Mixing and Matching
Contents
Time to play music. Well… not really. Because things are not going well with our ultra-neutral Revels. Don’t get us wrong the EVO 150 drives them effortlessly but it’s just not ‘music’ that we hear. Fortunately we still have some other speakers in our test-space. We take the Vienna Acoustics Haydn Jubilee from the shelf and that’s a lot better already. But it is not yet top notch we hear ourselves think.
With the third speaker it is a hit. The Elac Carina BS 243.4 is a friendly speaker with a ribbon tweeter and a bass port at the bottom. Now the whole thing is in balance. The Bowers and Wilkins 606 S2 is also a fine combo but for the review we mainly used the Elacs. Matching is important in this hobby. Every part of the system must be in tune with each other. It’s also a reviewer’s job to make sure a unit comes into its own and sometimes we have to go the extra mile to do that. With the EVO 150, it will really be a matter of finding a matching speaker. Keep that in mind.
Display
With the Elac Carina, what a fine speaker, the balance is quasi perfect. Detail rich mid and a high without sharpness with a tight and punchy low. The EVO 150 sounds fresh and clear like a mountain river, full of detail and very open. This can be ‘too much of a good thing’ as for example with our Revels. The EVO 150 is also a fast amp that delivers a nice spread within a wide soundstage. We hear a nice attack with guitars and a very dry and deep bass. The highs can be punchy with the wrong speaker but with the ribbon of the Elac it is enjoyable!
Listen
“Vulture Prince” by Arooj Aftab was rightly found in many year-end music lists last year. This Pakistani singer and composer made a beautiful album full of engaging songs. Through the EVO 150, the tragedy and historicity of the songs comes through well. The violin, viola and cello on ‘Diya Hai’ sound natural and convincing enough to imagine ourselves in a fairy tale of a thousand and one nights.
Alice Phoebe Lou has created a fun album full of upbeat songs with “Child’s play.” On the Revels, this really doesn’t go over well. There is some bass and warmth missing, and ‘chest’ in the middle. On the Elacs, everything comes back into balance. These speakers already have some extra body of their own, and therefore match the EVO a lot better.
Now Phoebe Lou sounds full, generous but with a refinement that makes the EVO 150 stand out more and more “Dummy” by Portishead is one of our personal favorites and an album we know through and through. Their live performances, by the way, are among the absolute best. Beth Gibbons’ voice is wonderful but recorded here and you hear that well through the EVO 150. Now, is it the Sabre dac or the Hypex modules? Very forgiving this amplifier is not. The basses on ‘It could be sweet’ do come through nicely. Maybe we are a bit spoiled but we have heard this album better to be honest. It doesn’t really move us this time.
Better off is Jeff Parker and his 2016 album “The New Breed.” This album is a b(r)oeating mix of jazz, hip-hop, soul and samples, free jazz so to speak. We have the CD but the stream on Qobuz via Roon is very good and through the EVO 150 everything comes through nicely. The record sounds fresh and fruity full of detail with cymbals that crackle and splash. Rhythmically it’s also in good shape and the many counter tones sound clear without crowding the busy tracks. The opening track ‘Executive Life’ splashes through the speakers
Compare
We have two competitors in at the time of writing. The Atoll SDA-200 and the Lyngdorf TDAI-1120. Reviews will follow but we can already make a brief comparison. The Atoll has a classic appearance and also the amplification is oldskool class A/B, no less than 120 watts into 8 Ohms. The screen is only half the size of the EVO with for the rest a very sober front. Still, the Atoll has a lot of analog and digital connections, a streamer and its own app. However, the SDA-200 is not Roon Ready (yet).Â
The Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 on the other hand is a very compact device, almost cute, but full of technology. Of particular note is the ‘Room Perfect’ feature to optimize the quality of the playback in your room. Interesting for readers who do not use acoustic panels like your author. The TDAI-1120 is Roon Ready but only has 2×60 watts into 8 Ohms in Class D on board. The Lyngdorf has a screen but unfortunately no cover art and such will appear on it. Lyngdorf does have its own app but only a limited number of connections.
For Whom
In recent years we see more and more so-called all-in-one devices on the market. Appliances that can do everything. And why not. The technology is there. To stand out you have to be original and in our opinion the Cambridge Audio EVO 150 succeeds in this. The design is clean, the whole is compact and the ease of use is high.
The connections are very complete and all streaming services are provided. You also save on a lot of cables. This Cambridge Audio EVO 150 will either be for someone looking for a neat living room solution or for the seasoned audiophile who has finished with the hobby and just wants a nice solution to still be able to listen to music at a certain level
