Best streamer/DAC for up to $1500


I almost bought the Qutest. Even though it is still in my shortlist, I am thinking maybe I should go for the integrated solution of a streamar/DAC combo. My budget is no more than about $1500 MAX. MQA is not absolutely necessary. XLR outputs are preferable.

I am deciding towards a Cambridge CXN V2, unless someone here suggests an alternative.

Sound quality is obviously the most important criteria but right up there is also reliability too (at least 6+ years of trouble free reliable operation).

Any experiences ?

Thanks in advance.

 

cakyol

Showing 1 response by eugene81

Do you know what kind of sound quality characteristics you’re looking for?

At $1500 I would be looking at ~$500 or less for a good, lower priced streamer like an Allo USBridge Signature or SOtM sms-200 Neo + ~$1k DAC. It opens up far more options for you to achieve the sound you like.

If you can stretch a bit into the $1500 - $2k range, a used Lumin D2 would be a nice choice to look into for a streamer/DAC combo. There’s one on US Audio Mart right now for $1799 asking and one on Canuck Audio Mart for $1975 CAD. I haven’t heard the D2 per se, but I owned their flagship X1. Great package that’s solidly built from a well-known and resourced parent company, a breeze to set up with a nice app, and superb sound. Enormous soundstage, exceptional clarity, nice even tonal balance, smooth and liquid with a bit of warmth. It also employs leedh processing, a slick digital volume control algorithm that is supposedly lossless and works very well, so you use it directly with a power amp. Warranty is transferable as well. Worth looking into.