Aurender A15 or N200 with Mac C2700

@lewl28 

I'm a big fan of Aurender for their streamers. I believe the DAC in the A15 is comparable to that in the C2700. Before I went the A15 route new, I would purchase a used Lumin X1, which would be slightly higher than the A15 retail price. The A15 is not in the class of the Lumin X1. 

The Aurendern N200 is a great streamer, but you would be spending $6K on a streamer going into the DAC2 module, which probably plays into the $2.5K class of DACs. Maybe try the Lumin U2 mini into the C2700 to get a flavor. If it doesn't float your boat, go the streamer/DAC route and unload the Lumin, you should get a reasonable price for the U2 unit.

Thanks.  I switched it up and went with an Esoteric N-05XD.  

Although the OP already landed a different unit, I wanted to address an unanswered question. 

The Aurender A15 is essentially the same as an Aurender N200 with the addition of the DAC. It uses the same streamer/server components and power supply designs of the N200, and I was told by Aurender that if I ran a signal out digitally from the A15 bypassing its DAC that it was equivalent to running an N200. 

Great that you found the Esoteric.   Anyone that is considering a N200 , I have had one about a week and it's awesome.  Big step up over the Vault 2i's digital out.