External DAC for Cambridge CXN (V2) and Sony XA 5400 ES

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.

I had the Benchmark DAC 3 in my system for a few weeks on loan (running into a Mastersound tube amp). I have  CXN transport and CXN V2, and when running either into the DAC3 I found that although the DAC3 offered a very slight increase in detail, the stage was very 2D and somewhat boring. Probably technically more linear, but just not engaging to me in my 2 channel system. I really enjoyed the Benchmark with my headphone rig, but it just didn't do it for me in the main system. 

Another option you may want to look into is the Modwright upgrade for the CXN. Very few real world reviews so far, but it looks very interesting in my opinion. 

I have the Sony in my 2 channel system.  It is a refugee from a HT system when I had added an Oppo 203 to replace both my BluRay and SACD player.  In the 2 channel system my DAC is a Bryston DAC3, which has 4 HDMI inputs.  The Sony outputs the DSD from SACD over HDMI.  In the same system I already have an Oppo 105 outputting DSD from SACD into another HDMI input on the DAC, I added the Sony just for laughs.  It sounds almost indistinguishable from the Oppo as a DSD transport.  My recommendation would be get a DAC with HDMI
inputs so that you can enjoy DSD from your SACDs, if you have any.  I also think the Bryston is a better DAC than Benchmark 

arize84... not sure I am onboard with " a tube preamp with a pronounced sound signature / coloration". If every piece of wire, power cord, tube, etc., produces a noticeable difference I’m not at all sure the LS2BMKII would mask differences in DAC performance because it sure doesn’t mask anything else.... but you do have a point on pricing.
displayname62... thanks for your response, soundstage and imaging are very important to me and presently the stage is much wider than the 16 foot wide room and varies from front and center in a club to first few rows depending on source material, station, original recording and such. Tried an ARC LS 17 SE pre and a LS 27 pre and they both had tiny compressed stages and left faster than they came.to try. Thanks for the info on Modwright although I’m reluctant to make irreversible changes to see if I like the results.

mahler123 Thanks for the info on the Bryston and HDMI. I probably have 30 or 40 SACD recordings and that would be important. I would not be surprised to find the Bryston to outperform the Benchmark, although it is a few years older but it is more than double the money, but again, would have to find a way to try before I buy as too much stuff has left here faster than it came. Maybe a local dealer (if there are any left) would have one that could be tried.

Maybe a local dealer (if there are any left) would have one that could be tried.

I would also love to try the Bryston, but dealers are one of their biggest challenges. I think it might be easier to find someone who owns one nearby to host then to find a dealer honestly, depending on where you live of course. 

On the Modwright, I totally get that. It requires quite a leap of faith. The only reason I'm considering (if I can get the funds together next year) would be because several people who's ears I trust have spoken highly of Modwright gear, and the design seems to be aligned with other gear that's stood out to me. 
I'm a sucker for Class A designs. Both my main amp (tube amp) and my headphone amp are class A. Those designs always seem to connect with me. Secondly, this mod makes the unit a dual power supply DAC. I've noticed DACs that leverage a dual linear power supply generally stand out to me as well, tube or solid state. Not that I'm a DAC expert, but that's a trend I've noticed. 
Then you factor in the fact that I almost exclusively use the CXN for streaming Tidal, Spotify and playing CDs. I personally don't have an SACD need, or even an ultra high res file type for now.  Plus Cambridge is on the early list Tidal Connect, which will make Tidal streaming even easier. 
Lastly, there's the price. I think this is where Modwright kept it really competitive. His gear in general tends to hold value very well. I've already had the CXN for awhile, and those are holding value fairly well too. I figured if I got it and didn't like the change I could sell the CXN and mostly just loose out on the shipping and normal CXN depreciation. At the same price point and general functionality is the Lumin D2 and Auralic Altair G1. I think there is good arguments for all 3 units based on needs/priorities, but if I was going to one of those units I think I'd rather go separates with the streamer and DAC. Because I already have the cxn, the barrier of entry is lower with the Modwright mod.  

In your shoes though, getting something that can take DSD directly from HDMI sounds like a key feature, and I think that's a good consideration. Looking forward to seeing which way you go and your thoughts wherever you land.  

You might consider just having Modwright upgrade your CXN. Supposedly a great performer when modified.

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=169517.40
http://www.modwright.com/modifications/cambridge-cxn-v2-tube-modification.php

Whoops, sorry for repeating the above suggestion...

Well..  I've decided (I think) to order the Benchmark DAC 3b this coming week from Benchmark.First shootout will be the Benchmark fed by the Cambridge digitally to my AR preamp via balanced interconnects against the Cambridge on it's analogue cables to my pre.
If that is successful the second shootout will be the Sony XA 5400 ES feeding the Benchmark digitally vs. the Sony on RCA analogue and on the reverse, the Benchmark on RCA vs. the Sony on balanced.
Cables will be Digital Belden 1694A with Canare jacks as that's what Benchmark recommends and sells.  I also have some Digital Straightwire Silver Streak II on the way in for testing.  Balanced cables are Straightwire Virtuoso (one of their level 4 reference cables) and a Straightwire Expressivo level 3 high end audio RCA cable.  I have some others I could try but the Straightwire cables (including Maestro) outperformed everything else I ever tried so that is what it is.  Power cord will be an 3m Audioquest.
I did have some concerns about SACD playback but after considering that situation I listen mostly now via streaming, and while I have a nice 700+ disc collection just don't play CDs very often,  and SACDs perhaps a couple a year now.  Throwing another $1800 at this to cover SACD playback from the Sony HDMI outputs (to a Bryston D/A)  just doesn't make sense to me.  I would expect the next step, if I take it would be to re-digitize by re-recording all my disks in FLAC or WAV on something like a Bluenode Vault 2i.  The downside to that is they say it runs about 20 minutes a CD and WTF, I'm 73 years old this month.  I'm not looking for nearly year long projects.

@midareff1 Regarding re-digitizing, I put my entire collection on a hard drive years ago using bit prefect eac rips. I find that I usually prefer Tidal's version to my own, so probably not much need to rip disks that are also streamable.

That's actually an excellent point.  For the $1299 cost of a Blue Node Vault 2i, and a quality power cord and cable I could probably pay monthly  for Tidal for fifteen years or more.....    since I'll be 73 this month I guess it's time to try Tidal and forget any idea of re-digitizing.  Thanks again, it was a concept I was missing.. 

First shootout will be the Benchmark fed by the Cambridge digitally to my AR preamp via balanced interconnects against the Cambridge on it's analogue cables to my pre.

I'll be interested to hear your findings as I've done a similar test but using RCA on both. 
Don't forget to level match. XLR/balanced outputs normally have a higher output voltage, giving it a general advantage. 
If you can test both with RCA or both with XLR you'll have a more apples to apples comparison. 

I agree...  RCA vs. RCA and XLR vs. XLR would be a better apples to apples but Expressivo (RCA) and Virtuoso (XLR) are not inexpensive cables and I just don't have spares to make the comparison true apples to apples.  I think the difference in conductors make cables sound different to a greater extent than the connection configuration does, but that's just my take on it having run the same cables in both RCA and XLR configuration as a test.

OP here....   Benchmark DAC 3 b has been delivered.  Connected and immediately determined the internal jumpers at -10 db was not enough and opened it up and moved the jumpers to -20 db...  which makes the output a correct match for my Audio Research preamp.  Initial impressions after 30 minutes of listening to a brand new DAC with brand new Belden 1694A digital cables and a balanced pair of Virtuoso interconnects which haven't been run enough in the last 6 months to keep them broken in ......   low octaves for bass fiddle, piano, drums and so forth jump out with previously unheard detail and intensity.  Rhythm and drive of the system, which it already had in spades, may be even more present and makes you want to get up and dance in the room.  Air and space around individual instruments is better than either source was before, as is the silence at the back of it all.  Sound stage as wide as before, which was already beyond the walls.  Depth, already was deep so I need more time to tell about any changes here.  Observations apply to both the Cambridge streaming for a couple of hours  and the Sony XA 5400 ES for the one disk played so far. The DAC 3 b is small, smaller than I expected and takes very little shelf space.  More after getting a couple hundred hours on it as I'm going to be running it 24/7 now.