Melco N1Z vs Aurender N10 vs CAD CAT

[Confused]

I had another very interesting day at Oxford Audio yesterday. This time I was finally able to have a listen to the Aurender N10. To provide a link to the Cad Cat / N1Z / W20 trio I listened to last month, first we listened again to the W20, then to the N10. It is also worth mentioning last during last month audition I wasn't that happy with the sound of the Blades in the room. Normally in OAC's smaller demo room the sound is actually very similar to that I achieve at home, but last month the whole system didn't sound quite right. I had mentioned this to OAC's Alasdair and this time the sofa had been moved back to it's more normal position (last time it was against the back wall), and with a slight tweak of speaker angles, this time everything snapped back into place and sounded superb. So then to the W20 vs the N10. To be honest, I don't have a huge amount to write here, to me, they sounded very similar, very similar indeed! I didn't realise at the time, but both units were being run via USB. Looking back I think maybe there was a bit more magic from the W20 last month, when the AES output was utilised. Anyway, this was like for like between the two, both used USB. Curiously, I ended up with a slight preference for the N10, to me the N10 appeared to have a fractionally better resolution in the lowest frequencies, with not much to separate them in other areas. It's hard to say, for sure not much in it, and I think I would need a lot more time with a bigger selection of music to be sure on this one. Maybe with a longer audition I would have found something extra in the W20. Although it has to be said, looking at the price differential, you would need to be very wealthy indeed to ignore the fact that the N10 is £7k, and the W20 £13k. One other consideration though is that the W20 allows the addition of an external clock, so maybe the W20 could be by far the better machine, but this would require significant further funds for an external clock of the required calibre to make a difference. So the W20 is the one for very wealthy tweakers! I think I would have liked more time to listen to these two again, certainly back to back via AES, but there were other things to listen to on the day, and this took up the bulk of the time. What other things? Well, to be honest I do not want to post anything about the 'other' thing I listened to, not yet at least, I have my reasons, plus it is off topic for this thread. However, I will post something soon, and this is not a Devialet 'soon', this is a 'soon' with a date, June 4th.

I would also have liked to have tried the N1ZH, particularly now the new Meloc firmware is available, but there was no time left for this on the day. Also, I understand the new Melco control app is also coming 'soon', and from what I have heard, it really is soon now!

Thanks again to the guys at OAC! Excellent hospitality and service as normal, although I have just realised, last time we got biscuits, this time, no biscuits! The tea and coffee was flowing though, and for me coffee is important!