Streamer Upgrade Bluesound Node To Aurender N10

The iPad is a way to control the Blusound. Streaming is over a LAN.

Getting the AC mains out of the Bluesound Node and adding a decent 5v supply is a worthwhile improvement.

Bluesound Node 2021 (gen.3) upgrade – low noise PSU interface

The Bluesound is handy and affordable but at the low end of the SQ spectrum in the HiFi world IMHO. The fact that power supply upgrades costing hundreds of dollars exist for the unit told me that it had no place in my 5 figure midfi system. I added a Cary Audio DMS650, which is a DAC/Streamer and it was a mind numbingly massive sonic upgrade to my system. Easily the most important upgrade that I did. It is Roon ready and supports Airplay but Qobuz and a direct connected hard drive with CD’s burned bit perfect by Jriver software sound so much better I doubt that I will ever listen to Airplay again. Results will vary based on your system. In mine the Airplay and Bluetooth is a massive downgrade. Still sounds good but no comparison to the best quality sources. There are a million options out there. The DAC is hugely important and you could likely get away with a cheaper streamer and a great DAC, as many people do. Keeping a DAC separate will allow you to upgrade in the future. But I spent a lot of money and don’t really plan on spending more. Cary Audio is made in the US and known to punch far above their weight so I am totally satisfied. Their products are also known to be a synergistic match with Klipsch heritage speakers so I am all set. Next step is my dedicated room with some room treatment’s and maybe correction. Happy hunting and listening. 

I went from the Node2i to a Aurender N100SC, the overall improvement was tremendous. Then I played with coax vs USB connection. The USB was another nice bump up. although I should note finding the right cable is what gave USB the win. In some instances I didn’t notice any difference between USB/Coax.

Just moved up from a Node to a Lumin D2. System is all Mc tube (c2500/mc275/MR71/MVP851) with Harbeth SHL5+ speakers. Even though the internal DAC in the c2500 is good, I got a great deal on the used Lumin and I think its DAC is better. Incredible difference in SQ IMO. The Node is a nice piece of equipment and a great entry into streaming but it sounded a little lifeless to me. Tried Quobuz for a couple of years and just switched back to Tidal. They’re both very good.

Use optical cable for node to dac for the audiophile Sq. Then try compare again