Lumin vs Auralic

Dick, thanks for your comments.  

I agree with you.  Auralic's nomenclature is extremely confusing....G1 or G2 could mean the Aries or the Vega.  

Between the Lumin and the Auralic VEGA products, I'm currently leaning towards the Auralic.  What bothers me is that all the reviews on the Vega G2 seem to imply that the VEGA is first and foremost a DAC and that the "basic streaming function" is just a bonus.  In one of the Auralic forums, one of the developers of their products even called the streaming portion of the VEGA "free".  The reviews I've read all say that adding the Aries G2 really brings out all that the DAC in the VEGA G2 can deliver.  I, on the other hand, view the VEGA as a one-box streamer...that would compete with the likes of the one-box Lumin products, such as the new T2 (or D2, S1, A1, etc).  The Lumin reviews don't necessarily talk about the specific performance of the DAC vs the streamer portion of their all in one products.  I'm looking for one box solution that sounds good without necessarily having to add more pieces.

I'm also curious about how well either the Lumin or Auralic would sound like if they were connected directly to my power amplifier.   I'm hoping the unit I end up purchasing will allow me to sell my preamp if the sound is good enough.....

Calgarian, thanks for the additional comments.  I hadn't been following the Auralic forum but maybe I need to do some more reading as I didn't know they considered the streaming function "basic." :)  Of course my needs are probably basic and, in any event, I'd probably give Roon a try anyway.  If you happen to make the jump, please update us on the results.  I'd love to know how it goes even if the G2 is out of my price range.  Dick

Have you considered the new Mytek Brooklyn Bridge at $2995?.
It is basically a Brooklyn DAC+ with aes input swapped out for an Ethernet port and full streaming capability.

I have one on order as I was very happy with my Brooklyn as a DAC and was streaming an Aries Mini via USB into the Brooklyn.
One less box and cables.....

On January 30 Auralic released a beta version of firmware - - 6.0beta3 — which was applied to their entire product line. The improvement in sonic quality is stunning. If you have a chance to do so, listen to the Vega for an hour with the beta firmware applied at your local dealer. It’s easy to switch between the release firmware version and the beta for comparison purposes. 

Dick, I'll let you know what I end up getting....Uberwaltz, I'll do some investigating on the Mytek BB; thanks for your suggestion.  Mre28m5, there are no dealers for Auralic anywhere near me....so auditioning anything from that company is not going to happen.  I'm basing everything thus far on reviews since my nearest dealer is a 4 hour plane flight away!  The Lumin T2 hasn't arrived at my local dealer yet, so once it arrives, I'll give it a listen.....