My Aurender N10 bites the dust

I like vinyl a lot too. Call it nostalgia or anything else, but having the time and nerve to take that vinyl disc out of it’s unique sleeve, carefully lower the needle on it, see it spin calmly and hear exactly what you are doing is a complete different experience than a tap on my iPhone or click with the mouse in the iTunes library. And we can discuss all day long, but the SQ of vinyl is still very good.

The disc itself, the sleeve, the cover art, the music: all pieces of art that come together at that moment.

To me vinyl is a ritual, digital a convenience, each having their place. Vinyl is special to me as it is a collection I have acquired over 50 years, so to an extent it is autobiographical.

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For me, vinyl is a more organic, fuller, and more dynamic sound. Digital is cleaner, more forward, and more detailed sound.

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That’s what I like about this time, with the revival of vinyl we can enjoy it both at very high quality.

That said my Thorens TD 105 is 40 years old and spinning fine. The idea is to update to the TD1601.

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I run with a 40+ year old Linn Sondek LP 12. I have kept it for sentimental reasons as well as the sound. Forty plus years never sounded so good. Of course it does have a “few” upgrades as well as recent service and tuning by Ken Christianson of Pro Musica in Chicago. I also run a couple of more contemporary turntables including a VPI Prime and a recently acquired Rega P8.

Not to derail this thread I started a topic:
Linn vs Thorens

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I just made another discovery!! Now that I’m waiting for my new server to arrive, Im listening to vinyl again. I got a Symposium Ultra to replace the 4" thick slab of paving stone I had under the turntable and I was floored!!! I think the slab of stone was over damping and sucking the energy out of the music. Now, I never heard my system with so much dense complexity!! So much palpable three dimensional separate images!! So much uncompressed dynamic energy!! So much increase in the soundstage!! Even the Aurender at it’s best could not even come close!! I hope my upcoming Esoteric server can do better.

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I can see why you went for the Esoteric, complements the rest of your system.

That’s REGA’s philosophy: less mass => better sound. From a distance and new the REGA Planar 8 and 10 look good.

Till you have it 4 months and come close to it.

The cellular foam plinth that looks like industrial porous thermal insulation without cladding and too many gaps seems a nightmare for housekeeping and dust collects everywhere including the black open cell structure of the plinth. All for the purpose of cutting any mass.

I trust that other turntables sound also good but their simplistic (admittedly old fashion) square plinth and convenient Plexiglas cover most efficiently keep the dust from accumulating on a device that should be kept free of dust.

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So on with the N10 saga. So the SSD is replaced. Total cost including the return shipping is $200. Actually my brother did try to change the SSD himself but he didn’t have the Aurender programming to make it work. Anyway, he got the unit back but was surprised that it is black!! The unit he sent in was silver. They actually send back another unit with different content on it. Now he has Tital that was not there before. But I believe that will disappear when the former subscription is up. He also has a bunch of mp3 files installed. I wonder who would use such low resolution files with something like the Aurender. He hasn’t got a chance to listen yet because he needs a ethernet connection to the Aurender. He has only wi-fi where the Aurender is right now. He is getting a extender for the ethernet connection. Anyway, his system is black so he don’t mind keeping the black unit and erasing and installing his own files to it. Aurender might call and ask for the exchange to his unit, but I don’t know if it’s right to try and keep the black unit instead.

That all seems wrong.

It looks like if Aurender have not contact my brother by now, they probably won’t. Whoever got his unit is very lucky because there is a fortune of files on there. I know, I paid to put it there. The files on the black unit is worthless mp3 and cd files so my brother has to erase everything and reinstall my backups, but at lest he has a black unit which he prefers. Oh well.

It is good that you had backups! That is a problem with companies that are “too big” for customer to manufacturer direct communication. It is another good reason to support the smaller audio companies. You can then still have a meaningful conversation with the person or group that build and service your gear.

So my brother finally got the files in his black N10, and I give him a dongle I had on hand to get him to play music until he gets his extender for the Ethernet connection. Using the Matrix with WW Platinum S7 HDMI and Sbooster LPS on both Mac Mini and N10 and playing the same files, he said the difference is not that great. The N10 is a little smoother and the Mac Mini sounds a little more digital. He also compared the N10 with his DMP and the DMP sounds sharper, but the N10 more natural. He also get to hear some music from Tidal and MQA and he says the hi rez files sound better. Seems like the N10 helps eliminate a lot of the distortions that causes the digital sound, but the results is not a whole lot of difference in sound, very close in fact, definitely not at the cost of the N10. Maybe he has to wait until everything settles in more. But there were a pretty big difference with the N10 comparing it to my Mac Mini but not so much with the DMP in my setup. Anyway, he still thinks the N10 is a little better overall.
I’m still waiting for my Esoteric N03T. The shipping companies must all be all broken or something, so it is wait wait wait.

Now that we have some time for everything to settle in, my brother says the N10 is notable better in SQ than his Mac Mini. Playing files on the N10 also sounds better than playing music on Tidal. Playing files on the DMP sounds a little clearer than on the N10. He has a better HDMI cable with the DMP though. I remember going straight with USB from N10 to DS, the DMP was better sounding. Only when I use the Matrix and using I2s, the N10 overtook DMP in performance. I use the same HDMI cable on both units. The I2s input is much better than the USB input on the DS.

I finally got my Esoteric N-03T today and am listening to it for about one hour and the word WOW doesn’t do it justice!! Whoever said transports don’t matter too much don’t know what they’re talking about. This transport is completely in another world!! It completely annihilated my DMP playing the same files off the same memory stick! I haven’t set up my NAS yet. When I do, I suspect it will even sound better! And I thought nothing could be that much better than the DMP! The sound has so much fullness and sound so complete that makes the DMP a little lean and lacking body. It also has incredible resolution rivaling my analog rig and without the noise. No doubt it easily outperform my former Aurender N10. I am using the fully loaded Matrix, RAL HDMI, Audience FrontRow USB, and tricked out Farad with it though. Later on I will try going USB direct and see what if there is any difference. Now to see what happens when it breaks in.

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Here’s what it looks like. A bit heavy for a server at almost 40 lbs.

It is amazing what $11,000 will do. :slight_smile:

I am certain it sounds great, and looks good, too.

Do you know what is inside that make it heavy? I do not expect a streamer to be this heavy, although I bet the casework contributes a good deal to the weight.

Enjoy!

Probably the two transformers and the dual layer steel plate on the bottom.

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I found a picture of it s innards. The two transformers are not huge, but big enough to add to the weight. I was unaware of the steel plate on the bottom. That would do it. :slight_smile:

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My Esoteric E-02 phono stage is the same size case, but has smaller duel transformers and weights only 28 lbs. Most important is the performance though. The N-03T with the DS completely has no digital fingerprint at all. Sounds so much like the best vinyl it hard to believe.

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