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New streamer needed

My streamer, 10yrs old, stopped functioning. Now I am listening to CDs again with the transport of the older Accuphase DP-67 and Merason Frerot DAC. The combination sounds great, very detailed and transparent. Now I am wondering how much money I would need to spend on a new streamer to match that sound level and which brands and models to look for. Any suggestions, possibly also from people who know the Merason and/or Accuphase? I am using Qobuz for streaming, and wireless options would be great too. Thank you.

128x128stievus
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,078 posts
 

@benanders that’s a solid advice! I did this as well. For the comparison I used dbpoweramp to rip to uncompressed FLAC. The software is free if you use just the basic features. CD rom drive is a $40 LG external unit. Nothing fancy. 

signaforce's avatar
signaforce
188 posts
 

Entertaining exchange!

stievus's avatar
stievus OP
69 posts
 

Thanks, makes sense! Now just need to find the right streamer model that can be tried at home in my system. And then trying to eliminate confounders...

signaforce's avatar
signaforce
188 posts
 

BTW, I was the OP on one of the recent streamer posts. I ended up buying a lightly used N150 for $2K. Very happy with my decision… perfect form factor, great sound & love the conductor app, particularly through my iPad. 
I also use Qobuz. I would rank the sound of my system as follows:

1. Vinyl

2. High resolution Qobuz

3. CD

4. Lower resolution Qobuz. 

But all close. Hope this helps. 

stievus's avatar
stievus OP
69 posts
 

That sounds like a good price. Which CD-Player are you using? Vinyl is also my number one.

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