Cambridge Audio 851N

Conradicles
Conradicles Posts: 6,080
in Going Digital
Thoughts on this unit?
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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    Can’t comment on it, but my Cambridge Audio 840W amps are still going strong. CA makes excellent gear at reasonable price levels.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
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  • ukcolin99
    ukcolin99 Posts: 286
    Very pleased with mine, assume you know it's a D with streaming & Stereophile loved the D.
    Remote & functions works great, only gripe, I had an 851D, the volume control on the D moves in half db increments the N only adjusts in whole numbers, slightly less control & if I hadn't owned a D I would never have known...
    Half the bad reviews online point out unit has no analog functions/inputs. I use mine as a Pre-amp, easy switch between that & straight DAC. Like mine, quality feel & performance.
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  • ukcolin99
    ukcolin99 Posts: 286
    Hello Conr..
    We are surrounded by vinyl boys & girls, for the advanced (read lazy) amongst us who would rather sit & listen to our music than get up, unpack, wipe, spin & look, clean again, place on round platter, lift arm, drop arm, wince at speaker "bump", return to seat & enjoy, this is a great DAC/Pre-Amp. Just hooked mine back up after failed attempt to oversimplify my life, pulls superior sound out of your digital source, love mine, best of luck.
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  • Conradicles
    Conradicles Posts: 6,080
    It really is a beautiful piece of gear.

    o94yuqi9gd8y.jpg
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  • ukcolin99
    ukcolin99 Posts: 286
    True, realized I misled, volume control is not db, it’s numeric. N does not have 0.5 increments.
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  • Marfly
    Marfly Posts: 66
    I like my CA Azur BD752 a lot.
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  • tophatjohnny
    tophatjohnny Posts: 4,182
    I started with the SM6 and it too was great. Stepped up to the 851N and love it. It is an amazing player.
    "if it's not fun, it's not worth it & remember folks, "It's All About The Music"!!
    *****************************
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  • ThomasD
    ThomasD Posts: 260
    Thought I'd resurrect this thread instead of starting a new one. I'm also looking at the Azure 851N or CXN v2 as an upgrade from my current AudioEngine B1 & Iphone streaming process which has become quite burdensome and limited. I've got the older Azure 351C and have been happy with Cambridge products for quite awhile. Have a fairly large CD collection I'd like to digitize (still like the tactile feel of physical media). Wondering about the Bryston B0T-1 / BDP3 for this purpose. None of these have any onboard storage and my laptop travels with me regularly. Are USB memory sticks the preferred storage then? @Conradicles did you get the 851 and what's your take on it if you did? Is the 851D still available?
    Carver M4.0t, M1.0t, M200t, TX2, C1, C2, Marantz 2230, 2010, 4070, 1030, APPJ 2013, Rega Brio, Marantz Imperial 7's, Klipsch Heresy III, Quartets, KG4's, KG1's, 'The Sixes', R-12SW, Polk SDA 2a's, Monitor 7cTL's, SDA CRS's, 4a's, Zu Audio Dirty Weekends, Pro-ject Acryl TT, Cambridge 851N, 351C, Panamax 5300PM
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  • Conradicles
    Conradicles Posts: 6,080
    I did not get the 851. For the system it was going in, I could not justify that much money. However, I did get a little Cambridge DacMagic Plus to feed the Focal monitors...
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