Cambridge Audio Azur 851N


Fellow audiophiles,

Does anyone have any experience with Azur851N? How good it sounds? I have had Olive 4HD and Sonos in my HT setup and looking for a better sound. I do fair amount of streaming off Spotify and Amazon and got lot of music stored on my FAT32 USB drive. Azur851N looks very promising (atleast on paper). I will be pairing this unit with a Classe SSP800 and B&W 803's. Any comments or feedback is greatly appreciated.
128x128lalitk

Showing 2 responses by zd542

I think you need to define what better means. I may think something is better, but you may hate it. Also, you don't list an amp. It would be helpful to know what it is.

I'm assuming that your goal is to get better 2 channel sound for music. If that's the case, the SSP 800 is most likely a bottleneck. At the very least, you should try to bypass it and listen using equipment you already have. I'm not too familiar with the Olive, but if it has a volume control of its own, plug it directly into your amp. If you can do this, I think its an experiment you'll find well worth your time.
"07-14-15: Lalitk
I own a Classe CA-2200 amp. My goal is to get better dynamics out of digital music. The sound from Olive and Sonos is pretty dull and flat on most music. I may try some hi-res (DSD) downloads in near future. But for now, it's pretty much Spotify and Amazon."

That's not a format issue, its an analog one. The analog section of the dac is what you need to look at for dynamics. A good example of what I'm talking about, is to compare a couple of CD players that I have. One is an Arcam 33. Its a nice, easy to listen to player, but the dynamics are just OK. My Wadia 302, on the other hand, has really good dynamics. Almost on par with vinyl.

I wouldn't recommend a Wadia for you because the company has issues. But I would definitely recommend Ayre. They make some of the most dynamic digital products you can get. Also, try your system without the preamp like I recommended in my last post. Having the right preamp in your system, will also have a big effect on dynamics.