Streaming recommendations

I have a Bluesound Vault 2i and it's been great .  It's probably at least 6 years old now.  I use it everyday.  Several times a day.  

When that dies I'll probably buy the Icon.   

I did have a demo of the WiIM Ultra and I thought it sounded pretty good 

You're buying into an Eco System that's driven by both the hardware manufacturer and the streaming platforms.  I recommend Blusound because they have been doing it a long time and it's a solid platform.  Lenbrook , parent of NAD, Bluesound, PSB, etc  has huge resources.   Cyrus and Roksan have both adopted the Bluesound OS for their streamers , among others.

Yes Aurender makes great machines.    If you look at it from a build quality, sound quality, support prospective it's a good value, but only if your associated equipment warrants the cost.   I have a N200 but I use my second system with the Vault  a lot more.   The Vault may not be as good but it's a much better value in the true sense of the word.  

If i was looking for a sub $500 streamer I would buy a Bluesound Nano or a WiiM. End of story.  

New problems were drop out son Qubuz.    Really frustrating to have to put that thing in my systems to troubleshoot.     

My Dad has an A6 Mastee.   Was working perfect and about a year into it they botched the FW and it no longer recognizes his DAC.  

Its a know issue with several other DACs.     It's been over a year and no resolve.    When I asked for an RMA 5 days before the warranty was up they stopped communicating....   

Decent hardware , terrible support and FW .   Its had about 5 updates, each one had issues.   

Bluesound is a much better platform , it may not have all the bells and whistles but it works for the most part.  

Anyone spending $2k to $4k on an Eversolo is nuts.   

I had a chance to use a WiiM Ultra and I would choose that over the A6 .  

Any potential buyers should read the pages of problems over on the Zidoo forum.