To Doug Schneider,
Nice article [on the Cambridge Audio Azur 851C]! Most informative review of all the features I have read. I got one of these and I'm trying to figure out how to best use it. I'm thinking powered speakers along with my Squeezebox Touch. Any ideas?
Chris Garrison
A system with powered speakers is something the 851C is ideally suited for, since it can act as a preamplifier in addition to a digital front end, providing you don’t need analog inputs. One word of caution, though: by default the preamp section isn’t turned on, so you have to activate it using the onscreen menu before you hook it to your speakers. If you don’t activate the preamp and play music through it, you’ll send full power to your speakers, which could be damaging. I mentioned that in my review.
If I could make a suggestion, it would be to use balanced interconnects if your speakers will accommodate them. Balanced runs typically have lower noise, so that’s the ideal way. But even if you can’t run balanced, a single-ended setup should work well too. Please write me back once you have your system running and let me how it went and what it sounds like. . . . Doug Schneider
