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Best Cheap DAC Streamer

I have come to possess a fairly high quality setup with Linn Amps and Speakers, but I have no where near the wealth to buy the type of gear discussed on here. (Furthermore, if I did, I hope I would send a good chunk of it to fix cleft plates in India before spending tens of thousands on a stereo.)I tend to do most of my listening from my phone by way of car stereo, ear buds or an $85 JBL Flip speaker. 

I want to set up a home streaming/DAC device that will sound good enough for my ears. I would like the interface to be simple for getting music from a streaming service, with music info available on a display, and I would like it to have a voice activated interface which might encourage me to listen to more music on the stereo at home. I know some of you can't wait to scorn me for my weak listening abilities. Maybe you can skip it this time and let anyone speak up who has some some advice on a system for pretty close to $300 (or less!). I would consider buying used.

charleyprice
charleyprice OP
11 posts
 

Thank you gkelly! I'll check it out.

buellrider97's avatar
buellrider97
508 posts
 

My first thought is to praise you for your charity to others. Our family sponsors 4 children in Guatemala. We suffer an abundance of FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS, and forget that God is in charge. I’m not sure about the “ Voice interface “, but I have a Cambridge DAC Magic 200 M I bought used or a used Bluesound Node might fit your need. We all start at zero here , and most are way ahead of me. Cheers , Mike B. 

charleyprice OP
11 posts
 

The ultra looks like just what I need. I'm thinking that includes the DAC so should be plug and play to my system. If I want to be able able to shout out commands at it, I'll need to buy an additional device, yes?

gkelly's avatar
gkelly
369 posts
 

The WIIM ultra comes with a voice activated, handheld remote.

ghdprentice
7,726 posts
 

I would go for a Bluesound Streamer. They sound very good for the money, I bought a Bluesound Node for $350 on Amazon, they have some better sounding ones as well. I got it in order to break in an amp so not to use my high end tube gear... It sounds suprisingly good driving a $10K amp and $35K speakers.  You definitely want to go the best sounding you can afford, Linn equipment is pretty revealing. Your ears are probably orders of magnitude better than you think.

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