Streamer Upgrade Bluesound Node To Aurender N10

“If your Node was $600 to start, you’re only at about, say, $850 with the power supply upgrade. That’s still a far, far way from $4000 and $6000.”

@hilde45

I am not sure what you’re trying to convey? Are you saying Node with PSU upgrade is just as good as N10 or N200? Or is it worth spending $4K on N10?

“I previously moved from the internal DAC 2 of my McIntosh MA12000 to a Holo May DC KTE and this was even a greater improvement than the streamer change.

+1, @vonhelmholtz

@mgattmch

In your current setup, your weakest link is Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) in C52. You won’t realize the full potential of Aurender N10 or N200 unless you switch to a better DAC. I would first invest in a better DAC before upgrading the streamer. Secondly, use a high quality COAX cable from Node to a DAC (SPDIF).

I would only consider upgrading the power supply in Node as suggested by @pedroeb if you plan on keeping the Node otherwise you’re better off moving to better streamer like Aurender N200 or N10 once you have upgraded the DAC.

“My point is that it would be about 6x more expensive, and given that a DAC is not even part of the equation, that’s a significant upgrade. Maybe that extra expenditure -- on just the streamer -- would be worth it over or against other upgrades.”

@hilde45

Thanks for clarifying your take on streamer upgrade. That’s what I thought as well :-)

Regardless of whether one have unlimited funds or not, I wouldn’t spend my money on an upgrade like N10 knowing that money can be put to better use elsewhere. As I pointed out in my first post, upgrading DAC should be the priority to realized full potential from a high end streamers like N10 / N200. I believe in whole system approach over simply tossing an equipment upgrade or tweak.

The other point of argument was upgrading PSU in Node. Again, I see that upgrade as marginal improvement at best considering the weak link (DAC) ahead in digital chain. Just my two cents from experimenting with streamers and DAC’s in last 10 plus years.

If @mgattmch don’t want to pursue separate DAC and Streamer, then Lumin T3 ($5K) should provide substantial upgrade over Node 2 and C52 DAC. T3 features an excellent DAC and streamer with pretty decent app with Qobuz / Tidal integration. 

@blisshifi

Good to know there is a work around albeit not an ideal solution! That’s probably why Aurender don’t recommend Wi-Fi as an option :-)

@mahler123 

Good point, not only wired Ethernet improves sound; the Aurender won’t work with Wi-Fi. It need a wired Ethernet connection either directly from router or mesh network.