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surrender n200 vs n20

good morning. has anyone used or demo’d these 2 unites. i have a a20 and love it, also have a burmester 151mk2, like it even better. also have a aavik s180, nice piece as well.

i recently got a aavik u300 integrated for another system i am putting together, its a very nice piece. i used its dac with the 151mk2 unit, it is very good dac in the u300, not as good as the one in the 151 but its very nice.

therefore, i have decided to go back to aurender for the streamer, i like its app better than the aavik.

thoughts on the n200 vs n20, thanks

ckr1969

Showing 4 responses by rockrider

rockrider
181 posts
 

@fthompson251 

Oops. Thanks for the correction. 

rockrider
181 posts
 

@ckr1969 

I have owned the N100H, N200, N10, and N20. I decided to keep the N20. I like the N200, but like the N20 better. Not only for the streamer’s sound quality, but also for its versatility for feeding many great DACs. The N200 only has USB digital output, whereas the N20 also has Coax and AES.  Synergy between components is very important. Have you tried both Coax and USB inputs to your Aavik? If you like it fed through its USB input, the N200 could be fine. You could test this with the USB output of your A20, which should give you similar results. You could also try the analog out of your A20 to the Aavik to see which you like better. But if you prefer the Coax input to the Aavik, or if you think you might upgrade DACs in the future the N20 would be my recommendation.  Also, the A20 isn’t much more $ than the N20, and you can test that option before buying. (Sorry for rambling. Hope this helps. )

rockrider
181 posts
 

Well, it was quite a while ago and I did not have them both in my system at the same time.  

I did have a Bel Canto e.One Stream at the same time as the N200 and I actually preferred it to the N200, all else equal.  (Amazing considering the price difference.)  According to my listening notes they both sounded great, but the primary advantage of the e.One was the very deepest bass.  But I hated the user interface with the e.One.  So that is what convinced me to upgrade to the N20.  

I’ve been totally satisfied with the N20.  I compared it directly with the e.One, and the N20 is superior in my system.  The very deepest bass is present and articulate, and there is more overall clarity, focus, and ease.  Therefore, by inference the N20 is in another league from the N200.  All these comparisons were with the same system/room/cables and multiple DACs, the most satisfying being my Mola Mola Tambaqui.  That’s my experience in my system.  Totally worth it for me. 

rockrider
181 posts
 

One more point. The combination of Streamer and DAC depends on what connection each is optimized for.  I’m using AES from N20 to Tambaqui. 

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