First Streamer...


Hi,

I'm planning to buy my first streamer.

Honestly, I have no idea which brand of streamer to purchase and would welcome suggestions.

I'd like to use my android phone to select material which will be played through a Audio Research VSi60 amp and homemade Zaph Audio ZRT Revelator speakers.   My CD player ( a Rega Saturn) has  a DAC which could be used for streaming.

Any suggestions?   

I'm looking to stream TIDAL using Verizon's Fios service  and spend under $2000.

   

 

johndyson

I am using two different approaches to streaming.   First, I have a BlueSound Node that I use for streaming most everything.   It also acts as a Roon endpoint, so I can stream from Roon.  I use a BlueSound Vault 2 to convert my entire CD library to WAV files and then use Roon to manage them when I stream my CD's.  My CD player is obsolete in a sense, I just use the Vault 2 to convert them to WAV, files and play them from Roon.   I still buy CD's though, along with digital downloads.   Everything can be controlled from my Android phone.   Do make sure what you buy specifies Android.   Some streamers out there work only with Apple phones. 

Get your feet wet with Bluesound Node 2 and sign up with Qobuz to take advantage of highest resolution available (upto 24bit/192kHz). The DAC inside Rega CD player is a good one. I would use a good quality Coax cable between Node 2 and Rega.

You could buy Bluesound Vault 2 if you plan to rip your CD collection. Once you get used to streaming, you may not feel the need to spin CD’s. That’s how I started and now all of my CD’s are ripped and easily managed and accessible by app. 

I highly recommend the Cambridge Audio CXN 60.  A great feature is the Chromecast.  I cast files from my Android phone and they sound great.  The DAC is probably an improvement over the Rega DAC—I used to have an Apollo—and the whole package is about $1300