Recommended streamers/servers?


Up to $5,000. At present I have a SILENT ANGEL RHEIN Z1 V2 MUSIC SERVER connected to a PS Audio DS DAC via USB CABLE.
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Showing 2 responses by mahler123

I really like my Cambridge Audio CXN V2, for a little over a grand.  It does a great job with Internet Radio, the app works well, and it has Bluetooth, AirPlay, and Chromecast.  The latter has really impressed me as a wireless high resolution source.  The C.A. works with a variety of streaming services, and you may want to check to see if yours is included (amongst popular services, Pandora seems to not work with every streamer), but if you pick a service that isn’t included you can still use one of the above wireless technologies above.  I did recently have an issue where the C.A. stopped recognizing my server, but their support was very responsive and helped me fix it.  Streamers are networking computers, subject to all the IT issues that computers have, and a reliable C.S. Is important.  The CA also has a good DAC, which you won’t need, but it has digital inputs so if the PS Audio goes on the friz it is a good digital stopgap
I can only speak about the streamers that I have heard, and they range in price from a $200 (Logitech, SHM) to $3500 (Bryston).
I currently use a second Generation Node in two mid Fi systems, and in my 2 channel system, a Melco N100 and CA CXN2.  The DAC in the 2 channel system is a Bryston DAC3 and every streamer mentioned has been paired with it at some time.  I also have played files using the Network Function of an Oppo 105 and 203 in all systems.
  The cheapest of the streamers sounded a little thin compared to the pricier ones.  I can honestly say the Melco and the CA sound as good as the Bryston (they all sound really good, the Bryston OS was terrible).  The Node was perhaps 3/4 of the way closer to the pricier streamers.  I heard the current Node at a dealer a few months ago and it was very impressive.
  I haven’t heard Auralic, Innous, Naim, dCS….
  So my conclusion based on my experience is that into the same DAC, the point of diminishing return was around $1200, roughly what Paid for the Melco and the CA.  Any can do whatever they want to do with their money, but for me, the only way I would buy a new streamer is if it had some feature that comes down the pike in the future that can’t be added by a software upgrade.