Saturday evening, I turned my Cambridge 851A Stereo Amp off so that I could go down to dinner. When I returned after dinner, I turned my system back on and discovered that the Cambridge would not initialize. Apparently, the unit has failed. This even marks the second time that I have experienced a failure. The first instance of a failure occurred about 8 months after my original purchase.. Crutchfield replaced the original unit at no cost to me, under the 3-year warranty for the amp.

I am still within the original 3 year warranty period, so I will be contacting Crutchfield today to discuss the failure of this replacement unit. Two failed units in a little over two years does give me pause for thought regarding Cambridge quality,

After the failure, in order to restore music to my life, I put my Cambridge CXR120 AV Receiver into service in place of the 851A. The 851A has provisions for A and B speakers, but not so the CXR120 because it is a multi-channel unit. So, I connected my Triton Ones as the Front Speakers and my Triton Sevens as Surround Speakers.. Admittedly a funny setup since the Ones and Sevens are both in the Front of the listening area. The interesting twist is that I am intrigued by the sound with this arrangement. There are subtle but noticeable differences when comparing this setup to the A and B setup provided by the 851A Stereo Amp.

More listening in this arrangement is in order while I await resolution of the 851A problem with Crutchfield. I wonder what I will do if I end up liking the "multi-level" sound provided by the CXR120?

Happy listening,

Art