Streamlining streamers

I used to own the NAD M50.2 myself, and it was a massive step up from using the streamer in the Bluesound, both which were already hooked into a Luxman DA-06 and PS Audio DirectStream DAC at the time. If the living room is your new dedicated space, I’d definitely not settle for the Bluesound and go for something better.

If your heart is set on staying on BluOS across the whole house, NAD offers other solutions like the C658, which includes a better quality DAC and streamer in one unit. That said, depending on investment levels, there are many better units to be had across other manufacturers. 

Can you clarify - 

1. Are you planning to keep a separate streamer and DAC in your main system or consolidate to one box?

2. Is your listening room separate from dedicated room, and does that need to be a one-box streamer and DAC? Or can this be separates?

3. Do the systems need to be able to sync together like Roon or Bluesound for multi-room playback?

Hi @blisshifi, thanks for the response.

1) I am wondering if there’s an option where I have the main streamer with my main system that’s a one-box system where I could somehow send that signal to other systems.

2) Two, listening room is separate. In the "dedicated" room, I have Vandersteens with Audio Research gear. The "listening room" is smaller, and has modified (updated) Sonic Frontiers gear with Aragon monoblocks. The office system is a set of ProAc monitors with an SET tube amp and an Audiolab streamer and transport.

3) It would be nice if the systems could link, but I’m fine if the office system is separate. Systems don’t have to play at the same time like Sonos. Each system is basically separate. But I'd like the luxury of building a playlist on just one platform (be it Bluesound or whatever)

Hope that clarifies things enough :)

@atlvalet In full transparency I am an authorized Aurender dealer. That said, I try to be as unbiased as possible in my responses across the forum.

As said above, I used to own the M50.2. It was actually quite a good streamer and server in its day, a huge step above the Bluesound Vault in terms of sonics, and the BluOS platform is quite stable and easy to use. You could easily invest in additional NAD units like the C658 if you want an all-in-one streamer/DAC box that acts as an endpoint for your living room, and perhaps a Bluesound Node for your office. That route is likely the most cost effective and will yield decent, but perhaps not endgame results that you are seeking.

You mention you don’t really want to pursue Roon as you prefer box solutions. There are a few good Roon core & endpoint solutions that are more like a box solution, but I have compared the M50.2 to the Roon Nucleus+ and felt the M50.2 was better sonically. I even preferred the M50.2 to the Innuos Zenith Mk3. There are excellent Roon core solutions like the Pink Faun 2.16 Ultra, but that will net you over $12K for a single unit.

As an Aurender dealer, I absolutely love Aurender’s ability to let its owners step away from computer audio completely and can deliver a significant sonic upgrade compared to the M50.2, but it does come at a slightly higher cost of entry than with where you are with your M50.2. First, Aurender’s streamers get really good starting at the N200 (at $6K) or paired with a great DAC to make it the Aurender A15 (at $8K) - my standards of “very good” are quite high here, meaning it’s worth walking away from analog altogether. The N20 is even much better still sonically at $12k, as is the A20 if you want the DAC built in.

The Aurender Conductor platform, combined with Ravenna network compatibility, allow for you to have multi-zone capabilities. This allows for you to invest in a much better quality streamer/server solution for your main listening room and stream to other Aurender devices in other rooms.

The box solution you seek might also be further fulfilled as Aurender’s large screens and impeccable build with an extra thick aluminum chassis are a joy to look at and handle.

Would you prefer a separate DAC from the server/streamer or one box that combines both? There are pros and cons to both options that I’m happy to talk through on the phone if you’d like.

Feel free to message me direct for more info or keep replying to this thread.

Oh, the Aurender stuff looks amazing (and sounded great at a dealer I listened to in Santa Monica recently), but that's beyond my budget ATM. I may just pick up a Bluesound Node for the short term and explore moving up to the Aurender line of streamers...

If I had something like an N200 in the main system, what would go with the other two systems?

Thx.

I love Cambridge Audio.  The Chromecast is a great feature to have

@atlvalet  you could go for the N150 or ACS100. You could even purchased older units like the N100 used for less, but the sound quality also performs a bit lower than current models.