What’s the best DAC match for the Cambridge Audio CXC original or V2?

jim - check your digital cable... if it is a coax cable, you should replace it with one that is 1.5 m in length... shorter spdif electrical digital cables may be prone to ’reflections’ of the digital waveform, which can lead to jittery sound (harsh and gritty) - if it an optical cable, get a real glass cable (length not key if it is less than 2-3 meters - https://www.uniqueproductsonline.com/gltodiopca.html or http://www.lifatec.com/toslink2.html - getting the cabling right is good hygiene and will help any transport / dac combo you may upgrade to

i don’t know much about the oppo’s as transports, maybe others here can comment... i suspect it is at least OK

as for dacs, i would suggest mhdt (any model) with a we 2c51 upgraded tube, ayre codex (optical or usb input only), metrum amethyst or neko audio d100-2 -- all are very natural sounding, with warm tonality, excellent bass, treble is smooth, not at all prominent or aggressive

jj,

Thank you! 
 I know my optical cable is NOT glass, so there’s an easy place to start. I’ll also ask AudioQuest what they recommend for the digital cable.
 And I will also contact MHDT Labs.

All the best.

JD

So I’m looking at Lifatec for a toslink cable.  What do you think?

http://www.lifatec.com/toslink2.html

All the best

JD

I use a Lifatec toslink cable between my DVD player and DAC. I think it is great and not overly costly. 

Also have glass toslink made by a company call GLASS. It was recommended by someone on this site. I bought it off ebay. Even less costly. The cost made it easy to 'buy to try'.

That said I would use the coax output over toslink if possible, 1.5 meter (as jjss49 stated).

Thanks mesch,

So you think I’d hear more of a difference with1.5m digital (rca) than I would from switching to an all glass Toslink? I currently have a AQ, .5m.  Is there a brand you guys think sounds better, or can/should I stick with Audioquest?

All the best.