New streamer

I have a Hifi Rose RS130, Lumin U2 and a Silent Angel Munich M1T. 
 

the hifi rose RS130 is considered one of the best in the market currently but it doesn’t do DSD if that’s important to you. Also out of your budget. 5K. 
 

Lumin U2 is almost just as good and does DSD but also out of your budget. But you may be able to get it used for 3K which is just a tad more than your budget. 
 

The Silent Angel which is I got for about 1.5K cannot compete with either of the two above but is excellent value for the money. I got it with a linear power supply which improved the sound. I would say the performance of the Silent Angel is about 85% of what the other two can do. I’ll probably sell mine now that the Hifi Rose RS130 has replaced it, feel free to message me if you’re interested. 

If you are looking for a no frills streamer, no fancy screen, internal DAC or preamp, the Lumin U2 mini is a solid performer within your budget. The mini is built and designed to accept available updates pushed out by Lumin. The Bricasti M5 may also be worth consideration. 

I just tried a few streamers because my setup changed due to one of my kids taking part of my system to college.  

A lumin U1 mini w/sbooster into a Ps Audio strata as preamp feeding meridian g57 amp & ProAc 3.8’s sounded amazing- detail, tone & soundstage, liquid/coherent and musical.  Loved it - but my kid took the ps audio. 
 

I borrowed a Lumin D3 w/ internal power supply and used the pre outs w/loss less digital volume control into the same amp & speakers.  Noticeably less musical, tone and coherent and a little fatiguing.  I was a little dissapointed.
 

I used a node 2 into an audio refinement pre pro then into the meridan/proac set up and it sounded about the same as the Lumin D3.

I then used an Oppo Sonica w/ Mod Wright mods and external power supply direct into the Meridian and it sounds almost as good as the Lumin U1 mini.  Just a little less liquid/coherent but also a bigger/bolder sound.  This is what I am staying with for now. 
 

I did spend 10 days with this project so all set ups had time to burn in.  None of the gear was new in box and all had been very recently powered up.  Using Quboz, Prime, Spotify, Airplay and network attached dsd.
 

What I got out of it was that an external power supply for the streamer and a quality dac are very important.  The preamp is almost as important as the dac.  At least at the $2k streamer price point.  
 

OK, down to 3. 
I don’t want/need an internal DAC, so that eliminates the EverSolo and Rose. 
The Lumin U2 and Innuos are too large. Others (Rose RS130) are too expensive and not available used. 
Moving Node downstairs, so don’t want to do LPS. 

Lumin U2 mini, new. Perfect form factor, Well reviewed. 
Arurlic G1.1 new. Good form factor, well reviewed. However, everyone is out of stock. It must be well liked, but not sure of availability. 
Aurender N150 used. Perfect form factor, almost no reviews? Well liked within this forum. It does have everything I need & nothing I don’t. But no reviews??
Please keep any comments/ recommendations with these 3. 
Will be contacting Upscale Audio to get their thoughts, as they sell all 3. 
Can’t demo any currently, as none are available locally, except perhaps Aurender, as there is a local dealer. Will be contacting them also. 
Thanks

I also am a long time BS Node user. Started with their first one and have been using their latest N130 for quite a while now and Like it very much. The only reason I have never upgraded was because I like the operating system. After reading and hearing how much the streamer matters, I purchased a used Lumin U2 mini on here just to get the curiosity out of the way. I unfortunately have some things that are bothering me before I even get it which should be on Monday. I like using my laptop to control the Node which is a big plus because I like to surf the web while listening to music. The Lumin app is not Windows based so I can either use my phone or buy either an inexpensive Chrome Book, Tablet etc... which I ordered a Samsung tablet  so we will see how that goes. I know I can use Roon via my Windows laptop so that is another thought before I decide to open the Tablet.