News

Cambridge Audio has unveiled its Evo One one-box wireless speaker, designed by Red Dot Award-winning designer Ged Martin. Taking the hi-res capabilities of the company’s Evo 75 and Evo 150 (HFC 477) streaming amplifiers, the Evo One is described as an: “omni-directional audio experience”.

The company explains that Evo One allows listeners to use almost any music service and is powered by Cambridge’s 4th-generation StreamMagic platform, which also lies at the heart of its network players including the CXN100 (HFC 518) and MXN10.

It features 14 drivers comprising four 25mm silk dome tweeters, four midrange 57mm aluminium cones and six 70mm long-throw bass drivers, and they’ve been designed to surround the Evo One in front, side and rear-firing configurations to deliver a wide sound dispersion and expansive soundstage. Cambridge explains: “There’s no need to sit in a sonic ‘sweetspot’ as you would with most wireless speakers – with Evo One, every seat in the room is treated to glorious sound”.

Power is delivered by 700W of Class D amplification – 50W (RMS) per driver – while advanced Digital Signal Processing (DSP) has also been used. The StreamMagic control app can personalise audio to the listener’s taste and a seven-band EQ tweaks the sonics manually. CA also cites a wealth of presets to tailor to multiple music genres and TV-watching scenarios. Room-optimisation features in the app enable users to adapt the sound manually to their living space.

StreamMagic offers direct streaming from Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Deezer, Qobuz, Roon Ready, UPnP and Internet Radio with support up to 32-bit/192kHz PCM over wi-fi or Ethernet. As Cambridge owns and develops the StreamMagic platform, new features are regularly added to improve and increase its functionality.

Evo One supports Bluetooth, AirPlay 2 and Google Cast. To share music across devices all around the home, Evo One is also compatible with Google Home and Roon multi-room systems.

Wired connectivity includes HDMI eARC so the Evo One can be connected to a TV, a moving-magnet phono stage for hooking up a turntable and a line input. An optical input and USB-A media socket provide further digital options.

While all of Evo One’s functionality can be accessed via the StreamMagic app, and the HDMI eARC connection enables volume control through a TV remote, a dedicated remote control is additionally supplied.

Evo One comes with a real walnut top and wood veneer while the grille construction is: “inspired by natural honeycomb forms, protecting the drivers while placing less mass in front of them to avoid obstructing the sound. This structure is then covered with acoustically transparent fabric that allows music to fill the room unimpeded.”

A 6.8in colour screen offers the choice of pure function or a taste of retro-chic style. Users can cycle through a clock display, album artwork and info on the current track or else just enjoy the virtual VU meters.

Evo One measures 675 x 129 x 290mm and includes a minimum of 50 percent recycled material, an FSC-certified wood veneer cabinet and optimised power consumption.

Available to buy now for £1,300, you can find out more about the Evo One here.