Having tried a variety of streamers and DAC's I have decided to separate the functions. I use a Lindemann Limetree Bridge and Denafrips Ares 2. Firstly there is no use nor need for a display on a streamer, had several and never looked at them, tablet or phone is much better. Displays in CD players can be turned off, to reduce 'noise', so why have one at all. The screen failed in my Naim streamer making it impossible to re programme. Advice, ditch the screen. The DAC is far more important in sound quality than the streamer, by separates also means separate power supplies. The Denafrips have a good linear power supply. If you wish to upgrade DAC you can easily. I compared the Lindemann / Denafrips to Aurendar and Aurelic streamers at up 3 times the price. Could hear no sound improvement even in $100,000 systems, nor could anyone else.
Streamers/DACs
Just picked out gear for our new hifi room and I’m starting my search for a good streamer or streamer/DAC combo. We have Paradigm Persona 3F speakers, Persona Sub and Anthem STR amp. I’ve narrowed streamers options down to 3 well-reviewed choices: Aurender, Lumin T3, and Cary Audio DMS-700. Not sure if I’d go with the Aurender A15 which has the option to just do digital out if I feel the urge upgrade to a better DAC or start with the N200 and either use the Anthem’s DAC or buy a separate unit right off the bat. Mostly interested in streaming Quboz, don’t care about Roon. The audio room has no realistic way to add an Ethernet port so I’ll need to work around this with a Wi-Fi to Ethernet bridge (or comparable solution) if I choose Aurender or Lumin, whereas the DMS-700 has a built-in Wi-Fi option (but a seemingly rudimentary app by comparison to the others). Any experience with these products is welcome. Of particular interest would be experiences from other Persona owners and why they chose the streamers/DACs they did but all input is welcome. Thanks much, this forum has helped immensely in the build thus far.