Verdict
Cambridge Audio ’s work stoppage - charge per unit where medicine streamers is concerned is enviable – and I can now add the CXN100 to the hit - list .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
It ’s tough to be a raw Cambridge Audio medicine streamer – you have big the boot to fulfill and tough acts to follow .
Not only that , but the company ’s previous medicine streamers have been so successful they ’re cheer any number of competing companies to up their game . All of which begs the question : has Cambridge Audio move the music - streaming game on yet again , or is it tread piddle ?
Availability
In the United Kingdom you ’ll have to part with £ 899 to procure the CXN100 . That translates to £ 1099 in the United States , while customers in Australia will have to reach over AU$1899 . Proper money for a music streamer , in other words , and not without competition at the Mary Leontyne Price …
Design
Even before you see the manufacturing business ’s logotype , the CXN100 looks like a Cambridge Audio twist – that lunar grey finish is quite classifiable in a world where ash gray mean ash gray .
It ’s a fresh and healthy looker , with only a little power button at one end of the fascia and a big volume control condition ( for when the CXN100 is go as a pre - amp ) at the other to distract from the big ( 121 mm ) , kinky full - colour blind in the inwardness . Build quality and finish are both very decent – which is just as well when you study how much money Cambridge Audio is asking for the CXN100 .
There are a few physical controls on either side of the silver screen , where they ’re nigh - on invisible before you get up close . They dish out with play / pause , skip forwards / rearward , and ‘ go ’ ( for when you ’re using them to scroll through the on - CRT screen card ) .
But to be honest , the immense absolute majority of the time you ’re likely to habituate the Cambridge Audio StreamMagic control app that ’s free for Io and Android . It ’s easy to sail , simple to customise , and seems courteous and static no matter how you might endeavor to provoke it .
As well as havingDeezer , Qobuz , Spotify Connectand TIDAL Connect cyclosis choice build in , it also includes approach to internet tuner via MPEG - DASH . All of which take a crap the idea of spending any more money on the optional CX Series outside dominance French telephone seem pointless .
Features
At a glance , the CXN100 does n’t look all that much dissimilar to the ( passing well - view ) CXN v2 it replace . reckon at thespec - sheet rather than the gadget , though , and change become evident .
The most obvious of the lot is the switching from the Wolfson DAC to the ESS Sabre ES9028Q2M. This allows the CXN100 to be capable of handling digital audio Indian file of every worthwhile eccentric up to 32 - bit/768kHz and DSD512 resolution . The stream module , meanwhile , is upgrade to the Gen4 StreamMagic gimmick that was first deployed in the ship’s company ’s Evo compass of all - in - one streaming systems .
Wireless connectivity runs to duple - dance band Wi - Fi ( of course ) and Bluetooth 5.1 ( with just the bare - bones SBC and AAC codec compatibility ) – the two little aerials that facilitate wireless connective are now far smaller and less noticeable than before . Apple AirPlay 2and Chromecast are available too , the CXN100 is Roon Ready , and on top of this the gadget is compatible with Apple , Google and Roon multi - way protocol too .
Physical inputs , meanwhile , are similarly legion . There ’s an Ethernet socket , a match of USB inputs ( one character A , one type B ) , plus digital visual and digital optical remark . Outputs consort to opthalmic and coaxial ( for usance with an offboard DAC ) , a yoke of balanced XLRs and a pair of sick RCAs . There ’s also a comms bus loop topology , which is handy for connecting other Cambridge Audio equipment .
Sound Quality
First things first : everything I ’m about to say regarding the fashion the CXN100 sounds depend on your having done a second ’s system - matching . Every electronic constituent responds to and is charm by the other connection in the audio chain , of track – and this Cambridge Audio will not thank you for pair it with lustrous , treble - happy electronics and/or speaker unit . As long as you make certain that ’s not the case , though , then read on – because the news show is all good …
Certainly , the CXN100 is n’t all that grouchy about the type of music you like to listen to or , to a lesser extent , how high its firmness . Naturally enough it does its best work with large , information - rich digital audio file cabinet , but it ’s not going to turn its nose up at Spotify ’s liberal tier or press cyberspace wireless stations . Which is more than can be said for some competing design .
Do the correct thing where content is concerned , though , and the CXN100 is a thrillingly complete and entertaining listen . During the course of study of this test , I listened to everything from a 16 - bit/44.1kHz FLAC file of Etienne de Crécy ’s Super Discount via TIDAL and a 24 - bit/176.4kHz FLAC file of Sly and the Family Stone ’s There ’s a Riot Goin’ On to a DSD128 file of Bill Evans ’ populate at Art D’Lugoff ’s Top of the Gate – and in wide term it did n’t unsettle the CXN100 in the slightest . At every twist , it sound engaged and engaging – and ultimately , I spend far longer listening to it that was necessary for the purposes of this follow-up , simply because I want to .
The tonic balance is not too warm and not too cold , but a Goldilocks - tastic ‘ just ripe ’ . Frequency response , from the deep , textured and implacably punchy low end to the frizzly , reflect top , is smooth and even . And in the midrange , the Cambridge Audio communicates with forwardness , revealing all the character in a vocalist ’s performance as well as their tone and proficiency .
The soundstage the CXN100 describes is big and organised – and it ’s able to tie every individual strand of even the most complex recordings into a singular , co-ordinated whole . At the same clip , though , it gives each element enough room in which to express itself fully – and singers enjoy a little air pocket of blank space towards the front of the stage where they can articulate fully , even while they form part of the overall demonstration .
active headroom is considerable when a recording switches up its story of intensity or attack , and the CXN100 is also alive to the more subtle harmonic variation that are apparent in , for deterrent example , Bill Evans ’ pianoforte from one keystroke to the next . Detail level are without exception high , and the Cambridge Audio can serve them up with just the right sort of emphasis – it does n’t miss any selective information , but it ’s not show - offy or analytical about it . It just paint as arrant a photograph as possible .
Rhythmic grammatical construction , thanks to strict control of the attack ( and decay ) of bass sounds , is naturalistic and convincing . In fact , the Cambridge Audio demonstrates authority across the frequency image . But most of all , it demonstrates a positiveness and frankness that makes for an entertaining and occasionally enthralling listen .
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Should you buy it?
you may devote less ( or mess more ) than this , of course – but the CXN100 has create its own sweet - spot .
It ’s not all that easy to provoke the CXN100 – but it can be done , especially with triple - felicitous partner .
Final Thoughts
The CXN100 , it seemed to me , was always on a hiding to nothing . Good and it ’s no more than anyone has follow to expect from a Cambridge Audio music streamer , ‘ regretful ’ and it writes its own headlines . gayly , it ’s quite easy to kick upstairs to really very dear indeed …
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every music waft we review thoroughly over an extensive period of clip . We use industry received tests to compare features properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to survey a product .
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FAQs
The CXN100 is price at CXN100 costs £ 899 / $ 1099 / € 1049 and is available to purchase from the retailers such as Richer Sounds and Amazon .
