Auralic Vega 1 vs Auralic Vega 2/2.1


Was looking out for a network streamer and read rave reviews about Auralic products. Then I noticed that the Auralic Flagship streamer DAC comes in three versions. Going from Vega G1 to Vega G2 the price increases by $2600(Vega G1 retails at $3999 vs the Vega G2 at $6599) . When I read about the differences, I do not know that I can justify spending that kinda money on a better volume pot and a unified chassis. I have a feeling Auralic has priced themselves out with the Vega G2 and Vega G2.1. I know some audiophiles will possibly say, they don't care, but for regular 9 to 5 working class folks $2600 is a lot of money(still). Is it just corporate greed or did Auralic just price themselves out?
jitters

Not sure if my experience would be useful, but I had an opportunity to listen Auralic Vega dac at friends home, on a system that I am quite familiar with.

At the time he had a Mccormack amp, Ayre preamp and Avalon speakers.The dac he had was Arcam fmj 33.

He took Auralic on try, as well as Ayre qb 9.I was curios to hear Auralic, as I have heard, or better said, read some nice reviews.

To cut the long story short, it turn out to be a major disppointment for everybody present. On all but one ’filter’ the sound was very ’artificial’ in lack of better term.

I would not state that in some other sytem the result could not be different, but if you are able to, do try to compare Auralic with some other dacs.

My frined kept the Arcam for a while (ut performed better than Vega) and than lately took Ayre qb 9 dsd.

 

As a former owner of the Aries + Vega 1 who upgraded to the Aries + Vega 2, I'd say both ranges are excellent products; however the 2 range benefits most from utilizing the Lightning Link to couple the two components.

I found that listening to the Aries + Vega 2 via my Transparent Reference USB the difference vs. the 1s was slight, but consistently noticeable (blacker backgrounds / less noise) but moving to the Audioquest Diamond HDMI as the Lightning Link cable took the 2s to another level.  I have not listened to the 2.1 range.     

Maybe someone should post the differences and why it’s worth it. Mike make sense to someone than if you can’t afford it don’t buy it. I know I’ll step up if I can understand what I’m getting, if I feel it’s enough for the difference. 
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There are much more expensive streaming products out there.  Many people spend more than $2600 on their digital front end.

Auralic makes good stuff that is priced competitively.  You can often find bargains on used Auralic gear. 

Spend what makes sense for you and your budget.  If the Auralic gear is out of your price range, then get a Bluesound Node 2i and call it good.  It's a very nice unit, but won't have the same sound quality of some of the higher end digital gear available.  That old maxim "you get what you pay for" is true here.
Is there a point? If you can’t afford it or don’t want it, don’t buy it. Rather than talk garbage about a good company.