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Recommendations for good sounding streamer

I am looking for a decent sounding streamer without breaking the bank. My daughter has Spotify premium and it would be nice to connect up to my audio system (de Havilland UltraVerve tube preamp, McCormack DNA-1 amp, Martin Logan SL3s).

I mostly listen to vinyl (Pro-ject RPM5) and CDs (Ultech UCD100) using the internal DAC. I do have a V90 DAC however that I used for playing digital from my phone. 

I don't really have the money any more for expensive digital playback. So what a recommendations for bang for the buck system. Could include using my V90 DAC. 

Reading through the forum here it seems that Spotify is not the best quality digital (Tidal seems to come up a lot). But for now we have tons of Spotify playlists - just looking for an affordable way. 

Some considerations:

Bluesound NODE 3

iFi Zen Stream

Any others? Pros/cons?

1trackmind
larry5729's avatar
larry5729
1,002 posts
 

I certainly wouldn’t use Spotify.  Use either Tidal or Qobuz and stream hi-res.  Otherwise why bother.

wahoostewjr
25 posts
 

For the money Bluesound is a good bet. You’ll need to spent a lot more to get noticeable improvement IMO. The streaming journey is a good one but spring for Tidal or Quobuz for the real experience.

daveinpa
12 posts
 

Bluesound node for sure. Don’t listen to the “has to be hardwired” nerds. At this level it doesn’t matter. But you should upgrade to tidal. That will make a difference in sound quality for sure. 

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,504 posts
 

Node all the way...  the Vault 2i  ( Node's cousin) was my introduction to streaming and it literally changed my life.    I've enjoyed for three years ,  like deadhead1000 I spent $5k to better it.   Best value in streamers in my opinion.  Continuous support and good user interface with any Tablet ,iPad, or phone.   

I discovered more music in 3 years with that thing  than I have in 50 years 

riccitone
222 posts
 

Don’t know where your budget would land, but the Pi2design Mercury streamer is outstanding. I’ve got the first iteration at $600, but the version 2 has some additional improvements at $800. Blows my Allo Digione out of the water. It is a bit fiddly at the start. But definitely worth it. 

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