I have to agree with @soix3 - I had a highly rated Denon AVR and although I am sure yours sounds better with the Rotel amp. I've owned Rotel in the past and always though they sounded good. But when I replaced it with a Luxman the sound improvement was amazing. If you don't want to go that route, the Bluesound should be more then fine for you.
Streamer Advice / Recommendation for Denafrips R2R DAC
I really could use some help / recommendations on the choice of a streamer. Here's where I am in my research:
I've decided on a Denafrips Pontus DAC (R2R) because of it's sound characteristics (musical while maintaining definition). It is within my budget, while the Terminator is not.
My current thinking is I need a streamer that does not have memory, amplification or a DAC on board. I will use the streamer-DAC pairing to listen to music in a AVR / Music setup: Denon AVR3700H (105 watts) connected to a Rotel 1590 power amp through the Denon precouts. Bowers & Wilkins 702 S2 (left right) speakers. Bowers & Wilkins 802 center channel (power connection by Denon amp) SVS and Yamaha powered subwoofers. When used for streaming Netflix it's a 7.2 setup.
For streaming music I listen to the usual list of suspect: Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify. In it's current setup, the system is too bright and harsh. Speaker placement is in the room from acoustic hell: rectangular 15' x 45' with the front/ center channel speakers facing the narrow width (unfortunately by necessity and I'm in the process of adding reflection panels to cover 15% of the room.
I am determined to achieve music that does not wear me out after a couple of hours listening: well produced electronic music / R&B / piano jazz. I like midrange dominance but without too much detail in the +8k hz.
I learned to budget more for the DAC than the streamer, but most of the streamers I've looked at are combo amp/hard drive/DAC or they have networking into multi rooms. The Auralic Aries G2.1 is out of my budget by about $2,500 (at 5,100 US), Willing to pay more for great sound but am unsure the streamer makes that much of a difference than the DAC.
Advice? Setup Recommendations?
I've decided on a Denafrips Pontus DAC (R2R) because of it's sound characteristics (musical while maintaining definition). It is within my budget, while the Terminator is not.
My current thinking is I need a streamer that does not have memory, amplification or a DAC on board. I will use the streamer-DAC pairing to listen to music in a AVR / Music setup: Denon AVR3700H (105 watts) connected to a Rotel 1590 power amp through the Denon precouts. Bowers & Wilkins 702 S2 (left right) speakers. Bowers & Wilkins 802 center channel (power connection by Denon amp) SVS and Yamaha powered subwoofers. When used for streaming Netflix it's a 7.2 setup.
For streaming music I listen to the usual list of suspect: Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify. In it's current setup, the system is too bright and harsh. Speaker placement is in the room from acoustic hell: rectangular 15' x 45' with the front/ center channel speakers facing the narrow width (unfortunately by necessity and I'm in the process of adding reflection panels to cover 15% of the room.
I am determined to achieve music that does not wear me out after a couple of hours listening: well produced electronic music / R&B / piano jazz. I like midrange dominance but without too much detail in the +8k hz.
I learned to budget more for the DAC than the streamer, but most of the streamers I've looked at are combo amp/hard drive/DAC or they have networking into multi rooms. The Auralic Aries G2.1 is out of my budget by about $2,500 (at 5,100 US), Willing to pay more for great sound but am unsure the streamer makes that much of a difference than the DAC.
Advice? Setup Recommendations?
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- 56 posts total
+1 Bluesound Node The OS sucks less than a lot of others seem to. I’m unwilling to cough up for Roon yet. I’ve been thinking about upgrading and moving my Node2i to a second system, but none of the under $3k offerings from all the usual players are a slam dunk. There are conflicting reports on improved sound quality ranging from negligible to marginal to significant but not sufficient to justify the price. I really don’t want to buy another Node if there’s improvement to be had for a reasonable investment. |
pmreagan2If you stream in DSD for that an ESS base (delta sigma-bitstream) Dac could fair better than an R2R based dac. If you were going for PCM Multibit Redbook 16/44, 24/96 or DXD then yes the Denafrips or Holo R2R would be my choice. Cheers George |
- 56 posts total