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AURALiC Aries price reduction

I have been considering ditching my "laptop as music server" setup I have been using for the past 7 years and purchasing the  AURALiC Aries music streamer.  Last week Audio Advisor dropped the price of the "full" version of this product to $1,279.99, a $319 savings.  Upscale Audio and HiFi Heaven have followed suit . Has anyone on this forum heard why the price drop?  Is AURALiC getting ready to release an update / upgrade / Aries II?  If so then I play the mind game of do I wait until the updated version is released, or purchase something at a reduced price that I was pretty close to sold on based on all the positive reviews.  

Any information would be appreciated.  Also, if you own one, what is your opinion?  If you upgraded from a Mac or PC to the Aries, was the sound upgrade worth the price of admission?  My biggest concern is if the Lightning DS will meet my needs.  I have invested a lot of time building my library and tags in Foobar 2000, which I will have jettison if I go with the Aries.  I am a TIdal HiFi subscriber, so I know the Aries will work well with that, and the Lightning DS interface would most likely be a step up from the Tidal interface..

Anyway, thank you for reading, and any constructive suggestions / opinions you have to offer.
exile_ken
mattmiller's avatar
mattmiller
1,497 posts
 
Bottom line is the Aurender Conductor app is far superior to any other app out there, so If I were you I would consider spending a little more for a streamer/server from them. Even though the Aries would be a nice upgrade. Why not do it right the first time :-) Aurender makes streamer/servers for around 2k. If you don't need a DAC, your set! USB 2.0 audio output assures a high quality connection to your DAC, plus connections for ethernet and NAS drive too. (The super expensive ones have DACS or several terabytes of storage in them). O and its MQA compatible as well. Can you tell I want an Aurender too! LOL, If I could buy a Auralic with a Conductor app I would. But they don't make that.

Matt M
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,550 posts
 
+1 Aurender N100H.  Top notch sound / build quality and best app, period. 
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
The N100H is the one to beat in the <$3k retail price range of server/renderer/streamers. 

Dave
exile_ken OP
8 posts
 
Thank you for the responses.  I was having a hard time with paying $1,599 for the Aries, so $2,200 (two N100Hs on AG currently) for an Aurender is a bit outside of my range.  I did miss the coverage on the G2, although I am not an avid "audio press" consumer, I do pop into AudioStream fairly often though so not sure how I missed it.  A quick glance shows the G2 to be even more north of my price range.  
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
Hi Ken,

Be patient - mint used N100H can be had for ~$1800.

Dave
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