Suggestion for $10K soup to nuts digital?

“I think is the best performer in its class and has been claimed by many to unseat the even more expensive Aurender N10. ”

@blisshifi

IMO, the revamped Aurender lineup clearly excels over its predecessors in terms of low frequency extension and slam. Both N150 & N200 renders a noticeable edge in terms of perceived detail over N100 and N10 not to mention 2x isolated Ethernet input and super capacitors for safe shut off in case of sudden loss of power in N200. Over the years, I have owned N100, N10, N20 and ACS100 and auditioned W20 and W20SE.

@fthompson251 I can see how it is confusing because they are both “200”. The A200 has pretty much the equivalent of the $3500 N150 streamer only architecture with added DAC, whereas the A15 has the equivalent of the N200’s streamer only architecture. Overall, the N200/A15 has a much improved and robust linear power supply, better isolation, and better circuit design. On the analog output stage of the A15, the implementation is also slightly better than that in the A200 while also offering true balanced outs, where the A200 is single-ended only. What this means is the A15 & N200 has more of the good stuff - body, texture, coherence, and larger soundstage, all while being less fatiguing and “digital-sounding”. It’s enough to make a substantial improvement in my opinion, a true step above, which enables it also to be a more future-proof solution compared to the A200/N150 tier  

I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

@lalitk What Aurender unit are you using these days. Your virtual systems point to the ACS100, is that where you’ve landed? That is one I have not heard and would be curious how it performs against something like the N20 or N200. 

@blisshifi

I am currently using ACS100 for exactly what its designed and intended within a high end digital front end. I use ACS100 to rip, store CD rips and DSD downloads. Since Aurender supports ‘RAVENNA’ protocol, I couldn’t have asked for a better NAS server for my Merging +player. Since I wasn’t going to be using its most coveted features, I sold the N20. 

@lalitk Nice!