Adding a Dac and Stresmer

LAB 12 is way better than decent .....   have you heard one Audioman?     It's a sleeper,  

Thanks everyone for all the responses, I definitely have a feel where this is going…

What do you think of a used Metrum Acoustics Pavane and Amber streamer?

My Marantz integrated is capable of streaming and has a decent DAC for the price point but I recently picked up the Cambridge Audio CXN V2 to try out and have decided to keep it. The price had dropped after CA introduced their lower line AXN streamers so that helped justify the trial as well.

It’s DAC is better than the Marantz and I can definitely hear the difference between the two. The CXN is cleaner, more detailed and better soundstage and as a separate it’s not competing internally with itself like the the Marantz IMO. I run my CD transport through it and CDs sound better vs directly to the Marantz. The CA StreamMagic app is pretty nice and access my private digital library much better.

The access to digital radio is also nicer than what Marantz’s HEOS platform offers.

I can also continue to use Spotify premium plus access to all the other HD services. And it’s Roon tested if I decide to do that down the road but honestly I don’t see a need to for me personally.

Overall I was on the fence about it at the beginning but after 2 months of trying it out, it’s a keeper and I enjoy the tactile qualities of the unit itself. The interface and knob are high quality, as is the remote. All around I’ve been impressed w/ the CXN and I don’t feel like I overspent or underspent. It’s a Goldilocks component in my book.

@silverfoxvtx1800 

Reading through the reply I noticed one from you that stood out and will have a huge impact in your choice. “Thanks a lot for all the suggestions, I spend about 8 hrs a day with my music so this is very important…”. You need to focus on a combo the will not cause listener fatigue, that sharp edge digital sound that makes you want to walk away after an hour or two. This points me to narrow your options to r2r dac. I can tell you from other discussions that you should look at Gustard R26. I have this with fmc and external clock and I can listen for hours and have to pry myself away. Many have compared to many Denafrips dac’s and almost all preferred the Gustard. This is not an easy choice and it took me over a year to pull the trigger on the R26 and I have zero regret! Enjoy the music!