apologies for using the wrong term. lack of knowledge in this technical space and old age make that happen often. please do forgive me. Replacement for my PWD mkii is what i need
luckily my ears are still ok
luckily my ears are still ok
Inexpensive all in one options
Hello to all. it's been a while for me.
just had a major meltdown with my 10 year old setup and find myself feeling like Rip Van Winkle scrambling to find a new digital front end for a temporary system. understanding a decade in digi can be like dog years, was hoping for help finding a decent streamer/dac with preamp capabilities?.
back story....right before Christmas, my amp went south and took the speakers with (ML436/Aerial 7B's). I'm a part time hobbyist who generally puts together a decent system and enjoys for many years. until something compels me to upgrade/do it again, i just sit back and enjoy what i have. dead amp and speakers are very compelling. don't have the time to rebuild properly right now. all the research/auditions/time required are not doable now or anytime soon. need something to get by for a while...1-1.5 years ish. Not having decent music available was/is not an option. amp and speakers were relatively easy. spent a couple hours researching then picked up a new amp and some pre-owned speakers here on agon. ended up sounding pretty good and thought i was done. this gear will end up in my living room down the road after putting together the real listening room setup.
2nd week with the new gear, my PS Audio Perfect Wave Transport fails. fixed cost repair/refurb is roughly $800, so it's an easy no in my mind. off to the trash bin with the PWT. as much as i enjoyed it, actual usage was down to 10% max with streaming being the remaining 90%. Hi Rez is probably 75% of my streaming. My Perfect Wave Dac mkII was still working fine and could keep me going/happy for a while. done/all set again i thought. THEN!!....the PWD started acting up last night !!. so when it rains it pours. my entire 5 piece system has circled the drain in about 5 weeks. was left with a bunch of nice power cords, interconnects and speaker cables. that's it.
bottom line now/point of this long winded post is i need a quick replacement for my PWD. had used it has a pre-amp w/volume control into the ML/Aerial system (RIP) for many years and loved the sound of not having a stand alone preamp. would like to avoid needing to get a preamp now as well
What I need...bare minimum
Decent/good DAC
Streamer from my PC (wifi and ethernet cable)
Internet radio along with common/popular streaming services
Balanced/XLR outputs
Pre-amp w/volume control
Hi Rez capable (obviously)
Trigger for amp turn on would be a nice plus
would like to spend south of $2k and prefer new or something somewhat new-ish/only a couple years old tops. could go a little higher then $2k if "compelled" to do so. the only two options i've looked into are Cambridge Audio products. The CXN V2 and 850N. both seem like they'd work fine and check all my boxes. Looking for other options my limited/one evening of research might have missed..... or a recommendation on either of the Cambridge products above. want to buy something asap so please chime in early and often.
**as a side ask.....have been using J River for 10 years (old version JR 18 lol!)). am guessing that will need to change depending on what i end up with?. any suggestions regarding streaming software would be great.
thx in advance
cheers
Rip Van Winkle
Levy
just had a major meltdown with my 10 year old setup and find myself feeling like Rip Van Winkle scrambling to find a new digital front end for a temporary system. understanding a decade in digi can be like dog years, was hoping for help finding a decent streamer/dac with preamp capabilities?.
back story....right before Christmas, my amp went south and took the speakers with (ML436/Aerial 7B's). I'm a part time hobbyist who generally puts together a decent system and enjoys for many years. until something compels me to upgrade/do it again, i just sit back and enjoy what i have. dead amp and speakers are very compelling. don't have the time to rebuild properly right now. all the research/auditions/time required are not doable now or anytime soon. need something to get by for a while...1-1.5 years ish. Not having decent music available was/is not an option. amp and speakers were relatively easy. spent a couple hours researching then picked up a new amp and some pre-owned speakers here on agon. ended up sounding pretty good and thought i was done. this gear will end up in my living room down the road after putting together the real listening room setup.
2nd week with the new gear, my PS Audio Perfect Wave Transport fails. fixed cost repair/refurb is roughly $800, so it's an easy no in my mind. off to the trash bin with the PWT. as much as i enjoyed it, actual usage was down to 10% max with streaming being the remaining 90%. Hi Rez is probably 75% of my streaming. My Perfect Wave Dac mkII was still working fine and could keep me going/happy for a while. done/all set again i thought. THEN!!....the PWD started acting up last night !!. so when it rains it pours. my entire 5 piece system has circled the drain in about 5 weeks. was left with a bunch of nice power cords, interconnects and speaker cables. that's it.
bottom line now/point of this long winded post is i need a quick replacement for my PWD. had used it has a pre-amp w/volume control into the ML/Aerial system (RIP) for many years and loved the sound of not having a stand alone preamp. would like to avoid needing to get a preamp now as well
What I need...bare minimum
Decent/good DAC
Streamer from my PC (wifi and ethernet cable)
Internet radio along with common/popular streaming services
Balanced/XLR outputs
Pre-amp w/volume control
Hi Rez capable (obviously)
Trigger for amp turn on would be a nice plus
would like to spend south of $2k and prefer new or something somewhat new-ish/only a couple years old tops. could go a little higher then $2k if "compelled" to do so. the only two options i've looked into are Cambridge Audio products. The CXN V2 and 850N. both seem like they'd work fine and check all my boxes. Looking for other options my limited/one evening of research might have missed..... or a recommendation on either of the Cambridge products above. want to buy something asap so please chime in early and often.
**as a side ask.....have been using J River for 10 years (old version JR 18 lol!)). am guessing that will need to change depending on what i end up with?. any suggestions regarding streaming software would be great.
thx in advance
cheers
Rip Van Winkle
Levy