I echo the comments of people who say you don’t need to spend loads on streamers *for most people*. I’ve found the Auralic Aries G1 to be of very poor value against a Bluesound Node 2i in a review, used in a system it should fit into.
The new 2021 node is great. Streamers as transports are one area in hifi most people don’t need to go crazy with, which I just wish was mirrored into the content of reviews which make out pricey streamers to be much much better. They can yield improvements in premium systems but diminishing returns are high. Mostly in hifi you don’t need to go crazy on streamers, unlike you can with your amp and speakers at any level, to get bigger changes. Spending on the DAC is much more worthwhile to the streaming transport and I like reviewing mainly the budget streaming transports since these are so good for what you get.
These are some videos I’ve done that could be of help.
https://youtu.be/ReE4wrTRoC4
https://youtu.be/dE_iSJM5h9w
The new 2021 node is great. Streamers as transports are one area in hifi most people don’t need to go crazy with, which I just wish was mirrored into the content of reviews which make out pricey streamers to be much much better. They can yield improvements in premium systems but diminishing returns are high. Mostly in hifi you don’t need to go crazy on streamers, unlike you can with your amp and speakers at any level, to get bigger changes. Spending on the DAC is much more worthwhile to the streaming transport and I like reviewing mainly the budget streaming transports since these are so good for what you get.
These are some videos I’ve done that could be of help.
https://youtu.be/ReE4wrTRoC4
https://youtu.be/dE_iSJM5h9w