Aurender N100H + Core Power Technologies USBe = HUGE improvement

Hi all,

I’ve had my Aurender N100H (which is USB only) and Hegel HD30 DAC combo for several years now, and have never been fully satisfied with the sound. Imaging has always been indistinct (hard to pin-point localize), the midrange a bit dry, and overall lacking a palatable organic quality that has kept me from emotionally connecting as fully with the music as I’d like. I’ve improved things along the way... stillpoint ultras under both the Aurender and DAC made a noticeable improvement (cleaner midrange and highs, slightly improved imaging), better power cords, Inakustik USB cable (sounded better to my ears than the "Curious Cable" that preceded it) and the biggest improvement up until last week... the Inakustik Power Conditioner which quite honestly took the sound of my whole system to a new level. However, as much as the sound improved with all of these changes along the way, it still lacked the organic textures and liquid lushness that I felt... even if just in a small quantity... would really balance out the sound.

That changed last week. On a hunch, and given the sale price (from Underwood HiFi... one of the advertisers here at Audiogon), I bought a Core Power Technologies USBe device for $299 figuring if it didn’t benefit my system I could probably sell it for not too much of a loss. All of the reviews that I read which lavished praise on this device all seemed to be systems with "non audiophile" digital sources... like file servers and laptops... digital ecosystems where it wouldn’t be hard to imagine that a device offering even marginal improvement in jitter and/or noise-reduction might bring a sonic benefit. But with something like the "Aurender"?

Simply stated, the USBe has completely revolutionized the sound of the Aurender. The improvement is obvious and profound... imaging is pin-point focused, the midrange relaxed and easy, highs airy and uncongested, musical textures all differentiated and distinct... timbres are more real and instruments sound "different from each other" as if some sort of sonic-signature that had painted them all in a similar shade has been removed. Vocals have an added solidity and liquid character that allows them to cross the "emotionally involving" line for me for the first time. Oh, and bass... bass is tighter, more defined, and more "present" in a way that’s sometimes startling.

$299 folks. Honestly if someone had told me they had swapped out my DAC for some upper-tier $5-10K component I’d have believed them. I can’t promise that everyone and every system will be impacted the way I was with mine, but if you’re using an Aurender N100H (or any USB music server you feel might be a weak link in your chain) you owe it to yourself to give this a try. I’ve spent far more money than this on power cables which improved the sound to a lesser degree. The USBe is the real deal.

-Dave :)