What makes One Music Server Sound Better than Another?

@lalitk - Good to know about the longevity of the Aurender. Only downside for me is that I don’t plan to give up Roon so I need something that works easily with Roon. Still thinking about the K1, since I only need it to perform the server function.

To your implementation comment, when I opened it to take pictures, I noticed a lot of shielding and compartmentalizing inside of the DejaVu server. Benjamin at Mojo is big on the small details.

One thing I still don’t quite get is the folks associated with audio high end, such as Atkinson at Stereophile, who use a Roon nucleus server. That type of observation brings me back to my question, if those sound just as good at less than $3K, then why do others spend north of $10K?

Don’t know but it probably has something to do with how the DSP in each is implemented. With digital streaming pretty much anything is possible. 

“what are the technical reasons one should sound better than the other?”

@mitch2

IME, better parts + power supply and above all, implementation determines how each streamer is voiced. My streamer stood the test of times, in 10 plus years of ownership; Aurender never faltered.

@ricred1 - No need to be sorry, the praise is deserved IMO.  The K41 would be my sweet spot based on how I am set up but I have watched these things over the past 10 years and the service life of these servers seems to be south of 5 years before they become obsolete, making it an expensive proposition.  Antipodes did better than most at prolonging the life of my DX by offering the 2 or 3 upgrades I had them perform, and of course - it is still working as I sit here and listen!  Manufacturers like to say they have created a modular design for easy upgrades but regardless of how they initially sell it, you most often see an entirely new product are rarely a true upgrade opportunity.  Antipodes did a lot better than most.

I will also give a shout out to Benjamin at Mojo Audio, who also responded very quickly and based on pictures was able to let me know the DejaVu can be repaired.  He is another who will upgrade existing units until it doesn't make sense.  Unfortunately, he is no longer making servers, but I sure like the musical sound of his DACs.

@yage - You got me...of course it was sighted since I had to move connect the DX after the DejaVu failed.  Yes, there is the possibility of no real SQ difference except what is in my head. 

However, I am still interested in what others say because if the no difference path is true, then why are some paying so much money for their servers.  This is NOT a thread to bash those who do pay a lot for their server but rather to help me understand why.  I am interested in hearing the technical reasons why there should be differences in the case of a server only assuming the unit is reasonably current with an adequate processor, appropriate software, reasonably quiet power supplies, and SSDs if internal drives are used.  I am curious what I would be getting for my money if I were to spend $10K or more.

The point of this thread is to ask, how come I perceive the the DejaVu server as sounding better than the Antipdes DX?

Were you doing sighted listening tests?

Sorry, I'm not answering your question. I just wanted to agree with your comments about Mark Cole. I do love the sound of my Antipodes music server, but Mark provides outstanding support.