Curious to know your streaming and dac set up and the best recommended streamer under $15k


Curious to know your streaming and dac set up as well your best recommended streamer. I have recently upgraded my dac and have used 2 different set ups in an attempt to find the my best combination.  Former set up was Roon Nucleus+ connected to a Lumin T2. New set up is a new Nagra Tube Dac and a separate Power Supply and I had that directly connected to my Roon via Shunyata Sigma USB cable and using a Shunyata Ethernet connection to my network. Didn’t feel like that was my best possible sound so introduced the Lumin T2 back into the fold as my streamer and then connected the Nagra to the Lumin T2. This was a much improved sound. At this early testing point I’m curious to see if anyone uses and/or recommends a streamer that has significantly improved their sound under $15k. I would like to stay with the Roon platform. 
 

Current set up is Audio Research Ref160S amp, Audio Research Ref6SE pre-amp with Wilson Alexia speakers.  All cabling between these components is Transparent Reference. 
 

Unfortunately, I have not had time to photograph and upload my new Nagra dac. 
 

I really appreciate anyone who takes time to assist with some thoughtful ideas, experiences, or recommendations. 

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xwoots

@macdude I finally went with an Esoteric N05 and it’s rocking my world like nothing I’ve ever heard! The DAC is excellent, DSD 11.2, MQA, ROON ready. Life is good..

“I also am upgrading my connection from the Grimm to my Nagra with a spdif by Front Row and eliminating the Shunyata USB connection”

@woots

Based on its design strengths and user feedback, AES/EBU output from MU1 will allow you to hear best possible performance with your Nagra DAC. I believe your Nagra DAC has AES input, right?

Small Green Computer i5 -> Bricasti M1 Series 2 w/ renderer / network card / DAC -> Cary SLP - 05

Roon - meta data management / search / music catalog access & management

4TB SSD installed in i5 - personal music collection

Qobuz - streaming service

 

No problem. With the Nagra, you might also want to look into the Playback Designs MPS-x streamer. Need to pair with a server as well if you’re running Roon. It’s from the designer of the Nagra digital piece and can connect to Nagra via a proprietary Plink included. Grimm is great…but I do have the Playback coming in on order.