@sns Nice informative well thought out post , thanks sns. I’ve owned and run a micro business in Southern California for 37 years. My perspective on businesses both large and small is based on my own experiences during that time. Im constantly shocked at the cost of doing business especially here in So Cal. Sometimes Im amazed these high or higher end hi fi companies can stay afloat, they’re not dealing in the main stream market place but a rather small niche that Im told is actually shrinking.Im sure alot of these companies struggle especially at the R&D phase keeping they’re costs in line based on the number of units they anticipate selling, it’s gotta be a gamble. Keep listening, dig your system btw, Id love to hear it I can tell it sounds great you wouldn’t have it any other way Im sure.
Streamer upgrade? follow up.
I posted the first part of this earlier in the week. There are a few other threads running concurrently here about this same subject.This is my personal experience with this situation.Ive been using a Aurender A100 streamer/dac which is they’re entry level unit, the SQ wasn’t horrible but I was pretty sure I could get it better.In a attempt to do that I purchased a Denafrips Pontus two and a DhLabs Mirage Usb cable to use with the A100 utilizing its Usb out.The two local hi fi dealers here in SO Cal both told me this would not produce much of an result and in my opinion after trying it they were both correct. So… as I stated in the first post I was coming from a “bit is bits” perspective which was I was convinced adding a better Dac would accomplish my goals, I just couldn’t believe that the zeros and ones could possibly effect the quality of sound. But not being one to give up I decided in for penny in for a pound Id see for myself if there was anything to the other side of this conversation, I wanted a new toy for Xmas anyway.So I traded my A100 plus some cash to TMR ( nice people btw) for a shiny new Aurender N200 which arrived yesterday. Last night the moment of truth, I hooked up the new unit with the exact same everything as before in my system nothing different but the streamer.I let the tubes and everything else warm up for a few hours,picked a song I knew inside and out sat down and pressed play. Immediately within the first few notes of the Stones “ Wild Horses “ I knew I had made the right choice and that I was wrong believing bits are bits “. I really don’t have adequate language to describe the difference in sound quality other than to say I feel like Im in someone else’s home listening to they’re far superior system, its that drastic.I can with complete confidence say this has got to be one of if not the most significant upgrades Ive made in my system, scouts honor! PS. Grinin ear to ear here.
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@bikeboy52 I too am amazed at how some of the low margin, meaning relatively lower or sanely priced manufacturers stay in business. They need to move quantity in order to survive, can't figure out how you move quantity with audiophiles being such a rare breed. My sense is the really high end manufacturers charging big bucks have much higher profit margins, many costs are fixed regardless of component price. The added costs, such as superior parts, greater R&D efforts are proportionally less to total cost of component. The highest end audio also tends to sell itself, at least once reputation is attained. Also, less competition, perhaps no competition for the truly bespoke component means one can charge whatever market will bear.
So, in a way, if above is true, the highest end components offer the least value for money, however, if they do something truly unique value is virtually unmeasurable.
I'm involved in family business, we're lucky in that we've established a reputation after forty years in business. We had to really work for business years ago, now we can't keep up with orders. Good luck with your business! |
@sns Thanks for your post. I am not sure at all, but i suggest that you may have to do something with Aurender company... and it was interesting to learn something about how these products are cooked. I didn't think N200 may have parts of that cost inside... I wish to try some alternative to the Bluesound Node 2i. I like an idea to combine a streamer with a music server and also to have both, Ethernet and WiFi options, because of two reasons. One, to be able to compare directly their SQ, and two, in my case i will need about 15 meters long Ethernet cable, at least, this will not look nice. I wish you and OP all the best in your art/business, and happy New Year to everyone! |
“the Node is good enough to discover new artist via streaming” I agree, if one’s purpose from streaming is to discover music then a Node, Raspberry Pi or Allo Digi One type of devices are more than adequate. Tidal offers FREE access to their 90+million song catalog to all those who wants to use streaming for discovering music. |
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