British Hi-Fi specialist Cambridge Audio has unveiled a new CX-series music streamer said to be its most powerful yet. Familiar to audiophiles around the world for its award-winning sound through a series of traditional Hi-Fi components, the new standalone Cambridge Audio CXN100 music streamer looks pretty similar to the CXN V2 — a long-running favorite with our sister site What Hi-Fi? where it has ranked as the best music streamer overall for several years.
This is the first new music streamer since the CXN V2 update in 2018, and looks to be another great music streamer solution for audiophiles who favor setups built around individual audio components. The all-new version is the same full-width, traditional Hi-Fi-component size but has a larger 4.76-inch high-resolution color screen, which means streaming fans like myself will be able to see the album artwork from across the room, as well as on the control app on the phone.
The new CXN100 is a great music streamer solution for audiophiles who favor setups built around individual audio components.
Internally, Cambridge Audio says that the all-new CXN100 has been mechanically redesigned with cutting-edge components bringing a generational step up in sound. It improves on the Wolfson DAC (digital-to-analog converter) found in the CXN V2 with a new ESS ES9028Q2M SABRE32 Reference DAC said to handle PCM audio up to 32-bit/768kHz and DSD 512. That means all hi-res digital music will be handled at the highest quality levels at all times. It also uses the latest proprietary StreamMagic (Gen4) module and integrates with Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz and Deezer streaming platforms controlled by the Stream Magic app.
Better music integration than ever before
The new CXN100 is Roon Ready, allowing Roon subscribers to seamlessly access integrated music content from all their streaming services and networked digital music libraries in one user-friendly interface.
Digital connectivity is said to be more flexible than ever before, with the option to hook up devices through USB Audio, coaxial, optical or wirelessly with Chromecast, AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth. Analog output is available through balanced XLR or unbalanced RCA sockets. The CXN100 is compatible with Google Home, Apple AirPlay and Roon multiroom system for sharing music across devices around the home.
As with all Cambridge products, CXN100 has been designed, tuned and engineered at its London-based music venue and HQ, Melomania. The CXN100 is available to buy now at cambridgeaudio.com and authorized retailers. It's priced at $1,099 / £899 / €1,049. Although there's currently no price information available for Australia, I'll update this story as soon as I have it.
Look out for my review coming soon.
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