Geno,

Interesting.  I had the same thing happen to me about 18 months ago, for no apparent reason either... I went through the same routine on tubes, reached out to Dan @ MWI, and my preamp builder with no apparent explanation or fix.  Finally, I pulled the plug and reset up the network connection and, like you, it returned to normal SQ.  Strange

ChrisC

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That's funny Geno. I few months ago something in my DDC+DAC went haywire and I guess since I've been doing computer and network stuff for so long the first thing I did was shut everything down for a couple minutes and when I turned it back on everything was fine. So, the moral of the story is it isn't just your CXN and when in doubt, turn it off.

Or, as my first boss liked to say, "computers are only human."

I second that Geno!

Thanks for the heads up Geno.
I have the CXN V2 with ModWright mods as well but have not experienced this issue.

However, I do have one issue with the unit and wonder if others have as well.

The issue is that when powering the unit down the tubes do not turn off. The unit itself turns off but the tubes do not. I have to unplug it from the IEC in the back. The next listening session I just plug it back in, push the front power button and things work as normal.

I've toggled the ECO mode on/off in settings (needs to be in ECO mode for tubes to power down) and that helps sometimes but then the tubes go back to not shutting down eventually.
I'm just concerned that unplugging/plugging constantly will create a problem over time.
Otherwise, I'm really enjoying the CXN v2 w/mods. It's a great digital front end!

Hi Chipster.

I remember scratching my head on that one too, when I first got the unit back from Dan. As a matter of fact, several times, I thought it was off, but discovered later, that the tubes were still on.

What HK said, is the solution. I have mine plugged in to a ZLC power conditioner, and powering it off at the conditioner, does the same thing.

Best,

Geno

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I don't have the mods. Missed that because of procrastination before Dan stopped doing it. Cambridge stopped selling him parts to honor the warranty repair now on his shoulders after mods. Dan said it created too much hassle to continue with the mods.

Anyway, the cool thing with the CXNv2 is those unbalanced outs can be used to feed a remote system with control from a hand held device. That is how I use mine feeding the system in the shop with a pair of 30 foot shielded ICs. Works great!

I use the coax out to feed a Decware DAC in the Charoit. There is a difference in quality of sound between the coax and unbalanced outs even on the stock unit. I prefer to use the coax to feed the main system despite the volume can not be controlled with the digital outs on the CVNv2.

I agree, I would have been in line for Dan’s mods if he continued. I love the CXNv2 and it’s ability to connect via Qobuz directly from my phone via the Cambridge ap, albeit somewhat clunky. That’s the only think stopping me from an upgrading to a PS Audio or Chord streamer.

Another heads up: I too read HockessinKid’s glowing review of the CXNV2 with Dan Wright’s modification and jumped. I live in the sticks and have nothing to compare it to except the plain CXNV2, my former Schiit Bifrost Multibit (5th generation, USB) and my former former AudioEngine B1.  But I’ve been delighted. Astounded, really. Too bad Dan stopped doing the modification.
But I had an issue: I stream (Roon/Qobuz) exclusively, and use the CXNV2’s preamp so I can adjust the volume remotely (from the couch . I don’t remember the last time I bypassed the preamp, but a couple months ago I did and noticed a huge degradation in the higher frequencies—a fuzziness. I checked the tubes, the IC connections to my ZROCK2 and my SE84UFO25—no improvement.
I want the option to bypass the CXNV2’s preamp without the degradation— to occasionally listen “pure” so to speak. So I called Dan who had me send it in. He heard the issue and adjusted “the bias back, to a level more inline with the stock 2Vrms level”.  I’m no electronics guy, but it sounds great again with and without the preamp engaged. Happy days! Anyone with the mods have a similar issue? Anyone care to explain how my my bias might have changed? (Sorry I can’t recall if it faltered pre or post modification, but I’m pretty sure that I happily bypassed the preamp both pre and post modification before I noticed the problem).