One is a streaming all-in-one and the other is an amplifier. Judge them on how many boxes you want and what you already own, not on the spec sheet alone.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Power | A | Cambridge EXA100 has more power - 100W against 80W into 8 ohms. That is about 1dB, which is a small step in loudness but real headroom on peaks. |
| Room size | depends | We rate Cambridge EXA100 the better fit for a large room and a very large room, and Rotel S14 for a small room. Match the amplifier to the room you actually have, not the one you want. |
| Grip on hard loads | B | Rotel S14 holds up better into a 4-ohm load: its output nearly doubles to 150W, where the other increases strongly. That matters with demanding speakers far more than the 8-ohm figure does. |
| Noise floor | B | Rotel S14 is the quieter design on paper - 100dB against 91dB. Audible mainly with sensitive speakers in a quiet room. |
| Built-in DAC | evenly matched | Both have a DAC on board with much the same capability. |
| Streaming | B | Only Rotel S14 has AirPlay 2 and Chromecast. |
| Analogue inputs | A | Cambridge EXA100 takes more analogue sources - 5 against 1. |
| Use with a TV | depends | Only Cambridge EXA100 has HDMI eARC, so the television can drive it directly and one remote controls the volume. If the system is for music only, this changes nothing. |
| Room to grow | evenly matched | The same expansion options on both. |
| Price | A | Cambridge EXA100 costs less - $2,199 against $2,499 at list. |
| Watts per dollar | A | Cambridge EXA100 is the cheaper watt - about $22 per watt against $31. A blunt measure, and it says nothing about how either sounds, but it is the honest one for raw output. |
A Cambridge EXA100 B Rotel S14
depends neither is better in the abstract - it turns on your room, your system or how you will use them. Only specs published for both amplifiers are judged; anything missing on either side is left out rather than guessed.
Which should you choose?
Neither runs away with it - they trade advantages. Let the "depends" rows and the speakers you already own settle it. If your speakers are a difficult load - 4 ohms nominal, big woofers, or a sensitivity in the low 80s - Rotel S14 is the safer partner, because how an amplifier behaves when the impedance drops matters more than its 8-ohm rating. If this sits under a television, Cambridge EXA100 is the one to buy - HDMI ARC means the TV remote controls the volume and there is no second box in the way.
What a spec sheet cannot show: how either sounds with your speakers, how the controls feel day to day, and what the app is like to live with - which is where most all-in-one amplifiers are actually won or lost. Power figures are the manufacturers' own and are not measured to a common standard, so treat small differences as noise. If you can hear both, that will tell you more than any row above.