Streamer Advice

I purchased a Cambridge CXN100 and am delighted. Believe it or not Nashville doesn’t have that many places to demo equipment and God forbid you ask to demo one at home. When Cumberland Audio and Premiere Audio were here, they would gladly let you take equipment home. Rick Lumas, who ran Cumberland didn’t even want a CC for security, but we had become close. Bill Davis, who had Premiere even brought a couple amps for me to audition.  Bill taught me “how to listen” and I’m very grateful. I’m sure that sounds strange, but it isn’t. What I’m trying to say is I haven’t heard a high end streamer next to a CXN100, so I do know what I’m missing. 

I evaluated the PS AirLens and Matrix Element S together (similar price point) and ended up keeping the Matrix whcih had a better soundstage.

I'm eventually open to a streamer upgrade, but I've gone the practical route until I learn a bit more. I've had a Bluesound Node (3rd gen), and both Cambridge's CXN V2 and CXN100. The Node is running wireless in the basement. The other two are wired from the routers. I am unsure which would be replaced in an upgrade gesture, given the capabilities of their respective systems. They seem to be in the "good enough" category for me. For now.

The CXN V2 runs through a separate dac, and is slightly better for it. The CD transport upstairs run through the CXN100 dac. The Bluesound Node is RCA analog out to the preamp.

I am going to muck about with the basement system via some tube rolling, using Cowboy Junkies Songs of the Recollection, using both streamed and CD as sources for comparisons. If my intentions remain organized!