Cambridge AudioCXA81
amplifier
New retail price (MSRP)
$999
Used market: $720*
Specifications
3 of 6 values have a recorded sourceExpert Audio Engineering Commentary
Headroom notes
80 W into 8 ohms, 120 W into 4 ohms. The distortion figures come from the manual and are stated at 80 % of rated power: <0.002 % at 1 kHz, <0.02 % across 20 Hz - 20 kHz. The full-band figure is the one recorded, on both loads, because the manual does not split it by load.
Thermal behavior
The impedance limit exists only in the manual, and it is an upper bound as well as a lower one: 4 to 8 ohms. The product page never mentions loudspeaker impedance.
What the datasheet actually says
Quoted verbatim from the manufacturer’s own page, with the date we checked it. We state what is printed, not what anyone intended by it.
«Both amplifiers can be used with speakers with an impedance of between 4 and 8 Ohms.»
The manual this sentence comes from covers three products - CXA61, CXA81 and CXA81 Mk II - and the sentence says 'both amplifiers'. It is the only place Cambridge Audio states a loudspeaker impedance limit for any of them; the specification list on each product page omits it. So the safe-load figure for a 4 ohm speaker on a CXA81 rests on a sentence that does not agree with the number of models it is printed for.
checked 8/5/2026Setups using this gear
* Estimated with the depreciation fallback (~72% retained value).