Digital Streaming Options............

[denni55]

Had a good listen to an Akurate DS/1 yesterday @ Loud and Clear Glasgow
It was hooked up to a nice big Classe integrated, and using Totem Forests which I have here.
Things have certainly changed for the better since first hearing Linn's streamers,also the software front has improved beyond recognition.......incorporating RADIO now.
Left my Akurate 4200 with them to fit a new Dynamik power supply,then Ian will bring the DS home for a proper in house demo .
Sonically the DS is a huge improvement over my Transporter,which has given sterling service for years.
Will update this further in the coming weeks

 

[John R Leddy]

...so would have to run some ethernet cable from here to the living room downstairs.

Using a pair of 500 Mbps Powerline Adaptors may be easier than running cable through the house.

http://www.dabs.com/category/networking,network-devices,homeplug/11301-4294944541-4294946246

I bought a pair of the cheapest 500 Mbps adaptors I could find, TP-Link AV500s at the time of purchase, and besides needing to tape over the LEDs on the one used in the living room, it was an instant and perfect solution.

I haven't read the write-ups on the Zyxel or Trendnet twin packs, but at only £30.00 a pair they seem to be quite cheap in a financial sense, and may do just as well as anything else.

 

[Del monaco]

SBT can be excellent through a high quality external dac and is more than OK. Linn and Naim are overpriced. If the Squeezebox range does bite the dust, I think that the Cambridge range may offer much of this quality for a more realistic price.

 

[htm_1968]

SBT can be excellent through a high quality external dac and is more than OK. Linn and Naim are overpriced. If the Squeezebox range does bite the dust, I think that the Cambridge range may offer much of this quality for a more realistic price.

The small Cambridge streamer (NP30?) did nothing for me. The newer one (NP50?) sounds OK. Out of the cheaper streamers I've had a chance to play with, the Marantz was very good in terms of flexibility, and not bad sound-wise. The Musical Fidelity and Cyrus machines did not click with me. All of them are easily surpassed by a decent CDP or a good DAC and a Hi-Face.

I'm really surprised that the Linn and Naim streamers are described as overpriced. OK, the NDS and KDS cost a fair bit, but something like the UnitiQute, is a stone cold bargain considering what provides in a single box. It'll run rings sonically around the Cyrus, MF, CA or Marantz gear and makes the SB sound shoddy. Toss in a decent amp, FM tuner, great DAC and bomb-proof build. The Linn Sneaky is nearly as good and is readily available even more cheaply than the UnitiQute.

Still, it is all opinions isn't it. YMMV as is regularly pointed out......