Cambridge Azur 851N

[ianrb]

Does anyone have one of these, or even have direct experience of them? Trying to get a demo from Richer Sounds but I get the impression they'd rather not bother.

[legzr1]

It's RS - ask to take it home for a full demo with the option to return if not happy. A bustling store isn't the place to judge sound quality although I don't see an issue with showing you the 'operational' ropes in store.

I have a SM6 with very similar DAC, internals and input/output options as the 851 and it sounds fine, plays anything thrown at it, is smooth in operation and relatively simple to set up.

I've tried/owned a few streamers including a Marantz 7004 (?), Pioneer N50 and an iMerge S2000 (one of the first on the market with excellent DAC but crappy 'logic' and control software) - the Camnridge equals or betters them everywhere.

I have an MF308 CD player sat on the rack below the SM6 and it's been turned on three or four times in two years and that was only to listen to a CD I hadn't yet ripped.


As with all streamers, they run a lot smoother and faster with less glitches if fed from a NAS rather than a USB drive or stick - especially with large libraries.

Get it on loan and give it a try.

[ianrb]

Well RS have still not managed to arrange any sort of demo, so this bit of kit is going to fall off the list.

Anyway I've just found out about the Linn Klimax and Akurate Renew DS boxes. The Klimax may be out of my price range, but the Akurate isn't, so I think I'll try to hear them instead.