The New Cambridge Audio Alva ST Belt Drive Turntable Offers Analog or Digital Out

I wonder if vinyl naysayers, you know the type, would feel better using the Cambridge Alva ST ‘table’s Bluetooth output. Bit are bits, right?

The Alva ST is Cambridge’s new entry level plug & play turntable. It comes equipped with an Audio Technica AT-VM95E Moving Magnet cartridge preinstalled, a defeatable built-in phono stage (i.e. Line or Phono output), and for the analog agnostics in the crowd, you can skip the wires and send your vinyl-resident tunes over the airwaves via Bluetooth (24-bit/48kHz) to a Bluetooth-equipped receiving device.

The Alva ST’s belt-driven platter can spin at 33 or 45rpm with the push of a button, which is a nice feature at this price point. While it’s really no big deal, I still find pulling the platter off of my Rega P3 to change speeds a bit too mechanical.

I happen to think Cambridge Audio’s industrial designers are on a roll of late, with the sumptuously curvaceous, and very good sounding, Edge A Integrated Amplifier (review) and the Alva ST’s clean lines and curved corners look kinda. . .classy, imo.

Expect to see the Cambridge Audio Alva ST Belt Drive Turntable hit the market in the Spring of 2022 priced at $999.

Cambridge also introduced the upscale Alva TT V2 turntable:

	Alva TT V2	Alva ST
MSRP:	$1,999	$999
DRIVE MECHANISM:	Direct drive	Belt drive
TURNTABLE SPEEDS:	33.3, 45 rpm	33.3, 45 rpm
CARTRIDGE TYPE:	High Output Moving Coil	Audio Technica AT-VM95E Moving Magnet
CARTRIDGE TRACKING FORCE:	2g	2g
TURNTABLE PLATTER:	POM (Polyoxymethylene)	Die-cast aluminum
TONEARM TYPE:	Static balanced tonearm with detachable headshell	Static balanced tonearm with detachable headshell
TONEARM EFFECTIVE LENGTH:	221.5mm	221.5mm
TONEARM OVERHANG: 19mm	19mm	19mm
TONEARM EFFECTIVE MASS:	19.6g	19.8g
PHONO STAGE GAIN @1kHz:	@1kHz: 42dB	1kHz: 42dB
PHONO STAGE INPUT IMPEDANCE: 47Ω	47Ω	47Ω
PHONO STAGE NOMINAL OUTPUT: 250Vrms	250Vrms	250Vrms
STANDBY POWER CONSUMPTION:	<0.25W	<0.3W
DIMENSIONS (w x h x d):	435 x 139 x 368mm (17.1 x 5.5 x 14.5”)	435 x 139 x 366.7mm (17.1 x 5.5 x 14.4”)
WEIGHT:	10.9kg (24lbs)	9kg (19.8lbs)