My streamer doesn't have a good fantom centerDSP

It's just weird to have the speakers disappear, then come back, then go again. It kind of kills the vibe.

This doesn't tell me it isn't the room or speaker placement, honestly.  This just tells me the room/speakers are better for some than others. 

Try this, if you can.  Put the speakers about 3-4' apart and sit close to them.  See if that gives you a much more consistent experience.  If it does, it's your room. 

Are you using Tidal Connect? Is the software Volume Control or Normalization enabled in TC? If so, try the following:
(1) Turn both of them off, set Tidal Connect to ‘fixed volume output,’ and use the Hitachi’s hardware volume dial instead.
(2) If the problem persists, try using the StreamMagic app instead of Tidal Connect.

I also have the MXN10, and I doubt the streamer is at fault. Sometimes software volume controls and features like normalization can mess things up.

Not every streamed song is like that, most are. It’s just weird to have the speakers disappear, then come back, then go again. It kind of kills the vibe. Also when streaming, I’m all over the place and not doing full albums, just playlist of variable quality.  

@lanx0003 yes, I'm using the software volume, will turn it off and see what happens.  

Have done both connect, and through the CA app. It doesn't make any difference. Just pulled in my bedroom speakers to see if that changes anything. It does the same thing. 

Thinking it's a combo of variable bit rate of the songs, vasty different quality of the songs, and maybe my setup is a little too revealing for a low end DAC. Think I'll be on the lookout for a Black Friday sale on a new streamer, move this one to the garage setup.

I'd audition some other streamer/DAC combos... sounds like your setup mechanically is good, so don't move anything.  I know my testing of a few streamer/DAC, from Bluesound Node to ultimately a Lumin X1 that I bought, you will find very different levels of transparency.  I was chasing my Vinyl side, but now it's not even connected.  The Lumin DAC sounds like vinyl only quieter to me.

Maybe you can find one that sounds good in your setup as-is...

@fburkeen I bet the  Lumin X1 is nice, it's $14k!! That's around the price of my entire system. My budget is more in the sub $2k area. If I had $14k to spend, it would be with new speakers. Although I did just purchase 2 new Martin Logan Abyss subs to replace my vintage ML Depth subs.