Lend me your ears...

I own the Aurender N200, and love it. But although the Aurender DAC is very good, I went with their N series so I could upgrade my outboard DAC whenever I wanted. just something to think about, especially as you mention outboard DACs with your other solutions. 

I own an N200 also and it's an awesome machine.   I'm using it with a LAB 12 DAC 1 Reference and it's a great sounding combo.  I bought the "N" for the same reason,  if I potentially upgrade my DAC it would not be outclassed by a mediocre server / streamer 

Aurender support is excellent,  they respond quickly and can access the box remotely to roll back or add firmware.    Build quality is over the top.  Good stuff

Budget?  Do you want to play any discs or just stream?

I have the Aurender A 20 and even use it as a preamp going to a luxman M10X.

It’s  the best sounding DAC I have owned. Before I had a bel canto dac / Aurender N200 and the Aurender Streamer never disappoints.

Thanks to all. 

Mahler; I'd like to do this for around $15k and have the capability to rip CDs My listening will be through Roon. I have a library just approaching 1 gb - including every version of the Kindertotenlieder I could find - and will stream exclusively. 

Excuse me. My library is just approaching one tb, not one gb. I enjoy comparing interpretations of a given piece of music. Kirsten Flagstad sings my favorite Kinder. 

Maxdukecapone - I use the Luxman amp too. You've intrigued me, though I love the slp 98 I use. 

ott

I live in an area where it isn't possible to audition ... I'd like to do this for around $15k ...

I also live in an underserved area. But when spending that kind of money, I get in my car and take a ride for an in-person audition. There's no way I'd spend $15K on anything sight unseen or, in audio, unheard. No way.

Cleeds;

I expect, at this price and reading reviews I know to trust, I'll come out well. Look at the advice I'm getting - can't miss 

Take a look at the Innuos Zenith that is a streamer/server with an onboard CD drive so you can easily rip your CDs right into it.  At your budget you could also add their Phoenix re-clocker, and their Sense software is free and gets excellent reviews and is constantly being updated for better sound, etc.  Wolf and Grimm also get stellar reviews but I’m not as familiar with their product offerings.  Best of luck. 

It would be great to see your system / venue. There is a place under your UserID to put it. Really helpful for us to be able to help.

You can see my systems. In mine, my really great analog end sounds the same as my digital end. I am happy with both. I worked on my digital leg… well since the release of the CD.

Lessons: pursue your DAC and streamer the same way you would pursue any other components. Separates, not combined units. In general, the cost of your (carefully chosen) streamer = DAC = preamp = amp = phono stage. All, require top quality, carefully chosen components. I recommend Aurender (or Linn) for streamer… but streamer only. If your budget is $15K then you want to split between the Streamer and DAC. You might get a used high end DAC and a new (best you can afford) Aurender streamer.

Once you have a high end digital system all of those CDs and ripped files become virtually worthless. In my system I cannot tell the difference in sound quality between a CD, ripped CD, and streamed version… but frequently my streaming service (Qobuz… this is the one you want) will have higher resolution versions available and they will sound better (Qobuz has over 1/2 million high resolution albums). So, while I loaded up my ripped CDs… I never use them… why would I? Usually the streamed version sounds better and I am completely lost in new music anyway.

The take away is that, if you do this right your $12.99 / month subscription will give you access to millions of albums and you will no longer have to buy music… so… this gives you reason to take your time and get the best streamer and DAC you can… making stretching worth it as music cost goes down. Sell your CDs while you can. I gave mine away.

unless you like mucking about w the “ IT “ end of things…be certain to get a company with superb support who can remote in to fix issues…. My $1.05

Ghdprentice

I do not have a picture of my listening room because we're just moving in to a condo and the outlets are being wired for 20 amps and the walls are being soundproofed. The room is 18' X 15' and will be fully carpeted. The only furniture will be a three seat recliner, two teak side tables, the equipment, including 2 KEF LS50s, 2 jl audio f113, two amp stands, and rack made with bdr shelves and custom steel tubing, sand filled with braze ons to support center stage footers. There are French doors that will be covered with moire curtains. Triangle Art Reference mono blocks and a Cary SLP 98. I also have a Luxman amp I use with an old Revox reel-to-reel tape machine I used to record radio broadcasts when Leonard Bernstein conducted the NY Phil. 

add more stuff for natural absorb and diffraction…. i setup about 20 excellent rooms a year…. almost all the spare, spartan and over treated ARE… or were… the worst…sounding…

A bunch of 20 A outlets ? getting one of them right is KEY, make sure the analog 20 is a homerun to panel AND on the clean leg

I have no opinion on the HW, as I listen exclusively to analogue.

But I absolutely agree about Flagstad. Flagstad is Flagstad, dominating the field like no other since Caruso. Have you heard Melnas, recorded on BIS?

I haven't even heard of Melnas. Can you point me at a download? 

We will have one 20 amp duplex outlet on its own circuit 

There will be the floor-to-ceiling drapes, a large tapestry the large leather recliner and sculpted berber carpet, and at least one person. 

Melnas was a Scandinavian (of course) mezzo who sang in the '80's. She is best known for the epochal "Cantate Domino" recorded and released by the Scandinavian (of course) company BIS. I believe that the title is available on SACD. I have no idea about the strange phenomenon known as 'downloading'. 

Enjoy!

@ott *S*  Sounds like a nice excuse to take 'multiple vacas' to 'exotica' places. ;)

...and there's always AXPONA, coming to an IL perhaps near enough.

Ear plugs optional...one can edit to taste.

@ott     "and the walls are being soundproofed. The room is 18' X 15' and will be fully carpeted. ....There are French doors that will be covered with moire curtains."

You are lucky to have what sounds like a dedicated room.  I have one too.  Be careful not to overdamp; you don't want to be listening in a near anechoic chamber.  To create a realistic soundstage you do need some reverberation. You speak of 'soundproofing' the walls.  Assuming this is not to prevent the sound entering the rest of your home (in which case 'soundproof' the other side of the wall), if you are damping all four walls, do it lightly with thin material.  In my room I damped the wall behind the speakers with heavier material and kept the other three walls cloth thin. Like you I carpeted the floor, but the ceiling is plaster.

The soundproofing is to reduce the sound outside the listening room. The goal is to be able to listen in the wee hours at reasonably high volume. Damping will be used judiciously.  The LS50s are a bit bright in my ear. 

Sounds like you are on a good path :-) enjoy !

jim

I have a Cary DMS 700. It sounds very analog like, no digital sounding fatigue but also no rolled off highs or loss of detail. It sounds wonderful. I like the Cary App, that it’s set up for Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, Qobuz, internet radio, AirPlay, and Wi-Fi. It’s an attractive unit with a nice display and the menu is easy to navigate. I don’t use the supplied remote, except for set-up.
If you have questions or problems Cary answers their phone and responds promptly to emails and they’re an American company.
The unit is sold at CaryDirect at a discount, and currently their digital units are on sale. Mine came well packaged and double boxed, no issues.
I realize you were considering the DMS 800, the next step up. If it sounds even better than the 700, it must be fantastic.

Thanks. I have a Cary SLP 98 and that's why I'm considering the DMS 800. If the 800 is as good as the 98, it's delicious. Would you say the sound is tube-like as I suspect it is? Warm, neutral, cool, reticent, assertive? I'm a fan of Henry Threadgill's, especially "In For a Penny..." Are you perchance familiar? 

I had not heard “In For A Penny…” but just streamed it and it’s delightful, interesting music. I can’t say if it’s tube-like or not, but the instruments sound very detailed, assertive, more neutral than cool or warm. Great imaging and quite engaging, thank you!

I streamed it on Tidal (16/44 only) and Qobuz (24/96 native) and Qobuz is much better sounding. Tidal didn’t have a MQA version, I would like to have compared that. The Cary can upsample up to DSD but to me the native stream is generally the best sounding.

I hope this is helpful. BTW, I don’t use Roon but I sometimes AirPlay CD rips from my iPad and they sound very good also.

I owned Benchmark DAC 3 HGC driven by a Lumin U1 Mini. It was pretty good but I upgraded to Bricasti M3 with a built in Network player and after extensive comparison between the Bricasti Network player and the Lumin U1 Mini I ended up preferring the Bricasti. I use Roon to stream from Tidal, Qobuz and a music library on a HDD. You can use MConnect if you do not want/need Roon.