Cambridge Audio MXN10 - Honestly It Sounds Great!

Hi-Fi Corner
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I’m sure that there are many people who think that the MXN10 just won’t stand up to my system of XS3 & the ATC 19’s but honestly it’s it’s an amazing sounding streamer

As some will know I recently auditioned the Atom HE and I’ve come up with my dream system of my XS3 amp, the MXN10 and passive ATC 19’s

It’s a great sounding system for not too much outlay

If you haven’t heard the MXN10 I urge you to do so, it sounds amazing

I auditioned the Atom HE with active 19’s but the sound was just not good enough; the MXN10 with my XS3 amp and NACA5 via passive 19’s sounds amazing

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If I recall correctly, it was given recommended status in a recent edition of What Mullet.

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It is excellent though. I’ve both ninanina’s Atom HE and the MXN10 for different rooms.

Ninanina, why not have both too?

I’ve radio channels configured for the 4 physical buttons on the MXN so with a single push I’ve radio in my room. Very convenient.

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@ninanina no actives anymore?

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A ND5-XS2 is much greater sounding for not that much outlay second hand these days.

Or try the magic of source first, get a NDX2 with your XS3, and prepare to be amazed.

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Lot’s of inexpensive HiFi is incredibly good the days, as technology improves.

I was very pleased with my Bluesound Nano Node that I bought for a second system. I cannot actually hear much if any difference between my more expensive Cocktail audio streamer.

I am pleased with my XS3 too.

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Why do you keep creating new topics that all come down to the same discussion?

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Disagree here @daddycool. £1500(ish) (secondhand) vs £350 (new). That’s a big difference in monetary terms but such a big difference in SQ? An external DAC (£500) could further improve things if needed. Having heard the MXN10 I think it is a great player at its price point.

It really depends on whether you have the system to hear such differences and what the point of the system is (casual listening etc).

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I don’t disagree with that @badlyread, generally speaking. I know you did the work comparing these streaming bridges with various levels of Chord DACs, and found good results, great.

Also for my son we just demoed two different budget streamers by themselves and via the built-in DAC of the new Rega Brio. The latter were very musical and great combinations.

But in this/these threads we’re on one hand spending a considerable amount of money on active vs. passive ATCs and then saving some cash to operate a budget streamer on the XS3 without a separate DAC, after having raved about the SQ of the Atom HE (which is indeed good).

It became a different story with that for me, but I’ll just keep out of the ninanina threads.

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That would not be the way to go! We all hear differently and have different ideas. The OP is happy with his system and that’s the main thing.

Let the music play on!

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Personally, in the streaming arena, once you pass £1000, the same old hi-fi laws of diminishing returns come into play. Is a £5000 network player better than the MXN10? Yes, obviously. The question is by how much? And does it justify that outlay?

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I have an iFi Zen Stream streamer (without dac) which, with its Elite power supply (700 euros for both), comes very, very close to (if not equal to) much more expensive streamers… so yes, there can be very good products that aren’t very expensive, especially in the digital realm…

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I did have the Atom HE on demo with active ATC’s and in the end I passed on that system as I preferred the MXN10 with my XS3 and passive 19’s

That doesn’t necessarily mean that the Atom is a bad sounding streamer as it was a completely different system but I personally don’t think it’s worth £2k’ish sound wise

I’m definitely not going to rush and buy an Atom… maybe at some stage I might upgrade to the ND5XS2 but I’m extremely happy with the MXN10 sound, it’s very good especially at the relatively low price

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True, especially considering how fast the technology in this specific digital arena is changing.

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I’ve got one too, bag of bolts, honestly, compared to all the Wiims and even previous Yamaha products fails at the first hurdle of having a stable platform.

Never had a product that needed to be restarted as much as it did (it’s back in a box) and tried living with it for some time.

I used to make allowances for the unreliable nature of the unit as streaming in its early days and the holy grail of sound quality over ease of use but once I tried some other products realised this is beyond them.

Any Wiim connected to a decent Dac a massive step forward.

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Agreed.

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With the latest updates everything is fine, it is stable, I use it with rj45 and not with wifi.

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Anything I write ( and I tried four times ) will come across as disingenuous and that would be last intention.

Genuinely glad your experience is different to mine.

When mine worked without issue it was fine, but because mine didn’t I’ve got three Wiims and it didn’t displace old Yam for daughters system.

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What streamer were you referring to Adam? Was it the MXN10?

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I used an iFi Zen Stream as a roon endpoint for years and agree the sound quality is as good as any. It is a nightmare to setup, but once you are there is pretty much set and forget. I keep mine as a spare, amazing value.

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