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NWDave

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  1. View Classified Cambridge Audio 851N (New) For sale is a new and unopened media streamer from Cambridge Audio, the 851N Azur, in black. This is a unit sent to me as a replacement under warranty for another 851N that developed problems with its right DAC channel. However, I no longer need the 851N because I have a Roon NUC acting as a server to an RME ADI-2 FS DAC I recently purchased. In my opinion, this is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to purchase an all-in-one streamer/DAC/preamp at a very good price. Shipping will be the responsibility of the buyer. Payment with PayPal only. (Photos are—obviously—not of the unit for sale but of the 851N product provided by the manufacturer.) Specs are available from Cambridge Audio here :https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/usa/en/products/hi-fi/851/851n Seller NWDave Date 05/27/21 Price 999.00 USD Category Music Servers / Streamers  
  2. Sorry for the late response, but this is really helpful. Thank you, and I'll let you know if I pursue the Chord option; oddly enough, I was thinking of doing the exact same thing you recommend except with the Qutest.
  3. If you want to give the calibration recording I use a whirl, here's a link (tracks in question are 29-34): https://www.nativedsd.com/catalogue/albums/2xhdft1042-audiophile-hires-system-test-great-sampling-tracks-included/
  4. Perhaps idealism is my real problem here. When I play one of those audiophile adjustment albums, I realize how good my system (any system?) can sound with well-recorded material. The only exception that sort of reinforces my original question is that I never hear instruments "6 feet above your stereo" or "18 feet to the left (or right)". It's always more like 2 feet above and 3 feet to the left or right. That's probably a limitation of having a 12' x 25' room with an open end. :-/
  5. Back of the cabinet. But you know what? While I was making an overly meticulous diagram (LOL) of my room arrangement last night, I realized our sofa had backed a good foot behind the prime equilateral listening position. Not sure how it "crept" over the past few months. Anyway, much of the stage is better simply by moving the sofa up a foot. WRT the speakers, they're 92" apart, tweeter to tweeter; tweeter is 20" from the wall behind it; and first reflection points have been made equal with standing diffusers at 3' to either side of the tweeter for an effective room width of 15' and depth of 12'. I say "effective", since my room is, unfortunately, longer than it is wide at 12'x25" and the speakers cannot "shoot" down the length due to a gas stove in one of the corners than cannot be worked around. I'd like to have it removed so I can put a speaker there, but my wife has this need for warmth in the winter ... go figure :-) I will watch the video. Many thanks. I like the idea of movable speakers very much. I'd like to have them further out, but their relatively close distance to the front wall is due to spousal concessions, i.e., "I don't want to keep tripping over your speakers every time I want to look out the window". :) Will keep you updated! And many thanks again (to you and Dave).
  6. The treatments *might* be an issue, although I've been very cautious about adding the right mix of bass traps and diffusers under the guidance of the company that sells them. I also did a lot of single-item adding and subtracting to make sure nothing was detracting from the sound. If there's an issue, it's probably the need to have the speakers only a foot from the wall due to the size of the room and the fact it's also a carpeted living room. If I get a chance later to draw a diagram, I will. But I greatly appreciate that line of thought—it's probably along the correct lines and might not be solvable unless I find a larger room (or larger house :-).
  7. Hi, David. Ah, interesting. I had an NAS setup, but got rid of it when I built the NUC and put an SSD in the internal storage of the NUC. It doesn't matter that they're on separate SSDs within the NUC? Or is it that you have two signals coming off a single (Ethernet) cable?
  8. Hi, Greg. Thanks for the response. You know, I'm perfectly satisfied with the bass; on sine sweeps, the Revels start producing at 25 Hz and become quite rumbly around 35 Hz. I have thought about a pair of micro-subwoofers, but I've had subwoofers before and they're just too much. I listen to a lot of vocal, folk, acoustic, and solo instrumental so deep bass isn't a requirement. Is that a DAC-based solution? I think if there's one thing I wish this system had is a more realistic soundstage (if that's the right word). It can feel "flat" sometimes. Other times, I can pick the instruments out with no problem. Perhaps that's more of a recording/source issue. But that's what I'd like: more realistic presentation, i.e., so I can "locate" the instruments and performers in "space". Great question. Really helped me clarify my thoughts.
  9. OK, so here's my current system playing in a fully treated room: Ethernet-->Roon NUC7i7BNH-->Ethernet-->Cambridge Audio 851N-->balanced cables-->Parasound A23+ --> Revel M106 speakers Some ideas on my reactions to previous upgrades/trials: 1) Used to have the Schiit Bifrost Multibit but switched it out for the 851N, which sounded so much richer and three-dimensional (to me); 2) Upgraded from a Parasound 275v2 to the A23+ and the difference was the single greatest improvement I've ever heard in a system ... I suspect the Revels will take even more, but I don't know if I want to trial an A21+ only to have to ship a 71-lb amp back to the dealer; 3) Recently tried a Benchmark AHD2 amp in place of the A23+ and immediately returned it ... I think the Benchmark is no doubt a fine amp, but it seemed lethargic and 2-dimensional compared to the Parasound So those are the things that might help the opinionated among you to chime in. :-) Oh, and where my mind has gone besides the possible amp upgrade to the A21+ includes (a) trying the Auralic Altair G1 in place of the Cambridge Audio 851N, (b) trying a higher-end DAC in place of the 851N and simply using USB from the NUC to the DAC, (c) upgrading the M106s, although, at $1000 each and given my love of the Revel sound, I don't know how profitable that would be. Budget for said upgrade is around $3000, more if I can sell the replaced item on the used market. Thanks for all your help! Dave
  10. Haven't been able to load TIDAL for the last three or four Audirvana updates. Tried everything, including a clean install of Audirvana itself. Logged in and out of TIDAL, too. All system outputs are set properly. Any ideas? [Mac OS 10.13.6]
  11. Hello. Purchased at Christmas 2015 for $349, work great, but in our smaller house, the convenience of wireless speakers has proven unnecessary. Original packaging as shown. Given their excellent condition and light use, and the fact the units are still selling at $349/pair, I believe $279 (that includes shipping to the continental US) is a very fair asking price. Certified check or PayPal. Thanks for looking. David
  12. I may be totally imagining this, but I've never noticed anything like it before with Audirvana. With the 2.5.1.4 update it seems as if vocals have been pushed way "behind" the main soundstage. It's hard to explain. Not that the volume is lower for vocals, more that they're muddied(?) or behind a veil. It's almost as if the instruments and voices have two volume controls inside the converter and are struggling to reach equilibrium. Apologies for such an imprecise description. This isn't a DSD question per se since I don't use it for that. This affects the software on all upsampling settings. Thanks for any input.
  13. Just trust your ears. Every set is different, every room is different, every system is different. Don't overthink it.
  14. I don't have any experience with DSP, but I have the Bifrost Multibit and I find the following settings to be "like butter": Steepness: 3 dB Filter Max Length: 800,000 samples Cutoff Freq: 1.03 Anti-Aliasing: 200.0 Pre-ringing: 0.38 Oversampling 2x only That's after trying many, many combos, including many recommended around here as starting points. I'd say the single most important one I've found with the Bifrost that *seems* DAC dependent is the Pre-Ringing. Anything over 0.5 sounds harsh to me. Hope this helps, Dave
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