No single best amplifier here. What decides it is what you have to drive, what you need to plug in, and how much of the system you want in one box.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Power | B | Cambridge Audio Evo 150 SE has more power - 150W against 100W into 8 ohms. That is about 1.8dB, which is a small step in loudness but real headroom on peaks. |
| Grip on hard loads | B | Cambridge Audio Evo 150 SE holds up better into a 4-ohm load: its output increases strongly to 250W, where the other increases strongly. That matters with demanding speakers far more than the 8-ohm figure does. |
| Built-in DAC | B | Both decode on board, but only Cambridge Audio Evo 150 SE handles DSD. |
| Use with a TV | depends | Only Cambridge Audio Evo 150 SE has HDMI ARC, so the television can drive it directly and one remote controls the volume. If the system is for music only, this changes nothing. |
| Shelf space | depends | Cambridge Audio Evo 150 SE takes up about 20% less shelf area (1185cm² against 1481cm²), and it is 29mm shallower, which is the measurement that decides whether a rack door shuts. |
| Price | B | Cambridge Audio Evo 150 SE costs less - $3,299 against $3,499 at list. |
| Watts per dollar | B | Cambridge Audio Evo 150 SE is the cheaper watt - about $22 per watt against $35. A blunt measure, and it says nothing about how either sounds, but it is the honest one for raw output. |
A PS Audio Stellar Strata MK2 B Cambridge Audio Evo 150 SE
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 Evo 150 SE has the edge on paper, though not by much. The rows marked "depends" are more likely to decide this than the score is. If your speakers are a difficult load - 4 ohms nominal, big woofers, or a sensitivity in the low 80s - Cambridge Audio Evo 150 SE 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 Audio Evo 150 SE 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.