Lumin U2 vs Aurender N200

This topic has been raised a lot. The typical responses will list various brands.

There is some skepticism as to whether the differences between streamers can be heard if an external DAC is already in use. Many will say there are differences, and then opinion will vary as to what is causing that difference, with some weight behind the idea that the streamer's power supply is important. Personally, I improved my Node fairly inexpensively with an adaptation to its power supply. PD Creative sells easy to implement kits.

I believe that the usefulness of an upgrade can be answered simply by purchasing from a dealer with a good return policy.  This way you don’t have to rely upon what everyone else thinks.

I went to an Aurender N20, purchased used from a member/dealer here and it was a solid upgrade to my iFi Zen Stream with iFi’s top power supply.  It wasn’t subtle.

I appreciate the response.  I’ll a long way for any dealer and I understand buying would be the best way to know.  Appreciating any insights people can share on these particular units. 

See my previous post on this subject: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/streamer-upgrade-bluesound-node-to-aurender-n10

All I can say is; this was a massive upgrade in SQ going from the Bluesound Node to the Aurender N10, I could not be happier.

@john1629 

I was late to  streaming and bought an open box Node N-130. I then bought a better USB cord instead of the cheapie I had laying around and it made an improvement. Then I went kinda crazy and bought a Teddy Pardo power supply that cost more than the N-130! And yes it made an improvement as well. Then I swapped out the pc going to the TP with a better pc and that made a difference as well.

Having said that, the U2 is 8.5 times the price as the Node and the N200 costs ten times the price as the Node! So yeah, they better sound better.
 

All the best.