You will be surprised at how competitive the Cambridge sounds especially if you are routing everything through a vintage tube pre. I have compared the CXN to a schiit Iggy running them both into a Primaluna tube preamp and the difference between the 2 was surprisingly subtle. I really feel that DACs in the $1.5-3.5K range pose the worst value in the market right now because there are many DACs well under $1K that come very close to matching their performance and when you then run everything through a tube preamp with a pronounced sound signature / coloration, those minor differences between the DACs become almost irrelevant.
External DAC for Cambridge CXN (V2) and Sony XA 5400 ES
The Sony was Stereophile A+ rated in 2014 which is probably prehistoric in digital years although still wonderful, especially on Redbook. The Cambridge is excellent too although if I rated the Sony @ 100 the Cambridge would be 97 with extremely slight detail differences and a background that's just not quite as black.
I'm wondering if a nice external DAC would give me a detail and depth of stage boost? I'm considering a Benchmark DAC 3 b to feed my Audio Research vintage (tube) pre-amp although Mytek (Liberty and Chord (Qutest) seem to have highly rated offerings. Benchmark has a 30 day trial offer that might work as I'm well past the point of buying anything I can't hear in my room.. I'm leaning towards the Benchmark for the trial offer and I don't need a volume control since the AR pre has a remote volume.
Opinions?
I'm wondering if a nice external DAC would give me a detail and depth of stage boost? I'm considering a Benchmark DAC 3 b to feed my Audio Research vintage (tube) pre-amp although Mytek (Liberty and Chord (Qutest) seem to have highly rated offerings. Benchmark has a 30 day trial offer that might work as I'm well past the point of buying anything I can't hear in my room.. I'm leaning towards the Benchmark for the trial offer and I don't need a volume control since the AR pre has a remote volume.
Opinions?