2. digital
  3. 179080-171520

Need recommendations for a streamer

I would like to upgrade from a Bluesound Node to a higher quality streamer.

 

The Node sounds fine with my current system, but I am making a second system for my wife, and the Node is going to that new system. I thought I would take the opportunity to upgrade my streamer at this time.

 

My criteria are that it be a streamer only (no DAC/storage/CD player, etc), be able to hook into wi-fi/cloud without a physical wire/connection, have balanced outputs to go to my DAC, and cost less than 2,500 USD. Can anybody think of a streamer that fits this bill?

 

The rest of my system:

DAC: Terminator II

Preamp: Schiit Freya+

Amps: PS Audio M1200 x 2

Speakers: Thiel CS 2.3

 

Thanks.

cowhorn
ghdprentice
7,093 posts
 

I am a big advocate of high quality streamers. I have used many approaches and a number of dedicated streamers and highly recommend Aurender… I now own two… see my UserID.

I recommend looking at two components for upgrade… the Freya+ as well as the streamer. I would upgrade the streamer first… but perhaps stretch you budget a bit to $3.5K - $5K to better match your othe components. You may not get the full value of your system until you do your preamp as well.

 

Also, don’t worry about connectivity. Just get a wall wart extender for your streamer… plug it next to your audio system and plug your streamer in to it. I had a Aurlic Aries G2 for about a year which I struggled with… I had bought it because it had internal wIFI. Then I bought my first Aurender and a wall wart extender and sound quality and all my problems went a way. I know of a number of $150K systems operating this way.

cowhorn OP
22 posts
 

Thanks. I'll look into Aurender.

Post removed 
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,562 posts
 

"wi-fi/cloud without a physical wire/connection"

Please don’t waste your money on a Aurender or any other high $$$ streamer if you cannot use a wired ethernet connection with a Wi-Fi extender powered by linear power supply.

And if you’re not using ROON, you are going to miss the already excellent BLUOS app with so many cloud based streaming options.

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