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2 to convert my entire CD library to WAV files and then use Roon to manage them when I stream my CD's.  My CD player is obsolete in a sense, I just use the Vault 2 to convert them to WAV, files and play them from Roon.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

I think you have made a great choice. The future of high quality audio is streaming.

 

I have been doing digital for 40,years and only recently has it become competitive with analog and streaming can now sound better or at least as good as CDs. Also, you want Qobuz as a service. It sounds better and they have half a million high resolution albums. Better than all the rest. Might as well start there.

 

My rule of thumb is to spend at least as much on your streamer as your DAC, which should roughly equal your preamp and amp. Just a generality, you need to put in the effort evaluating the best and most compatible with your system. So, let’s say your

 

You have a good integrated amp, so $2K is the preamp, $2k amp. Your Rega is CD player / DAC… so say ~ $2K for each function. I would look for a streamer around $2K. I would look at Lumin. Assuming over time you want your system to sound better. You could later upgrade your DAC and get a performance improvement.

 

Alternatively, you could go Bluesound. I am not a dip your toe in kind of guy… I end up spending more money that way, but that is me. If I bought a Bluesound, it would prove to me that streaming was worth it… I would upgrade immediately (to an Aurender)… and well, I know myself, just skip the intermediate step, But lots of folks start with Bluesound.

 

You Can see my systems under my user ID.