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Cambridge Audio Azur 540D offers audio performance that is very competitive with the best separate CD players I have heard for under $400, but its outstanding video and DVD-A performance caused my jaw to drop. Here’s a unit from a former “audio company” that will knock some of the established video players back on their heels. In progressive scan mode, it renders natural and clean looking images that are clearly competitive with those produced by DVD players costing much more. Better still, the 540D’s performance on high resolution DVD-A is the best I have heard at anywhere near its modest price.
To evaluate the Azur 540D’s video performance, I connected its component video outputs to a large Sony RPTV. The Cambridge Audio unit’s progressive scan output on the Video Essentials test disc was impressive without noticeable noise, high-frequency roll-off, or softening on black and white or color test patterns. Additionally, the 540D’s performance rendering moving images and subtle details, like small ripples on the water, was quite good, exceeding that of a more costly, but one generation old, Denon DVD-2900 I had on hand for comparison. This is particularly noteworthy because the 2900 retailed for $999 and was praised less than a year-and-a-half ago (in The Absolute Sound, Issue 145) for its outstanding picture quality.
