I would not say that a streamer is equally as important as a DAC but it is important. I tried to use a PC, MAC etc and it was noisy. I went with a BlueSound Node 2i and had that for years and it was great, then I upgraded the DAC....then upgraded the streamer. I prefer Auralic due to build quality and user interface. I won't spend money on Roon so a strong user interface is great and Auralic has one. Also out of all the major streamers only Auralic provides all three: Qobuz, Tidal, & Amazon. About to make one more tweak to the DAC section and then I should be calling it... Used Bluesound nodes are a good place to start and they are rock solid.... They also support all three major services! (Auralic G1, Denafrips Ares II)
Will a Chord Hugo 2 make a music streamer addition obsolete?
Gonna make an investment in a Chord Hugo 2, for Tidal streaming (directly into my MacBook Pro) and CD playback.
Is my query (essentially) correct?
I use Arcam monos/pre (nearing 15 years of usage) with B&W 804s floor standing speakers. With the $ saved, I plan to upgrade with a pair REL s/510s subs instead (but that’s a discussion for another day).
Cheers,
Charlie