Review: Cambridge Audio Sonata AR30 Receiver
Our old stereo amplifier finally got to the point it was taking too long for the right channel to turn on, and our hands were getting sore from thumping it, that it was time for a new amp. Decisions, decisions! Our requirements were quite simple:
- Had to sound good, but not superb
- AM/FM receiver built in
- No more than 150mm high
- Preferably stereo, but surround was an option
After some looking around, with quite a lot of frustration, we found the Cambridge Audio Sonata AR30 receiver. This has a Sirius satellite radio option in the USA, and DAB in Europe (called the DR30), but here in Australia you get nothing. We’ve got DAB+, so DAB won’t work and there isn’t any satellite radio service.
Anyway, the little amplifier is quite amazing, and for several reasons:
- It sounds as good as the old NAD C320 that we had before
- Inputs for CD, DVD, Tuner, AUX, MP3 and iPod (shared with MP3)
- It is tiny! 270mm wide, 67mm high and 285mm deep. It weighs in at 4kg and I think most of it is the toroidal transformer.
- 40W per channel, which drives the Tannoy M2.5 bookshelves quite capably.
- RDS radio is nice, showing song details
- The remote control allows you to turn the amp on and off
- An iPod dock came bundled with it, with full remote control capability.
There are some extra features worth mentioning as these really suit our situation.
- The AUX channel can be renamed. It is now called PVR, which is less confusing when people visit. The changing of sources on the front panel is through a single button, rather than one for each source.
- Gain can be adjusted for the AUX, MP3 and iPod channels. Our PVR and the iPod have output levels quite a bit less than the DVD and CD player. The adjustable gain brings everything up to the same level, so there is less ear stress when changing sources.
All in all, the amp/receiver does a very nice job in a tidy little package. There’s pretty much the same guts as the C320, but 10 years passing means that single-sided through-hole circuit boards have been superseded by surface-mount (and probably double-sided) and so everything is much smaller inside, while retaining the same sound quality. Win win!
