WHAT’S THE MARKET LEADER? New Cambridge Audio CXN100 Review

The CXN100 is a new streamer from Cambridge Audio. How does it compare to the market leaders, the Eversolo DMP-A6 and the Bluesound Node X? I find out…

Link to sponsor MCRU – Use discount code BA10 for 10% off:

Home 2023

Link to manufacturer’s webpage:
https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/gbr/en/products/hi-fi/cx-series/cxn100

Link to my Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/abritishaudiophile

Related reviews:
HEAD TO HEAD! Eversolo DMP A6 Vs Bluesound Node X

£1,000 DAC Group Test

HIT THE SWEET SPOT! Q Acoustics 5020 Speaker Review

HOW GOOD IS IT? Eversolo DMP-A8 Streamer Review

Time stamps:
0:00 Intro
2:22 Design & build
4:14 Connectivity
7:38 User interface
9:36 Sound quality
13:40 Conclusion

This video is sponsored by mcru manufacturers of the Main’s distribution block and power cords used by a British audio file for more information click the link in the description and use discount code ba10 for 10% off your order last year there was a disturbance

In the force well as far as the sub 1000 streamers are concerned it seemed that ever solo came out of nowhere and captured the hearts and minds of many Hi-Fi enthusiasts judging by how quickly it went out of stock it captured their wallets as well I’m not surprised for

£59 the DMP A6 offers comprehensive connectivity a CNC machine aluminium chassis and a 6-in 150 mm touchscreen color LCD display all that may have seemed previously unimaginable at this price it’s also a very good sounding device good enough to pip the blue sound node X for my source component of the

Year in 2023 in the sub 1000 category but those of you who watch my original review where I pitched those two streamers head-to-head will have noted that neither of them won my top outstanding award and that’s because both have quite a bit of Sonic coloration the DMP A6 can sound lean and

Even bright in certain systems whereas the blue sound node X has a distinctly warm character that means that some care needs to be taken with partner equipment it also means that there’s some room for improvement I wonder if Cambridge audio looked upon the success of the ever solo DMP A6 and

Felt the need to respond the result being the new cxn 100 streamer that replaces the outgoing cxn V2 model a point to note I structure my streamer reviews these days a little bit differently than I do speakers amplifiers and other source components and that’s because there’s a little bit

More to consider with regards to the user interface and connectivity naturally I’m still fundamentally interested and how the unit is designed and how it sounds and I’m sure you can tell from looking over my shoulder that the ever solo DMP A6 and the blue sound

Node X are still here so I was able to do extensive AB listening tests between all these streamers so is the new Cambridge audio cxn 100 the streamer to beat in the sub 1000 category conventional is the best way to describe The Styling of the cxn 100 it’s

A full rack width unit that unassumingly blends in with other Cambridge audio components from the cxn ax range according to Cambridge audio the cxn 100 is a ground up redesign rather than a revision of the old cxn V2 featuring the Gen 4 stream magic module and ditching the old wolson D chip for

An ESS saber 9028 q2m for the £ 899 outlay The cxn 100 lives up to expectations rather than exceeds them the front facia is metal and the chassis is from the standard thin folded steel you get on many accessibly priced products in contrast the 759b ever solo

DMP A6 has much thicker plates of aluminium that constitute the casework it still defines the standard for build quality in this class inside the DMP A6 uses two ESS saber 9038 q2m chips for independent digital to analog conversion of the left and right channels the casework of the 699 blue S

Node X is all plastic but it’s a much smaller device and has the kind of understated styling that will sit elegantly on a sideboard or desk the blue sound node X also uses the same da chip as the Cambridge audio cxn 100 a single ESS saber 9028

Q2m I think Personal Taste and use case scenario you’re going to determine which of these streamers you’re going to find the most appealing to look at for example it’s going to be different at the end of a desk or in a Hi-Fi rack but as far as overall design and build

Quality is concerned I have to give that to the ever solo the cxn 100 will stream internet radio it supports diesa cobz tidal and Spotify but apps like apple music Amazon and BBC sounds can only currently be accessed via AirPlay or chomecast the stream Magic app can also be bypassed to

Use with Bluetooth Spotify connect tidal connect and Rune as for Hardware connections flanking the ethernet RJ45 Network Port are two USB inputs one to use with drives containing music and the other is a PC input there are Optical and Co axle digital inputs if you want

To use the cxn 100 as a deck or you can use the op and Co axle digital outputs to connect to an external Dack the analog outputs are on the right you have single-ended RCA and balanced XLR the only benefit of balanced XLR analog outputs on a device like this is

If you’re running long cable runs for example if it’s sat on a sideboard well away from the rest of your Hi-Fi equipment I see a full rack width unit like this more likely to find its home in a Hi-Fi equipment rack and for that reason I’d have preferred that the money

That went into producing analog balanced XLR outputs have gone into something like HDMI e that’s because I see a lot of people using this as a digital Hub and having HDMI e means that you can use your TV remote to switch on and switch off this device as well as adjust the

Volume it’s a really convenient feature especially when no remote control is offered as standard with the cxn 100 it’s an optional accessory for 25 the thing is that this device has two digital USB inputs one one to connect to a PC but presently no asynchronous USB

Output and that means you have to rely on the coaxial and optical digital inputs if you’re connecting it to an external Dack those inputs are sometimes referred to as spedi and the issue is it’s the streamer’s clock rather than the Dax clock that’s responsible for the exchange of information the likelihood

Is if you’re considering an external DAC as a performance upgrade it’s likely to have a better clock than the one inside this streamer I suppose one way of considering it is that weird inputs the DAC is reacting to things that are thrown at it as opposed to requesting

Information and having it received the cxm 100 also has no headphone input just like the ever solo DMP A6 but I feel it’s less of an issue on a full rack width unit that is less likely to be used as a desktop solution the DMP A6 has a host of

Digital connections including both a USB input and output but bizarrely they opted for HDMI multi- Channel output rather than HDMI e input something that I’m sure ever solo are regretting now for such a compact device I have to commend blue sound for making the smartest choices when it comes to

Connectivity on the Node X not only is there a headphone socket on the front but there’s HDMI e on the rear and the USB port can be used as an input for external drives or as an output for Dax the 3 1/2 mm optical Port even doubles

Up as an analog input so at superficial glance it may seem that the ever solo dm6 has the best connectivity but the most useful connections are on the blue sound node X the cxm 100 has a nice color LCD display which is a bit smaller than the

One on the ever solo DMP A6 there are three buttons on either side that allow access to basic functionality on the left to play pause skip forward and backwards through through tracks on the right to cycle through display screens and toggle between inputs it’s a shame that for other functions including accessing the

Streamer you’re forced to rely upon the stream Magic app although it is fast reliable and intuitively laid out I had no problems with dropouts or the system crashing but the graphical interface is pretty basic similar to what I experienced with the Denon morance heal system the blue sound node X is even

More basic when it comes to directly interacting with a device no screen to display art just proximity controls that allow up to five presets to be stored volume adjustment play pause and track shuffling in both directions but the Blue-ray system is a lot more advanced than Cambridge audio

Stream magic it has a more sophisticated graphical interface where you can customize screens it’s still the only UI out of these three streamers that allows you to create playlists across platforms and that’s something that I look for as for the ever solo DMP A6 well it just seems to keep getting better with

Firmware updates the touchscreen display is a joy to interact with putting much more expensive streamers to shame a parametric EQ has been added since my review in November 20123 once again I had trouble getting the DMP A6 to connect to my iPad and had to rely on my Samsung phone so ever solo

Still have some compatibility fo balls to iron out but the app worked like a dream on my phone the graphics and layout being all you would wish for from an Android based system you have to hand it to Cambridge audio they really do know how to make

Nice sounding devices in the context of price appropriate systems it’s a very well balanced sounding unit I’m talking about speakers and amplifiers that individually retail for less than £1,000 tonally it sits just a little bit on the warm side but not as far as the blue

Sound node X which has a more relaxed presentation it’s certainly closer to that than it is the cooler sounding ever solo DMP A6 I hooked it up to one of my favorite combinations of accessibly priced speakers and amplifiers the 599 lb Q acoustic 5020s and the 449 lb Iota VX

Sa3 I did try substituting the sa3 for the Cambridge audio xa35 but the rich sounding axa35 doesn’t pair well with the slightly warm sounding 5020s so I switched back to the Iota amplifier to restore balance switching to the ever solo DMP A6 I could hear better resolution it was

Most noticeable in terms of bass control and Precision in imaging but that leanness that the ever Sola also has to its Sonic presentation was present so I exchanged for the blue sound node X which gave out the Widder Sound Stage and the boldest space but the mid-range

Was also a little bit too relaxed I guess if I was choosing a streamer in the context of this Q acoustic Iota system for long-term listening satisfaction it would be the Cambridge audio cxn 100 things were a little different as I increased the price point to the 1400b amphan Argon 1es coupled to

My 1,850 exposure 2510 by the way the price of both of those components has gone up recently the Cambridge audio cxn 100 sounded inoffensive but it also clear that it was struggling for overall Fidelity in this company I appreciated the extra scale and Authority that the blue sound node X delivered but it

Sounded way too soft and colored as for the ever solo DMP A6 it offered good resolution the sound was pretty much between the speakers but that coolness that it has to the sound was now edging towards being bright and harsh and that’s my point I couldn’t live with any

Of these three streamers in the context of that exposure ampian system and that’s why as your system improves not only do they need to function as streamers but also streaming transports so it was time to insert my favorite deck for circa £1,000 and see if the denps Aries 12-1 could save the

Day the ever solo sounded terrible through its Optical and Co axal digital outputs but USB was a different story there was much better body to the mid-range and it sounded more open and refined as for the blue sound well well the resolution improved again considerably when connected to the denps

DAC through its USB output but it was still just a little bit too soft for my liking well how about the Cambridge audio cxn 100 which as I pointed out earlier doesn’t have an asynchronous USB output so I had to rely on the co axle and Optical connections and let the

Streamer’s clock take charge this was the biggest surprise of the test I don’t want to get too technical but performance here is all about Jitter and Noise and despite the fact that the cxn 100 doesn’t have an asynchronous USB output Fidelity improved considerably not quite the

Resolution of the ever solo DMP A6 but better refinement and certainly better as a strewing transport than the blue sound node X I have to hand it to Cambridge audio they clearly have done an excellent job of implementing their spedi digital outputs I wasn’t expecting that but I still wish they’ included a

USB digital output one final thing before I move on using the cxn 100 as a digital preamp didn’t impact on performance so I wouldn’t have any hesitation hooking up this device directly to a power amplifier or powered speakers the Cambridge audio cxn 100 streamer is a viable alternative to the

Ever solo DMP A6 and the blue sound modde X it offers a more balanced sound than either of those two whether used as a streamer or streaming transport it doesn’t sound as resolving as the ever Solo or have the scale of the blue sound nor will the user

Interface live up to the experience of either of those two Brands even though the streaming app is fast stable and gets the job done I guess I choose this streamer over the other two if I was pretty happy with the sound that was coming out of my speakers and amplifier

And I didn’t want to shift the tonal balance too much in One Direction or another I think price is a little bit of an issue at £ 899 I don’t think it just ifies the extra outlay over the node X or the DMP A6 but you might be able to find it on

Sale to get better parity all said this is a solid product the Cambridge audio cxn 100 gets a recommended from this channel my question for today is what features do you look for in a streamer please let me know in the comment section it’ be a nice discussion to have

All That Remains for me to say is if you like what I’m doing with this channel you want to see it grow and assuming you haven’t done so already please like share subscribe hit the Bell notification check me out on patreon there’s a couple of consultancy tiers

You can access there if you think I can help you on your audio file Journey also check out the ABA Club on patreon which has some great ways to interact with me and fellow patreons but for today for now a British audio file signing off