Cambridge Audio Evo One Streaming Speaker Redefines Category?

The British audio specialists at Cambridge Audio have been on a roll with their streaming products for the last few years. In the early days of streaming, the company was one of the first to develop an in-house hardware/software streaming solution, StreamMagic, now in its fourth iteration. Though there were bumps in the road, StreamMagic is now a mature and user-friendly platform. Cambridge Audio’s streaming products also support Roon, AirPlay, and Chromecast, so you aren’t locked into a proprietary solution. In 2021, Cambridge released the Evo 75 and Evo 150 streaming integrated amplifiers, which remain the best-looking units of their kind in my opinion, though they have strong competition from the likes of NAIM and NAD. Earlier this year, the Evo 150 got an aesthetic makeover in the form of the Evo 150 DeLorean Edition, which looks absolutely incredible and also performed very well on the test bench when Chief Audioholic Gene DellaSala put it through its paces. (See Gene’s article Cambridge Audio EVO 150 Streaming Integrated Amplifier Bench Test Results.) I had the pleasure of reviewing the stellar Cambridge Audio MXN10 network streamer last year, which bested the ever-popular Bluesound Node in terms of sound quality and earned an easy recommendation at its $500 price. With all this success under their belts, the folks at Cambridge Audio have entered into uncharted territory with the all-new Evo One streaming loudspeaker ($1,499).

Get ready to dive into our overview of the game-changing Cambridge Audio Evo One Streaming Speaker! We’ve also included an electrifying review from our friend Randy at Cheapaudioman, giving you an up-close look at its jaw-dropping performance and the lasting impression it left on him.

The Evo One promises “unrivaled performance, connectivity, and versatility,” all packaged in an undeniably stylish product designed by the Red Dot Award-winning industrial designer Ged Martin. The impeccable design shares a clear family resemblance with the Evo streaming amps, but the Evo One is a standalone unit — the first such product from Cambridge Audio. The company does have experience designing passive loudspeakers, and I have long awaited the chance to audition Cambridge’s Edge S Limited-Edition, which are based on the excellent Mordaunt-Short Performance 6 from about 20 years ago. (Both Cambridge Audio and Mordaunt-Short are owned by parent company Audio Partnership Plc.) The Evo One shares the hi-res streaming smarts used in the Evo 75 and Evo 150, but adds 14 drivers and 700 watts of total amplification to deliver what Cambridge calls “a unique omni-directional audio experience.”

Our aim was to distill our decades of expertise in sound and streaming into a user-friendly, one-box experience. Evo One achieves all that and so much more. Aesthetically as well as sonically and functionally, it truly enriches every space and occasion. The perfect all-in-one audio solution, Evo One is a fuss-free and beautiful way to enjoy your favorite music, movies, and more.

— Matt Dore, Chief Technical Officer of Cambridge Audio

Cambridge Audio Evo One: Under the Hood

The Evo One packs a lot of engineering into its relatively compact form. Measuring 26.6 inches across, the Evo One isn’t much wider than a Sonos Beam, though it is substantially taller than a typical soundbar, at 5.1 inches high. If you’re planning to use it beneath a TV, wall-mounting the TV will be your best option. Even considering its 11.4-inch depth, it’s hard to imagine how Cambridge could cram 14 drivers into this thing until you see pictures of a disrobed Evo One. There are four 1-inch silk dome tweeters and four 2.25-inch aluminum cone midrange drivers. (As audio reviewer John Darko would say, the midrange drivers in the UK version of the Evo One are made out of aluminium, rather than aluminum.) The low end is provided by six 2.75-inch long-throw woofers. Yes, 2.75 inches is awfully small for a woofer, but six of them have a total surface area bigger than that of a 6.5-inch woofer. Two of the woofers are rear-firing, so you’ll want to leave some space between the Evo One and the wall behind it. The left and right side surfaces of the speaker each house a side-firing woofer, midrange driver, and tweeter. That leaves two woofers, two midrange drivers, and two tweeters creating a stereo pair of 3-way speakers on the front surface. The midrange drivers and tweeters are as close to the far edges of the speaker as possible, presumably to maximize stereo imaging.

Together, these 14 drivers deliver “a phenomenally wide sound dispersion and a truly expansive soundstage,” according to Cambridge Audio. The company says that there is no need to sit in a sonic sweet-spot, as you would with most speakers, since “every seat in the room is treated to glorious sound.” Each driver is powered by 50 watts (RMS) of Class D amplification, for a total system power of 700 watts. Cambridge says that an advanced DSP is used, which enabled the engineering team to fine-tune the drivers’ behavior and provide “the Cambridge signature sound… (with) breathtaking clarity and deep controlled bass that defies the limits of the one-box form factor.” There is also a seven-band EQ accessible in the StreamMagic control app, allowing the user to personalize the sound “to an astoundingly precise degree” according to individual preferences. These are all manual adjustments, as no automatic room correction is included. There are, however, Room-optimization features that allow you to adapt the sound manually to better suit room acoustics, along with multiple EQ presets tailored to various music genres and TV-watching scenarios.

Also inside the 4th-gen StreamMagic platform you can access a wide selection of integrated streaming services, including Qobuz and Deezer. Or, if you prefer, you can stream directly from the Spotify, Tidal, or Roon apps, without using the StreamMagic app. (In my testing of the MXN10 Network streamer, I found the StreamMagic app to be mostly seamless and stable to use, except for occasional glitches when playing Qobuz from inside the app.) UPnP devices and Internet Radio are supported as well. Whether you connect the Evo One via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, the speaker supports hi-res audio signals up to 32-bit/192kHz. Over the years, Cambridge has consistently added new services and fixed bugs to improve and increase the functionality of StreamMagic. Evo One is also fully compatible with Google Home and Apple AirPlay. When it comes to wired connectivity, the most important piece of news is that the Evo One has an HDMI eARC port, allowing the speaker to function as a soundbar when connected to a TV. There’s also a moving-magnet (MM) phono preamp built in, allowing a turntable to be connected directly to the speaker. There is an additional line-level analog input for any other source with analog outputs, like a CD player. An optical digital input allows you to connect legacy gaming consoles, and a USB-A media socket provides further digital options. A dedicated remote control is supplied to ensure complete ease of use for anyone in the room, but many folks will use the StreamMagic app to control the Evo One’s functionality. Thanks to the wonders of HDMI, you can use your TV’s remote to control the Evo One’s volume when the speaker is on soundbar duty.

Cambridge Audio Evo One: Design

As an audiophile with some snobbish tendencies, I don’t often look too closely at one-box solutions because I want real stereo imaging. But many “regular” people would rather have a single product on a living room credenza or below a TV than a pair of bookshelf speakers requiring stands, cables, and so on.  There’s a reason why soundbars are so incredibly popular. And these days, some one-box streaming speakers deliver surprising sound quality. (Check out the $1,500 JBL L75ms Music System and the $2K Sonus faber Omnia if you’re shopping in this segment.) Even the snobbiest of audiophiles would have to admit that the Evo One is a visual treat to behold — it’s such a looker that I’m currently searching my bedroom trying to figure out where I could put one. Cambridge describes the aesthetic as “minimalist retro-modern… both fresh and yet undeniably part of the Evo family.” The clean lines certainly contribute to the minimalist and modern vibes, while the real walnut veneer creates a “timeless feel, and an undeniable air of luxury,” according to the company. It’s hard to argue with that. But it’s not all just for show. There’s some clever design in the grille construction, which is reportedly inspired by natural honeycomb forms, and results in less mass in front of the drivers to avoid obstructing the sound while still providing solid protection. The large 6.8-inch full color display is a 1280 x 480 IPS LCD offering the choice of album artwork and info of the current track, a clock display, or “the mesmerizing tick of virtual VU meters” for a taste of retro-chic style. While the beautiful FSC-certified (Forest Stewardship Council) walnut wood steals the show on the outside, the Evo One does contain a fair amount of plastic underneath, which Cambridge says is composed of a minimum of 50% recycled material. Along with optimized power consumption designed into the electronics, the use of these materials is part of Cambridge’s aim for increased sustainability as Founding Donor of the eco-music charity EarthPercent, which was co-founded by the iconic Brian Eno.

Cambridge Audio vs Sennheiser & Devialet

The Cambridge Audio Evo One has plenty of competition, including the aforementioned JBL and Sonus faber speakers, along with many other premium all-in-one products, from the slightly-less-expensive NAIM Mu-so 2 to the $3K McIntosh RS250. If you include the category of slim, high-end soundbars, you’d have to consider the $1,500 Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus to be a direct competitor to the Evo One, and the Devialet Dione a premium option at $2K. From a design and functionality perspective, the Evo One seems to have very few weaknesses. Chief among these is the lack of a subwoofer output, though some form of automatic room correction wouldn’t go amiss either. Still, it’s an appealing package at a competitive price, and it certainly looks the part of a luxury audio device that normal people would be happy to live with. The Cambridge Audio Evo One should be available by the time you read this, both at the Cambridge website and from authorized dealers like our friends at Dreamedia AV.

More information: cambridgeaudio.com

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.