"It sounds seriously good for the money, with a happy, upbeat nature underwritten by real power and insight"
- Hi-Fi Choice
"Designed to be chic, sleek and easy to operate, while still delivering where it counts... performance"
- Hi-Fi News
Impressively revealing, with a revolutionary preamp circuit-board that reduces interference and an incredibly clean signal path, Edge NQ plays your favourite music with astonishing depth. Stream, plug-in and play to enjoy every note in perfect clarity.
• Cambridge Audio's most detailed pre-amplifier and network player
• Featuring hand-picked components chosen for the best sound, not price
• StreamMagic award-winning streaming built-in
• Pair with Edge W or Edge M power amps to create your perfect system
• High-quality dual concentric volume and source select control knob
• Solid-state volume control for clean signal path
• Balanced XLR connections for low noise interference
• Built-in 32bit/384kHz DAC with digital coaxial, HDMI ARC, USB and S/PDIF connections
• Cambridge Audio's award-winning streaming module supports both 24bit/192kHz and DSD128 files
• Chromecast built-in, Spotify Connect, TIDAL, Qobuz, AirPlay, Bluetooth aptX HD, Internet Radio and UPnP Playback
• Roon Ready certification enhances your browsing experience
• High-quality headphone socket for private listening
• Optional Auto Power Down mode switches the Edge NQ to standby after inactivity
User Manual (PDF, 1MB)
"Accomplished is a word we can use to describe the Cambridge Audio Edge NQ itself. It is a top-class streamer and a rather fine analogue preamplifier too. Add a hugely capable DAC section, and an impressive headphone amplifier, and you have quite some product – all packed into one gorgeous unit to boot."
Read the full review on What Hi-Fi?
Edge NQ lets you enjoy music from any source. As well as digital coaxial, HDMI, USB and S/PDIF connections, there’s also Chromecast built-in, Spotify Connect, TIDAL, Qobuz, AirPlay, Bluetooth aptX HD, Internet Radio and UPnP Playback. Roon Ready certification enhances your browsing experience. Wherever songs are played from, Edge NQ stays true to the character of every instrument and uncovers a musicality you’ve never heard before.
With a wealth of connections including digital coaxial, ARC (Audio Return Channel), USB and S/PDIF, our engineers have ensured that all of your digital content can be enjoyed, at up to 32bit/384kHz and DSD 256. Edge NQ offers an incredibly revealing sound that has detailed tone, rhythmic drive and taut bass.
Edge NQ was designed with a unique PCB. Our engineers replaced conventional capacitors with a DC coupled topology and also added a solid state volume control. The end result is a clean signal path that’s perfectly balanced at any volume.
Edge NQ boasts the very latest version of our award-winning streaming module. Designed in-house, right here in the UK, it features a new, faster chipset and support for both 24bit/192kHz and DSD128 files. The addition of Spotify Connect, TIDAL, Qobuz, AirPlay, Bluetooth aptX HD and Internet radio means you can enjoy your music whatever the source. Roon Ready certification enhances your browsing experience.
Thanks to Chromecast Built-in hundreds of music services, including Sirius XM & Soundcloud, can be enjoyed on the Edge NQ. Just tap the cast button in your favourite app to stream music from your smartphone, tablet or laptop in stunning high definition sound, up to 24bit/96kHz.
If you wish to connect the Edge NQ to an integrated amplifier rather than a power amplifier, the streaming functionality can be used independently of the preamplifier. The preamplifier can be disabled via the dedicated Edge app for iOS and Android.
Edge systems are designed to work in perfect synchronisation. Match the Edge NQ with our highest performing power amplifier, Edge W, to create a hi-fi system with a sound, and a look, unlike anything else.
In the build-up to Cambridge Audio's 50th anniversary, they asked their engineers a simple question – what would they make if anything was possible? Forget cost. Forget limitations. Create a system that delivers previously undiscovered layers of detail, is highly transparent, offering superlative sound-staging. A product true to Cambridge Audio’s foundations of creative innovation and entrepreneurial ambition. Over 3 years in the making, utilising a team of 9 engineers, the result is Edge.
In recognition of their heritage, Cambridge Audio developed Edge, the embodiment of their signature Great British Sound and the pinnacle of 50 years of Hi-Fi expertise. Beautifully minimal in its design, each component has a curved extruded aluminium front and floating top plate. It’s an extraordinary exterior that’s hiding some extraordinary audio engineering inside.
To remove the barriers between you and your music, Cambridge Audio have worked hard to minimise the number of components in the signal path in the Edge series. As a result, Edge delivers a more faithful reproduction of the original recording; an impressively detailed three-dimensional sound, with striking staging and focus.
Cambridge Audio only ever choose components for their sonic merits – not price, not specs, nor measured performance. This ‘listen first, measure later’ ethos means blind-auditioning all price and performance levels and only going with those that sound the most dynamic, give the greatest presence, offer a revealing clarity; in short, the most musical.
Gone are the rows of buttons and dials you often see on high-end audio kit. Instead, the Edge Series features one high-quality dual concentric volume and source select control knob, enabling you to navigate menus and control the volume with a simple twist. Designed and assembled in the UK, this mechanical marvel comprises 31 precision-milled engineered parts. The complexity inside enables the most intuitive and purest of interfaces.
Cambridge Audio wants you to hear your music at its very best, as the artist intended it to be heard, with nothing added, nothing taken away. That’s what we’ve always wanted because that’s what music lovers like us deserve. It’s why we’re constantly experimenting, solving problems and creating new kit. It’s why we’ve been doing what we do for the last 50 years. It’s why we’re always trying to make the listening experience better. Pure.
All Cambridge Audio's research and development take place at their London HQ: where their team of 20 audio engineers create and experiment. The team comprises industrial designers, electrical engineers, coders, QA testers and more who have decades of experience and, together, have created some of the most successful British audio products in the last half-century.
| Model Number | Edge NQ |
|---|---|
| RRP | 8,999.00 |
| Specs | D/A CONVERTER THD ANALOG SOURCES FREQUENCY RESPONSE S/N RATIO (REF 1V OUTPUT) CROSSTALK @ 1KHZ MAX PREAMP OUTPUT FIXED LINE-OUT MODE USB AUDIO INPUT USB DRIVE INPUT BLUETOOTH UPNP CONNECTIVITY CHROMECAST BUILT-IN ROON READY TOSLINK INPUT COAX S/PDIF INPUT WI-FI ETHERNET MAX POWER CONSUMPTION STANDBY POWER CONSUMPTION DIMENSIONS WEIGHT CHROMECAST BUILT-IN IN THE BOX |
