Based on your budget and system description, I think your best bet is HiFi Rose. If you've already got a great DAC choose the RS130. If you want one with a great DAC included (that can also serve as preamp and/or system DAC) it's the RS151. These units are both amazing performaners for streaming HiRes audio...like Qobuz or Tidal. As a "bonus," the massive HiRes touch screen display gives your sytem a beautiful "now playing" display. As you live with the piece for a while you'll discover that that there are a lot of other capabilities built in.
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I own a Moon 280D that cost me $4,000 before tarrifs. It has a great interface and a lovely, musical sound. I compared it to a few streamers selling at more than double the price and couldn't hear any difference. The 280D is pretty stripped down. No screen in front, just lights, which I can read fine. No headphone jack. Just a very musical sound. I know you've gotten a lot of input. My final piece of advice is to go to dealers in your area and listen for yourself. Perhaps many suggestions above won't be at a dealer near you. People who have done a lot of listening to streamers say it is very difficult to hear the difference between expensive and less expensive. Good luck. I love my streamer, BTW. So easy to use. |
Lots of advice here. I looked at streamers with built in DACs between $4-5k on Upscale website and they have several that have been mentioned and look attractive. Check out Hifi Rose RS150B, Cambridge Audio Edge EQ, AURALiC Altair G2.1. You said you were not impressed by an Aurender device previously but there is an A10 on the site for below $5k as well. kn |
Question for knownothing and anyone else who has actual experience with this. I am one of those who really is impressed with the sound coming from my Bluesound Node N130 with the Teddy Pardo LPS. I added a power cable from Triode Wire Labs, and I am just really impressed. Important Note: I also use a Weiss 501 DAC and a Purity Audio Design (super good) preamp. That is important for responders to note, as adding those components in the chain allows this streaming rig to sing. *Please don't offer comparisons without a really good DAC and Preamp. Just to put it into perspective- my analog turntable rig is at the $30K level, and the sonics of this streaming rig 'approach the neighborhood' of that. Q: Do you have experience or a sense of how much better it might be to use a good streamer like Innuos or others at a price point somewhere maybe $5K-$8K? I have read how some folks quickly dismiss the Node as being mid-fi in performance, but that is not what I am finding in my system. I am getting imaging, soundstaging, depth and details from Qobuz that are truly impressive. And I'm not talking about female vocals, but well-recorded, complex classical music. Thanks for any experienced comments. |
@mark6088 I agree. I too have owned and used a variety of streamers. They all sounded roughly the same to me. It wasn't until I bought the RS130 that I was satisfied. Definitely another level. It even took a jump when I ran a ground from it to my line conditioner. |
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