Dedicated streamer or

[TheHarbourMaster]

Hello all.

I have a Roksan Kandy K2 and PMC GB1 floor standing speakers. Mainly play music with spotify through an old android tablet connected to amp through 3.5mm jack. Indeed - certainly not ideal!

So started looking at Cambridge Audio CXN100 as the upgrade, but have now gone down rabbit hole of thinking that maybe its time to replace the Roksan - never been a fan of its styling - with say Cambridge Audio EXA100 and saying goodbye to the Roksan.

Any thoughts on a separate streamer vs a modern amp with DAC? I only have the 1 room I need with sound and do like internet radio which I believe I would get with the CXN100 but not with the EZA100.

Any advice happily received!

Thanks.

 

[Juzzie Wuzzie]

WiiM Pro Plus into your current amp. If you don't like it after six months to a year, it's probably a £60 exercise between price paid for it; and price sold for second hand. Covers Spotify and internet radio with ease. Otherwise, how much of a rabbit hole do you want to disappear into?

 

[Gray]

Any thoughts on a separate streamer vs a modern amp with DAC?

Depends whether you want a display or not, but a Wiim Pro Plus and a decent amp (with or without built-in DAC) makes more sense to me than any streaming amp.

I quite fancied what was the CXN when it first came out (9 years ago now) but always thought it was too expensive - so chose the Raspberry Pi option with the very good (and free) Volumio controlling it.
But I intend going down the Wiim Ultra route soon, if only for its display - which will come in handy to show what I'm listening to on radio streams....without looking at a poxy phone all the time.

EDIT: Juzzie beat me to it with the Pro Plus recommendation 👍

 

[Revolutions]

If you have the money, I’d absolutely look at an all in one solution. You’ll lose nothing & gain not having to buy 2 boxes.

Check out this thread for a few examples. Roksan have just announced the Caspian streaming amp (although it’s not cheap at £4k)

What's your best all in one HiFi System?

I love the signature sound of my Atoll, this guy nailed it when he described the tonality as natural and organic. Not really had any experience with all in one systems but this YouTube reviewer sold it for me. If I was considering an all in one, the Atoll SDA 200 would be high up my list. I...

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