If Anyone Here Drags Their Heels....It's Me (Cambridge 851N)

tophatjohnny

Finally took delivery of the Cambridge Audio 851n Network Player. been wanting to do this since I first saw it on the web but settled in with my Stream Magic 6, which was a great player too, it took me this long to make the change. Is that turtle action or what??
It delivers a smoother overall experience start to finish when setting up my playlist and accessing the files on my NAS. The stream magic took forever to load up my library and now as I am getting used to the 851n the files are loaded a lot faster and the sound is a lot more detailed. Not sure what DAC's are in the thing (as I am no tech guy, nor will I ever be) but I can say that so far I am very happy with the unit and glad I made the change. I know there are a lot more expensive network players out there but this one is no slouch. I'm not into the radio or streaming services so that means nothing to me, I just listen to the files I have added to my NAS (and trust my library is pretty extensive and growing all the time). I also have my TV running through the Cambridge via toslink and what a difference I hear in that area..wow! If anyone else has this unit, I'd like to hear your take on it. Thanks

https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/851/851n

erniejade

Sweet! That was in the running when I was looking a while back. it looks like a solid unit!

ukcolin99

Congrats, been eyeing the N for a long time. The DAC in the N is the same as the DAC in the 851D, reportedly both units have identical innards with added streaming/network functions for the N. If you want to read how great parts of your 851N are, read the Stereophile.com review of the 851D. Two of the reviewers Jon Iverson & Art Dudley said good things about it and John Atkinson the Measurement guy said mostly very good things about it. Read them & feel even better about your purchase.
Link below might work:https://www.stereophile.com/content/cambridge-audio-azur-851d-da-processor

tophatjohnny

ukcolin99 wrote: »

Congrats, been eyeing the N for a long time. The DAC in the N is the same as the DAC in the 851D, reportedly both units have identical innards with added streaming/network functions for the N. If you want to read how great parts of your 851N are, read the Stereophile.com review of the 851D. Two of the reviewers Jon Iverson & Art Dudley said good things about it and John Atkinson the Measurement guy said mostly very good things about it. Read them & feel even better about your purchase.
Link below might work:https://www.stereophile.com/content/cambridge-audio-azur-851d-da-processor

Thanks and no need to read anymore about it. It's been on my mind for a couple of years and the thread was created to see who else drags their heels on making a change as long as I did?
On another side, the more I use the player the more I like it. It sees over 14 thousand files in my NAS lightning fast and although those files are in theirself amazing quality, the N upsamples them to yet another level and loving that!! Very happy with the player and would recommend it in a heartbeat!

ThomasD

Felt the need to resurrect this thread since I recently quit 'dragging my heels' and ordered the 851n from Cr.......ld. Don't have a library of digital music yet mainly due to my procrastination and indecisiveness on how to store it. So I mostly stream Spotify and listen to CD's through my older Cambridge 351c. Read every review (including this thread) I could find and it came down to the choice of the 851d or McIntosh MB50. Have always wanted to try a McIntosh component so was really leaning towards it despite the $2000 price tag. In the end the Cambridge App seemed to be rated higher & more dependable than the McIntosh App. Decision made.
Must say, my Monitor 7c's (TL'd by @westmassguy) sound incredible with this new source. Almost liquid like. Also enjoy my upgraded Klipsch KG4's like never before. It has however shown how lacking my SDA2'a are and they are now on deck for a full upgrade. The up sampling of the 851d has made my CD collection take on a new sense of enjoyment with greater clarity and depth despite the hit & miss of the CD quality. The Cambridge App has shown few if any issues to date. Time will tell with future updates and such. So far very happy with the choice also.

joecoulson

I only have the CXN v2 , but love the sound quality. I’m sure the 851 is a step above, but I imagine the ui and connections are similar.
I find that for me, the DAC’s were a solid upgrade over anything I had in house and run all digital media through the unit. Congrats.

tophatjohnny

ThomasD wrote: »

Felt the need to resurrect this thread since I recently quit 'dragging my heels' and ordered the 851n from Cr.......ld. Don't have a library of digital music yet mainly due to my procrastination and indecisiveness on how to store it. So I mostly stream Spotify and listen to CD's through my older Cambridge 351c. Read every review (including this thread) I could find and it came down to the choice of the 851d or McIntosh MB50. Have always wanted to try a McIntosh component so was really leaning towards it despite the $2000 price tag. In the end the Cambridge App seemed to be rated higher & more dependable than the McIntosh App. Decision made.
Must say, my Monitor 7c's (TL'd by @westmassguy) sound incredible with this new source. Almost liquid like. Also enjoy my upgraded Klipsch KG4's like never before. It has however shown how lacking my SDA2'a are and they are now on deck for a full upgrade. The up sampling of the 851d has made my CD collection take on a new sense of enjoyment with greater clarity and depth despite the hit & miss of the CD quality. The Cambridge App has shown few if any issues to date. Time will tell with future updates and such. So far very happy with the choice also.

Congrats brother. Had mine for over a year now and still love it. It is very quick when navagating through my crazy big library and has made me a happy camper. Thinking of a second unit but still need to find out if one will walk on the other if used at the same time..as far as the app goes and the app is flat out kick but fast. Crazy big library.....23K albums and growing it weekly! Once files are loaded up (7 mins) I can zip through A to Z in seconds. Art work on the unit..not too big of a deal to me. See it on the app anyway..I'm not one for staring at album artwork but I guess it is cool. Now quit dragging your heels and build yourself a digital library. It has become an addiction for me. Fun one at that. keep us posted.

ThomasD

Now 'dragging my heels' about digital storage options. Everything is currently on my Macbook Pro and Iphone Xs. Really need to have a more fixed NAS device and get my CD collection copied to it. This is all new and mostly 'greek' to me so on the learning curve.

tophatjohnny

ThomasD wrote: »

Now 'dragging my heels' about digital storage options. Everything is currently on my Macbook Pro and Iphone Xs. Really need to have a more fixed NAS device and get my CD collection copied to it. This is all new and mostly 'greek' to me so on the learning curve.

How well I remember that feeling and while it is always a learning curve, once you get busy witn whatever NAS you deciced on starting out with it will get easier every time you mess with it. It has become a real regular thing for me and my digital library has grown like crazy . I did online research and called quite a few companies that did help me to come up with Synology being the best choice for me. Their support is amazing and now that I have their android app installed it all making listening anywhere I go a sinch. Love that!!!!! Stay with it and ask question on the forum as there and a lot of folks here willing to help and most better than I!!!!

SIHAB

It's all geek to me.
I'm at the Macbook Pro looking at NAS stage myself.
Spent time on the Dune sight this morning...

ThomasD

@tophatjohnny Synology? Have to look into that.
@SIHAB Let me know your take on Dune. I've browsed it but kept going.