A quick question on what streamers to consider.......


Hello fellow Audiogoners - a quick question as I have noted above on streamers. I am looking for a steamer only,  no DAC,  that would be easy to use. I don't want to worry about any updates and would prefer a US made product if at all possible. I have a WiFi service coming into my home so that would be how I would be getting my music. I would like it simple to use and without any hassles. I would be using it in the summer providing music to my back dec, or when cooking or entertaining inside. I would looking in the price range say of ; $2,000 to $5,000 used or new. Thank you in advance and look forward to suggestions on what to buy based on what I have outlined above. Thank you in advance and please stay safe and well.....        

garebear

+1 to @ghdprentice I recently picked up an Aurender N150 from Bliss HiFi. Juan at Bliss is amazing to work with and I received the product in 1 day. Each streamer brand will have its quirks. Overall I am happy with the Conductor app subject to them fixing an glitch. And, I am still surprised by this - the sound quality was a noticeable improvement over my Node.

Aurender is great, but if all you're going to use it for is background music, Aurender is overkill in my opinion and you don't have to spend anywhere near 2-5K.  Do you also have a 2-channel listening room where you actually sit and listen?

How about a Lumin U1 Mini? You can buy one for under $1000 and even bump up performance by adding an outboard linear power supply down the line (+350 or so). 

I've an Aurender N10 which is also great, but more expensive. I like the Aurender Conductor App over the Lumin App, but they're both very good. The App is a biggish part of the decision matrix imho, assuming you don't want to pay for something like Roon. 

 

Go with Aurender.  Excellent sound and build quality.  Helpful customer service. Go with a new N150 or a preowned N200.  I just upgraded from an old N100H to a pre-owned N200.  Just arrived today exactly as described.  Reasonable pricing and trade.  Shout out to Kevin at TMRAUDIO.  I will eventually post my impressions once running.  

Auralic (Chinese) and Bluesound (Canadian?) have wifi. For Aurender and Lumin(not simple to use due to their UI) you will need Ethernet access point and cable. I was going to recommend Roon Nucleus but that’ll require Roon subscription and there’s no wifi either.