Streamer recommendation


Hi all. 
 

Looking for a streamer recommendation. I love my primary system. Have an Aurender W20 with their additional master clock feeding into my D’Agostino Momentum HD and M400 amps to drive my Wilson Benesch Resolutions with REL 32’s. Have that for my primary space. 
 

Had a great opportunity to build a secondary system in a huge room that is our living room, family room, and kitchen for listening while entertaining or even just casually during the day. I have a pair of Focal Diablo Utopias (and a B&w DB1-D for a sub) fed by a Gryphon Diablo with their integrated DAC. Also using the theater pass through to run a 7.1 home theater using a Marantz Cinema 30. I have very limited space to keep the wife happy. It’s an open room so do t want a bunch of stuff cluttering her area. 


The Gryphon is tucked away in a AV console with the center channel and the Marantz and Ethernet switch are in a pantry closet.  Would like to have a decent streamer. Love the aurender conductor app. Would like some build in storage space to keep the music files built in. Would a Bluesound Vault be enough?  Should I just bite the bullet and get another aurender like an N200?  Or are there some more reasonably sized ones you like?

Your input is greatly appreciated!

wjcasey3rd

If you're happy with your Aurender, which clearly you are - get another one.  If it ain't broke... :)

agree @hk_fan .  And with your systems OP why not the N20?  You don't need Conductor in one and Bluesound in another.

If you do not mind experimenting build a Linux based NUC (or have built) and install Euphony to run Qobuz. You’d be surprised at the results for a mere pittance of capital outlay. 
Invest in a decent power supply for the NUC. 

I’m not the most tech savvy from a build standpoint. And I do understand the not broke, don’t fix side of things. I don’t want to invest quite as much money for this system as it won’t be for as mush of the critical listening parts of my life. I’ll keep upgrading my primary system for that. Just looking for something good, I appreciate everyone’s opinions and learn from it, and looking for something with a smaller footprint if possible due to space constraints. 
 

I do thank you all for your input. 

I've been happy with my Lumin U1 Mini which is relatively small.  Worth your consideration.

Come on Casey. You know the answer to that question. The Aurrender. The rest of your equipment shows you are not into cutting corners. I am sure you have proven to your sell that the high quality stuff is worth it. If you get a BlueSound... you will be wondering and eventually brake down and get a Aurender. 

I have a W20SE for my main system, a N100 for my headphone system and a Bluesound Node for miscellaneous components... which I swap around and use for breakin. 

The Bluesound is a great sounding sub $1k streamer. But it is not in the same category as the lower tier Aurender. 

 

 

Aurender N200 is really nice. Use a high quality USB cable to feed the Gryphon DAC module and you’re set. 

Have a look at the Volumio Rivo +. Connected to your Gryphon DAC - awesome and not expensive.

Consider Innuos.  They make excellent streamers.  They just upgraded their line.  They have built in storage up to several TBs with a CD ripper so you can store any CDs you may have.  Their Sense app is easy to use with Qobuz.  Qobuz has now added Innuos so you can select the Innuos as the output from your Qobuz app too.  

For giggles why not get a Wiim?  It will be way out of line price wise with everything else but it probably won’t cost more than your cheapest interconnect.  The app is fun and you might be surprised at the results.  If not go back to Aurender

You will not be happy with the Node in that system. It is a fine piece of mid-fi gear, and while your guests won’t notice, you will and eventually buy another Aurender.  If you really want something smaller, Innuos is a good choice. All that said, used Node 2i’s are pretty cheap, buy one and plug a USB drive in the back for your music.

One of the best all-in-one solutions for a high resolution setup is the Esoteric N05-XD. It is DAC/Streamer/Preamp. If you don’t need the preamp (Gryphon Diablo) and your budget can stand it, the N01-XD is the next step up and is DAC/Steamer only. 

Consider the room; you know the acoustics. If they are great then any high end streamer is the ticket. You like and know the Arender gear. I’m also thinking the Grimm MU1 (roon core too) a great choice.  I have one with 4GB of storage. If the room isn’t great for sound, then something basic. Nuance will not matter. 

Another thing to consider is will you want both zones pkaying the sane thing?

If you want to save a bit of money the N150 is about half the cost of the N200.

I'm happy with the Hifi Rose 250a.  If I could , I would purchase the RS130 to get the larger form factor.  I use the bypass via usb to a Schiit Gungnir DAC.  Streaming has opened up new avenues to a variety of music I have come to enjoy.