The 851 possesses incredible power, finesse, and astonishingly low distortion. In its design, we assessed every component for sonic excellence and revised, reviewed, and optimized the signal path for minimal distortion. Thousands of hours were spent testing and tweaking, the result is an amplifier we’re incredibly proud of.
Warranty:
1-year manufacturer's warranty
Features:
Nothing prepares you for the sound quality of the 851A. Rated at 120 Watts per channel and built with fastidious attention to detail, it presents your music with astounding depth and incredible clarity. The precision volume control provides remarkable stereo separation, while the overall effect is to give your music collection a new lease of life.
Cambridge Audio built the 851A without sonic compromise, and that's true of the connectivity too. Nine RCA inputs cater to regular analog inputs, while for high-end components there are two sets of balanced XLR inputs. They've added a pre-out for connecting to a subwoofer or power amp, while two sets of speaker terminals allow for bi-wiring or running additional speakers in a second location. Finally, Control Bus inputs allow the linking of compatible Cambridge Audio products for easy control from one remote.
Rather than using Class A or Class AB amplifier designs, Cambridge Audio developed a novel and unique new design called Class XD, which combines the sonic purity of Class A and the efficiency of Class AB for the best possible result.
The primary toroidal transformer provides unrestricted power to the dual mono amplification blocks. It's a true audiophile transformer that will operate without distortion and with no buzz, interference, or hum. While a second, smaller toroidal transformer takes care of pre-amplification processes.
Video Review:
SOUND QUALITY Nothing prepares you for the sound quality of Cambridge Audio 851A. Rated at 120 Watts per channel and built with fastidious attention to detail, it presents your music with astounding depth and incredible clarity. The precision volume control provides remarkable stereo separation, while the overall effect is to give your music collection a new lease of life.
CONNECTIVITY The 851A has been built without sonic compromise, and that’s true of the connectivity too. Nine RCA inputs cater to regular analog inputs, while for high-end components there are two sets of balanced XLR inputs. We’ve added a pre-out for connecting to a subwoofer or power amp, while two sets of speaker terminals allow for bi-wiring or running additional speakers in a second location. Finally, Control Bus inputs allow the linking of compatible Cambridge Audio products for easy control from one remote.
CLASS XD + TWO TRANSFORMERS Rather than using Class A or Class AB amplifier designs, Cambridge Audio developed a novel and unique new design called Class XD, which combines the sonic purity of Class A and the efficiency of Class AB for the best possible result. The primary toroidal transformer provides unrestricted power to the dual mono amplification blocks. It’s a true audiophile transformer that will operate without distortion and with no buzz, interference, or hum. While a second, smaller toroidal transformer takes care of pre-amplification processes.
Technical Specifications:
POWER OUTPUT
120W RMS into 8 Ohms 200W RMS into 4 Ohms
THD (UNWEIGHTED)
< 0.001% 1 kHz at 80% of rated power 0.01% 20 Hz - 20 kHz at 80% of rated power
