Separate DAC, tech is moving fast an getting better quickly. Denafrips Pontus II $2,000 or Holo Audio $3,000 are great R2R DACs. I have the Pontus II and added a Denafrips Iris DDC at $600.....a terrific pairing, and can always be upgraded if you should choose to....easy to sell on Audiogon
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.