The benefits of dual aes/ebu are enjoyed with dsd and 24 bit recordings. Recordings lower than that are sent through one cable only. This holds true with my auditions, which I have done. Normal cd quality stuff, can’t hear a difference between single and dual. The difference comes to life when I play dsd and hires recordings.
The W20 performs its best when it’s being timed by an external clock.
Having said all this, the W20 sounds better than the n10, there isn’t a doubt in my mind. You just have to decide if the cost is worthwhile for you. It’s about a 10k difference plus the aes ebu cables. That’s a lot of money, and perhaps it’s beneficial to look at your system and assess if there are other components that you can upgrade to get you a better sonic benefit. For me it was
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Magico M3
Mcintosh 601 monos
Boulder 2110 Pre
Nordost Odin 2 cabling
Clearaudio Master Innovation with Goldfinger cartridge
Esoteric E03 phono
Esoteric D02X
Esoteric P02X
Aurender W20
HRS SXR-Signature 4V X 2 rack
Incoming: Magico Q15 subs (2)
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