New streamer

Congratulations on finding gear you believe will suit your needs. These streamer threads are really heating up and my guess is will continue to do as more and more folk who love vinyl (As I do) are finding we are not missing anything via quality streaming if we go that route solely. Streamers will continue to improve and come down in price as dacs have. Many here will disparage Topping, SMSL etc but we cannot deny a $500 dac from them now would have cost thousands a few years ago.We are now seeing a similiar dynamic occur with high quality streamers. There will be those who would not consider an Eversolo and I’ve stated possibilities why in a previous post and I respect that, its your money. There is a forum member that created a thread listing all the dacs he has owned the list was impressive something like 30 dacs (I don’t remember, most high end) but what I do remember is him stating the Gustard A26 was amoung the best dacs he had ever experienced especailly for ithe price. I am not one to confuse price and value, a lower cost item is often a case of you get what you pay for, but every now and then there are market disruptors the Eversolo(s) are certainly that. I’ve had the A8 in my system for several days now and I am thoroughly impressed with it I’m not a Steve Huff fan but the "Goosebumps" thing is accurate,it is an incredible performer with and without the dac in use. Are there better streamers out there of course but for 2k the A8 is an extremely good value. As more get in the hands of members I hope will we get more first hand head to head comparisions as was posted here between it and the Hi Fi Rose 130,honestly I was not surprised by the outcomes, I climbed the same ladder.Yes the member finally found what he was looking for by way of a 6k unit but the fact that a 2k unit was second place...pretty impressive.

I mention all this for anyone trying to gleen information, not to put down or encourage anyones decisions if this helps great just sharing for the next person on a simliar journey, which is what this forum is supposed to be all about.

All the best!

Great points. Another reason I selected the N150 was form factor (width). I needed to put my new streamer on the top shelf, left of my center. The A8 was too wide. 

Another factor was price. I bought it at 5:00 AM, the first day it was listed as a trade in at The Music Room. Less than 1 year old, no external marks, fully tested, 30 day return, 90 day warranty for $2,000, with CC & reward points! Wrong color (silver), but too good to be true. $350 cheaper, newer & in better shape than anything on the used market with all the benefits that TMR offers. Life is good!

The A8 is a great streamer and is beautiful. All the best!

@signaforce

All of those are very worthy consideration when buying a component unheard. If I may add, the stellar tech support from Aurender. Unless a hardware failure, everything else is easily troubleshooted remotely and promptly. This was a huge consideration for me to stay with Aurender for 10 plus years. In 10 plus years of owing 4 different streamer..Zero hardware failures. 

@lalitk 

Perfect! That was one of the pluses mentioned by Upscale when I talked to them about my potential choices. 

Great to hear that was true!

Can’t wait until it arrives. 

Hello:

I had the Lumin U2 mini w SBooster LPS. Lovely combo, very nice SQ for the price point. Traded up to the U2 to take advantage of the built-in LPS and fiber input, as well as the dedicated USB jack.  Loving it!

The Lumin app isn’t fantastic, but after using it awhile, it’s pretty good. And there’s now an Apple Silicon version, so I can control the Lumin from my Mac or my idevices.

Good luck with your decision   Any way you go, you’re gonna love the upgrade. 
best, JAMES