CAMBRIDGE AZUR 851N

Say hello to the daddy of Cambridge Audio’s network streamers… and then, if you are fortunate enough to have the spending money, think seriously about welcoming it into your hi-fi system with open arms.

The Azur 851N is a step up from the mid-range CXN and, as you would hope for the price, a pretty giant step at that.

Unlike the CXN, it doubles as a preamp and can plug straight into a power amp thanks to a volume output controlled by a 32-bit Blackfin digital signal processor. Music signals pass through two 24-bit Analog Devices DACs in dual differential mode, meaning each stereo channel processes information separately for, Cambridge says, greater accuracy.

Connections are greater in number too – it adds second coaxial and optical and third USB inputs, as well as a AES/EBU input – and in terms of build it’s more Hulk than Popeye to look at.

Premium looks

The 851N’s design looks ‘expensive’. The crisp 11cm display looks almost identical to that of the CXN, and the colourful album artwork that fills it piles on the class. The large volume dial turns with ease and is helpful for manually scrolling through large music libraries.