Cambridge Audio CXC Series 2

back to the price for the original CXC...thanks, was wondering if there was an internal upgrade, quite happy with my CXC

Thank you so much for posting this.  It gave me the push to buy the original CXC, and I am thrilled with the improvement over using a DVD player for a transport!  Many thanks, Ken

was wondering if there was an internal upgrade, quite happy with my CXC

I believe it’s just cosmetics. Nothing wrong with the look of the old one, the only thing I didn’t like was the supplied universal remote for all their products, all the buttons I wanted were at the bottom, makes it difficult to hold and press buttons at the same time using one hand. Maybe they fixed that, and gave a dedicated CD remote.

Cheers George

I recently bought the original CXC, like the silver finish and the price I paid. The remote is no bother to me, the CD functions are all at the bottom.  Audio Advisor is selling the original at $399. I am not in a position to compare to other CD transports, however think it to be a very high value product at it price point.

I feel like I’m missing something, I have had my CXC for a week. I’m not loving it. My Node2 streamer sounds so much better, I know it’s not apples to apples, but it’s not even close. I have a ton of cd’s and really wanted a nice transport to go with my Peachtree Audio Nova 150. I have a modest system compared to some. I swapped cables (coax and toslink) between the two to make sure it was as fair of a comparison as possible. I’m not done comparing yet, but I am 
disappointed so far. I bought from Crutchfield so I have a 60 day trial period, so I’ll keep it for awhile. At this point I am leaning toward returning. It.

Return it and try an Audiolab transport.

mcstin 

Curious what you feel is missing with the CXC?

i have the CXC at my office and it works pretty well. The sound is not as good as my Simaudio CD5.3 (apparently, the price difference is not small) But it definitely works better than all my digital sources

@Mcstin Have you tried upgrading the power cord yet? That was a nice little improvement with mine. I actually used a power cable made for a power amplifier which is like 1.5” thick and it sounds great. My typical experience is with front end gear, big and thick power cables aren’t the way to go but in this case it sounds great.

I have not made any improvements to my my CXC. Thanks for the suggestion. I am still in my 60 day trial period, and I keep going back and forth on whether or not to keep it. Part of it is just plain old vanity. I feel like I bought a Honda Accord, when I really wanted an Audi. The decision is to “soup up” my Accord, or just spend more money and get something higher up the food chain that satisfies my ego!!

I have the original CXC,  altho it  doesn't get much use, when I do listen to CD'S it sounds just fine.  I thing for the price, it's a decent piece of gear. 

Fair enough. I still recommend that even once you have the Audi you soup it up with power cables. I have yet to meet the piece of gear whose performance isn’t enhanced by a good power cable.

I have yet to meet the piece of gear whose performance isn’t enhanced by a good power cable.

It already got a good linear supply in it, no smp noisy junk.
https://ibb.co/0sD0dqc

Cheers George

No doubt. When you open up the CXC, it’s got some very respectable internal components.

Is this a quirk of the CXC V1 or is this just my unit? When using the remote and say track #4 is playing, when I push the previous track button track #3 starts.  Most players would restart at #4.

You know, if they would've added an II2S output I might've said OK I'll upgrade, but now, no.  I notice that my CXC V1 needs to be fed fairly pristine CD's otherwise it behaves badly.  I had an Oppo UDP-103 and the CXC actually sounds better to me, but I was going through the Oppo DAC and didn't try it as strictly a transport, so I have no real comparison (except that the Oppo would play SACD's and was much more forgiving with scratched/scuffed CD's).

It’s not a quirk. Mine does it too. I’ve actually come to love it. You always know with 100% certainty what track you’re cuing up. No more “Well, a second or two played, will the back button take me to the start of the track or the previous track? Shoot, that’s not what I wanted.” ...Press more buttons...

Is this a quirk of the CXC V1 or is this just my unit? When using the remote and say track #4 is playing, when I push the previous track button track #3 starts. Most players would restart at #4.

It’s not a quirk, depends on the laser/mech and it's board, Sony, Philips, Sanyo ect ect
i have an Arcam Delta 250 transport that does this too, but if you press play it will restart just the track it’s playing.

Cheers George

I have the original CXC and it is excellent value for money. The sound is not good as my Simaudio 260T transport which is in a completely different league , However the price difference is not small cost more than triple than the CXC .I am keeping it as a backup if something get wrong with my Simaudio transport also the CXC is so good and reliable so couldn't let it go and sell it . If your budget is limited it’s a bargain.

I just purchased the V2 of this transport, so I’m reviving an old thread.
In brief, my NAD CD player (about 8 years old) stopped reading discs: "Disc Error" messages persisted. I cleaned the lens with a commercial product to no avail. I waited and waited and waited for the fabled Schiit unit but gave up.

A visit to the local audio shop ("Stereotypes" in Portland, OR: very helpful and accommodating, offering in-home trials of just about anything) narrowed it to the Cambridge (~$550) vs. the Moon by Simaudio (~$2000) transports to use with my Mytek Brooklyn DAC+, LRS, Classé DR-9 and etc., I wasn’t able to justify the cost difference. In part, that’s because my CD library (maybe ~500 discs) wasn’t sufficiently expansive and - at least with my modest system - the possibly improved audio quality didn’t justify the cost difference. I don’t have the patience to load all my discs into a hard drive unit, so I decided a modestly priced transport would serve my needs.

As for the transport itself, it’s very well built and it sounds perfectly fine to me. It's significantly better than the old NAD. Overall, it’s comparable to Tidal streamed and a bit less satisfying than analog (VPI HW-19, Mørch UP-4 arm, Sumiko BP#2). Given the proximity to a first class record store ("Music Millenium") with its huge selection of cheap CDs, this should be a good long-term arrangement for me.

always enjoyed my CXC's...v1 and v2 are internally identical...I had transport problems with both Simaudio CD Players I owned...

jl35

How was Simaudio's customer service on those cd transports ?

Happy Listening!

Knowing that the CXC has toslink as well as coax, you may want to try the Supra ZAC Toslink Optical cord:
http://www.jenving.com/products/view/zac-toslink-optical-1003100284
There's a demo of it over at this YouTube site:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k600jGJ4Txc
The difference is NOT subtle. 

I came across this modder from another member's recommendation on his CD clamp. The guy is so down to earth and funny but his sincerity shines through. It's worth your time to watch some of his mods.

All the best,
Nonoise

Jafant-Simaudio’s customer service was excellent.  They responded quickly, were great to talk to, and repairs were done quickly. Cost seemed reasonable.