded sub par to my ears.
Fast forward to present day and after many hours of online owner’s group encounters, emails, phone calls and payment (to cover the difference), I’m the proud owner of a brand new off the shelf (not refurbished) NQ, and couldn’t be happier. The pairing now performs as well as it looks, and it does look very, very special.
Now that all’s good in the hood, I would like to thank:
Richer Sounds, for coming good in the end, despite a poor start, and going the extra mile to give exceptional after sales support - rescuing an almost ex-customer about to throw the towel in
Cambridge Audio, for recognising extenuating circumstances and responding appropriately, with genuine commitment from the customer service agent handling the issue
ATC, for making the SCM40’s sound so wonderful that I’m keeping them forever, despite the awful 80’s cherry veneer finish
IKEA for making the TV stand that’s an uncanny match for the 80’s veneer and will render the speakers viable in my living room
In all seriousness, I am extremely happy with the NQ/W combo and would thoroughly recommend it for those hoping to reveal a vast soundstage with a fast, agile bass; very breathy but not too forward mid, and a refined but detailed top end.
I’m without doubt so emotionally attached to this set-up now, I’m considering buying 2 more W amps and tri-amping the ATC’s. You know, that feeling where something’s so perfect you wouldn’t change it one bit… except for maybe having even more of the exact same sound. Happy 50th anniversary Cambridge, you’ve done yourselves proud there.

Bin begeistert. Endlich mal ein Verstärker der den Druck und den Klang der alten Elite aus den 80ern hat. Der Preis ist angemessen.