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 | B | Cambridge Audio Edge A 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 Naim Uniti Nova the better fit for a small room, and Cambridge Audio Edge A for a large room and a very large room. Match the amplifier to the room you actually have, not the one you want. |
| Built-in DAC | evenly matched | Both have a DAC on board with much the same capability. |
| Streaming | A | Only Naim Uniti Nova has AirPlay 2, Chromecast and Roon. |
| Analogue inputs | B | Cambridge Audio Edge A takes more analogue sources - 3 against 2. |
| Room to grow | evenly matched | The same expansion options on both. |
| Amplifier class | depends | Naim Uniti Nova is Class A/B and Cambridge Audio Edge A is Class XA. Class A/B runs warm and is the long-established mainstream choice. Modern examples of both measure well - judge by the rest of the page. |
| Shelf space | depends | Naim Uniti Nova takes up about 27% less shelf area (1371cm² against 1867cm²), and it is 89mm shallower, which is the measurement that decides whether a rack door shuts. |
| Price | B | Cambridge Audio Edge A costs less - $6,499 against $6,899 at list. |
| Watts per dollar | B | Cambridge Audio Edge A is the cheaper watt - about $65 per watt against $86. A blunt measure, and it says nothing about how either sounds, but it is the honest one for raw output. |
A Naim Uniti Nova B Cambridge Audio Edge A
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?
Cambridge Audio Edge A has the edge on paper, though not by much. The rows marked "depends" are more likely to decide this than the score is.
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.