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Curious to know your streaming and dac set up and the best recommended streamer under $15k

Curious to know your streaming and dac set up as well your best recommended streamer. I have recently upgraded my dac and have used 2 different set ups in an attempt to find the my best combination.  Former set up was Roon Nucleus+ connected to a Lumin T2. New set up is a new Nagra Tube Dac and a separate Power Supply and I had that directly connected to my Roon via Shunyata Sigma USB cable and using a Shunyata Ethernet connection to my network. Didn’t feel like that was my best possible sound so introduced the Lumin T2 back into the fold as my streamer and then connected the Nagra to the Lumin T2. This was a much improved sound. At this early testing point I’m curious to see if anyone uses and/or recommends a streamer that has significantly improved their sound under $15k. I would like to stay with the Roon platform. 
 

Current set up is Audio Research Ref160S amp, Audio Research Ref6SE pre-amp with Wilson Alexia speakers.  All cabling between these components is Transparent Reference. 
 

Unfortunately, I have not had time to photograph and upload my new Nagra dac. 
 

I really appreciate anyone who takes time to assist with some thoughtful ideas, experiences, or recommendations. 

woots
designsfx
801 posts
 

@woots

That sounds great! I was just wondering if the tracks you store on your drives were only from a disk collection, digital downloads or a combination of both.

I understand the attraction of the AI when it comes to the exposure to new music, it’s been an ongoing thing and has only gotten better. I also wasn’t sure if you were relying on digital signal processing (as yyzsantabarbara shared).

Still- with your Dac I would think that any streaming transport/endpoint would sound great in your system as you’ve alluded to when bringing the T2 back into the mix.
Have you tried the X1 with separate power supply? Another thought, the person that recommended the U2 Mini for me to test just purchased a Mytek Empire. He typically uses Audio Note gear but always had positive things to say about streaming through his Manhattan. I haven’t heard his impressions yet but as that is their new flagship I would imagine/hope it would improve upon the previous model.

 

audioguy85's avatar
audioguy85
2,033 posts
 

You are kidding right? Under 15k? How about under $150? Maybe the Grace Digital Link if and when it goes on sale...it is typically $179 on Amazon....wait one minute! It is on sale! Now, for a limited time...$149....it is all you need....no way does anyone have to spend near 15k for a streamer....hook up the Grace to a good dac like the Musical Fidelity v90 dac, $299....be happy. 😁

 

thyname's avatar
thyname
3,107 posts
 

And here we go. 👿 Trolls 🧌 

woots's avatar
woots OP
320 posts
 

@designsfx i think I will look into Lumin options. Liked the suggestion of the U1x. Also, liked options shown on analog audio. They showed some items with great specs.  Most of music has been ripped or comes from Hi Res files. Tomorrow will have to be a day of digesting all but 1 good idea. 

yyzsantabarbara
5,102 posts
 

was able to A/B test the MSB with the Lumin X1 for a couple of weeks and found the MSB to be more analog sounding than the Lumin X1.

This what I also posted about the X1 vs the Musetec 005. Though for my ears the X1 is slightly favored over the tiny bit warmer and smoother 005.

 

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