New streamer? N150 vs U2

A choice I did not see mentioned - I would recommend the HiFI Rose RS150B - it is a fantastic product (going on one year of trouble free ownership), even if you don’t need the DAC capabilities (it is very good dac) just the sheer beauty of the display, the functionality of the app (I use both an Android tablet and my phone, it also has a PC/MAC app) and the quality of the sound, as well as the added functinality it brings (internet radio,eARC HDMI amongst others) make it well worth it. It has received pretty glowing reviews, and I agree with them.

IMO it is easily as good as the Aurender N20 at streaming/music library functions, at less than1/2 of the price (Probably more likely compared to the A20, but I do not have much experience listening to the A20). I do give  Aurender a slight nod in the app department ; I think Conductor is pretty good (or maybe since my first streamer was an ACS10 (still owned) I am just used to it.), but the Rose App is very close.

Edit: Rose App has added mult source playlist creation (streamig service and internal storage) so I would rate the apps identical in ease of use, but the Rose still has more functions, so this changes the balance in favor of the Rose.

 Obviously an N20 hooked up to a high end DAC would change the dynamic, but that would also increase the price delta considerably.

Construction wise it is a beautiful, solidly built product, with a full suite of digital outs. If you have a higher end DAC that you like you can always bypass the built-in DAC (ESS Sabre ES9038PRO DAC chips).

LOL while looking for info on the chips I just saw this:

(I have no affiliation with this dealer, but the $700 savings may be of value to someone, likewise I am not affiliated with HiFi Rose, I just really like mine)

Hope this somewhat rambling post helps. Steve Huff has a nice review of it.

@txp1 I looked at the Cary as well, and in the review I posted, Steve Huff mentions them positively, but he ends up buying the RS150B review unit . What sold me  (I had to take a leap of faith since no Audio dealers near me had a RS150B to test when I bought it) was the display (14.2 Inches) and the added functionality like Internet radio, EARC, and silly as it may be, I like the multiple volt meter options for the screen. Good luck whatever route you go. My next leap is to go AES out from the Rose to an Ayon Kronos SignatureTube Dac.

I have used the streamer with both my Michi X5, and my primary system of a Mark Levinson 523 Pre and 534 Power. it sounded great on both.

@gdnrbob  I am not sure what your experience was, but I do know that using one of the Aurender ACS units (ACS10/100 or the A30) allows you to use the ACS as library for playback through  another Aurender Streamer (N, A or W series).. Cool thing about the Rose is through SMB I can actually see the HDD's on my ACS10 (though I opted for local SDD storage on the RS150B of the ripped discs).