Aurender A15 or N200 with Mac C2700


I recently purchased a McIntosh C2700 and am pairing it with a pair of MC611s driving a pair of Harbeth SHL5+ HD speakers. Speakers will likely be changed to SF Serafinos or Amatis down the road For streamers I have narrowed it down to an Aurender N200 (and would use the DAC2 in the C2700) or the Aurender A20 and use its internal DAC. Is the DAC in the A15 much better than the DAC in the C2700? Are the other components in the N200 a step up from those in the A15?

 

Thanks

lewl28

I am using  Aurender N10 and Ayre Codex upgrading dac to Aesthetix Pandora

Demoed in my system and it was AMAZING 

@lewl28 

I'm a big fan of Aurender for their streamers. I believe the DAC in the A15 is comparable to that in the C2700. Before I went the A15 route new, I would purchase a used Lumin X1, which would be slightly higher than the A15 retail price. The A15 is not in the class of the Lumin X1. 

The Aurendern N200 is a great streamer, but you would be spending $6K on a streamer going into the DAC2 module, which probably plays into the $2.5K class of DACs. Maybe try the Lumin U2 mini into the C2700 to get a flavor. If it doesn't float your boat, go the streamer/DAC route and unload the Lumin, you should get a reasonable price for the U2 unit.

Although the OP already landed a different unit, I wanted to address an unanswered question. 

The Aurender A15 is essentially the same as an Aurender N200 with the addition of the DAC. It uses the same streamer/server components and power supply designs of the N200, and I was told by Aurender that if I ran a signal out digitally from the A15 bypassing its DAC that it was equivalent to running an N200. 

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Great that you found the Esoteric.   Anyone that is considering a N200 , I have had one about a week and it's awesome.  Big step up over the Vault 2i's digital out.   

Agreed about digital being able to rival analog.   I ended up with an Esoteric N-01XD.  I find myself no longer putting albums on the turntable.  

@lewl28 what is your opinion about N05 vs N05xd ? is there a very big improvement between these two? or shall i wait till i have enough budget for n01xd?

 

Doboree - I only listened to the N05-XD.  By the time that I was looking, the XD was the current model. 

 

👍♥♥♥👍
 
lewl28 OP

Agreed about digital being able to rival analog.   I ended up with an Esoteric N-01XD.  I find myself no longer putting albums on the turntable.

 

 

@lewl28 

 

Fondly hope you are still enjoying your N-05XD. Iam interested in one, but cant find much in way of reviews. So Iam picking forum members heads for some inputs and listening impressions. Especially any comparisons with other dacs they might have tried or heard . So any light your goodselves can shed on the above will be much appreciated. Thanks

Thanks. I really did not do much comparison. It was in the Mac system that I demoed at Overure. They said that they use the Esoteric for most demos. So I bought it.