Cambridge Audio CXUHD
FOR Natural colours; sharp details; great sound quality; impressive upscaling AGAINST Nothing of note
According to legend, during the Lumière brothers’ screening of one of the very first films in 1896, Arrival Of A Train At La Ciotat Station, the audience was so convinced by what they were seeing, they believed the locomotive was actually going to crash through the screen and into the cinema.
More than 120 years later, that story indicates just how powerful the silver screen can be. And Cambridge Audio’s Blu-ray player, the CXUHD, is certainly up to the task of bringing a realistic image to your screens.
From the outside, the CXUHD looks a lot like the company’s older CXU Blu-ray player, but the company has redesigned the digital circuitry to decrease signal interference – with the aim of improving audio and picture quality.
Around the back, there are two USB 3.0 connections, two HDMI outputs – one version 2.0 for audio and video, and a 1.4 for sending audio straight to your sound system – as well as an HDMI 2.0 input for a set-top box or streaming stick. There’s also an RS-232 interface for PCS, optical and coaxial outputs, and an ethernet port to back up the built-in wi-fi.
Comprehensive support
All popular hi-res file formats from your NAS drive or server, up to a 7.1-channel, 192khz resolution, are supported, as are SACD and DVD-A discs. Support for Dolby Vision – Dolby’s form of Dynamic HDR – means the player can optimise the picture on a frame by frame basis.
Setting up the CXUHD is straightforward. The remote, which remains unchanged from the CXU, still feels nice to hold and the buttons are pleasingly tactile. There’s a backlight button for use in the dark, but, if we’re being picky, we still prefer the motionactivated lights of some rivals.
Unlike other Blu-ray players, there are no on-board streaming services, such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, in the CXUHD’S menu screens. This may seem like an omission, but Cambridge has put the focus on getting peak audio-visual performance – and has bet on the likelihood that your 4K HDR television has those apps installed anyway.
We start off with a 4K HDR Blu-ray of Planet Earth II and are impressed by the way the player renders the rich green trees and clear blue waters of the Caribbean islands.
We watch as a pygmy three-toed sloth slowly climbs trees, and the amount of detail the CXUHD manages to render from the disc is impressive. With the textured cracks and ridges of the tree bark, this player delivers an image so natural you can even imagine the sound it is making. During a close-up of the sloth’s sleeping face, there’s a convincing sense of depth and fine detail as the sun strikes its coarse fur. Both the Panasonic and Pioneer are even better in these respects – but they're also more expensive.
A spellbinding picture
Switching to the Ultra HD Blu-ray of Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, the CXUHD has a fine handling of light and darkness. The way the light falls across Vernon Dursley’s face is nuanced and well-balanced, his blotchy red cheeks looking impressively realistic.
Even in the gloomy halls of Hogwarts, the CXUHD doesn’t struggle too much. In darker scenes, the detailed relief work on pillars and the scratches on the stonework are still visible when the titular wizard delves into the darkness.
The CXUHD retains its insightful character even as we switch down resolution to an 1080p Blu-ray of Logan. The range of colours is more restricted than in an HDR film, but the player takes the smaller range in its stride.
When Wolverine attends a funeral near the start of the film, the strands of scraggy hair and tiny droplets of water on his beard are visible without being overly emphasised.
The player handles the movement of torrential rain bouncing off his coat nicely, and as the camera pans around the scene, the CXUHD remains smooth.
This player will happily upscale your DVD collection too. We slip in a DVD of The Truman Show and are pleased that the CXUHD renders faces, clothing, and even the felt office walls of Truman Burbank's office with a minimal amount of noise in the picture. The CXUHD’S noise-reduction settings eliminate almost all noise, but at the expense of reducing some detail if you go too far.
A good sense of space
The CXUHD has a good sound performance too, giving a transparent rendition of Elton John’s I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues from his Live At Madison Square Garden Blu-ray. With a suitable amplifier and speaker set-up, the CXUHD has a great sense of space.
This player is also tight and well organised at the low end. The weighty notes have a well-defined shape as the CXUHD’S sophisticated handling of frequency extremes provides clear layers of low-frequency notes.
That quality remains with CDS too, as Vivaldi’s Concerto In E Major builds and falls away with a nicely managed intensity. The call and response of the strings’ deep hums, midway through the piece, push forward and retreat swiftly. The Pioneer delivers the sound with a little more precision and punch, but Cambridge is far from embarrassed.
Give it what it deserves
Getting a suitable system for this player won’t come cheap though. You’re looking at a premium surround sound set-up, and then a top-notch television or projector on top of that. But if you already have those things, Cambridge Audio’s CXUHD is a great addition.
The picture here may not at first seem as impressive as on some rivals, but continued auditioning reveals an understated character with a focus on accuracy – a more admirable quality than succumbing to the allure of an overly punchy, unnaturally sharp picture. This is undoubtedly one of the best 4K Blu-ray players of its kind.