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  3. 183740-107508

Streamer/server newbie

Hello everyone, I never felt I would consider purchasing a streamer/server yet here I am and I blame talking to another audiophile after he asked ‘what’s new with your stereo’ and told me about his recent streamer purchase. From peeking at these units I’m interested in the Aurender’s, Lumin’s and maybe Naim.  I do not want an integrated DAC. My system; PBN mono amps, PBN preamp, PBN M2!5 speakers and a Bel Canto DAC 3.7 with Reference upgrade and most likely in near future upgrade to a Lampizator DAC. Budget to match the system so $5k more or less. I do not foresee me abandoning CD’s for an all digital download library however I’d like to be able to have the ability to download  music. Thanks for any and all suggestions.

mark360

Showing 2 responses by jbuhl

jbuhl's avatar
jbuhl
903 posts
 

For $5K you could build a nice Roon server and endpoint.

jbuhl's avatar
jbuhl
903 posts
 

I have the above setup in one system and I also have a Lumin U1 streamer in my main system. The upgrades to DAC amp and speakers are so much more bang for the buck then the small improvement in sound by spending $5k more on U1 streamer...don’t get me wrong it is a great streamer but it was the last component I upgraded. I was shocked and surprised at how good the Raspberry Pi sounds into a good DAC (USB connection - no hat). Everything I read and see online says buy a streamer costing thousands.

I picked up a Bryston BDP Pi for like $500 used. It’s based on the Raspberry Pi. Then invested ~$1K for a Small Green Computer to host the Roon Core. Then switched the Pi to Roon Endpoint. Dolled it all up with some decent cabling and Mesh network. I am amazed at how good it sounds. I would like to someday switch to optical rendu endpoint.

 

I agree: spend the rest of the budget on good cables, network infrastructure and DAC.

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