As the title says… What is a good streamer/dac combo that i can plug into a BHK preamp?
Budget?
Blue Sound Node or Grimm MU2?
no budget, i want something that will compliment my BHK preamp and 300’s… currently, i have a mark levinson cd/dac combo feeding into my preamp
Grimm MU2
Just do it
Auralic Altair G2.2
or for less the G1.1
For Aurender the A200 or the A1000
The MU2 is expensive, and on top of that needs a roon subscription in order to use the streaming function and the playing of files from the internal hard drive or usb flash drives, and since roon is just a music organizer and not a streaming service, a subscription to a streaming service like qobuz is also needed (which one has to link qobuz to roon so roon can play the music).
The assumption is you would also use a digital output from the Levinson cd player to send the digital signal to an MU2 for D/A conversion. Your cd’s should also sound better.
I took the plunge, and am glad I now have an MU2 streamer/DAC.
Another thought would be to save that money for new speakers like the FR20, and hopefully get together with another forum member on the east coast that has the FR20 and would let you listen to them at their place.
Could always go with a more economical streamer/DAC like the Eversolo A8. But I have to admit that after hearing the MU2 in my system I cannot go back to the Eversolo A6 (which is why I mentioned the upgraded Eversolo A8).
The MU2 sounds like junk. Who is this? Not a guy who’s in love with his MU2!
If you don’t have Qobuz or equivalent service on your MU2 you are missing out. Roon is a powerful search engine that finds music that you would likely never find on your own.
Who said that? Certainly not me.
I have mentioned on several occasions the MU2 is a great device that elevated my system, significantly.
But do want to be honest, that 2 subscriptions are needed and not just one.
Possibly 3 subscriptions. Lol
I was just kidding about the junk statement. Don’t let subscriptions get in the way! If one plans on buying a Grimm MU1/2 they should add $829 to the cost for a lifetime subscription to Roon imo. Yes it’s 5 1/2 years up front but at year 5 you may be paying $199 or more a year for Roon and saying maybe I should of went lifetime and by then lifetime will cost over $1229 instead of $829.
Qobuz starts at $10.83 month. Thats 1 meal at a fast food restaurant cost for a ton of music at your finger tips.
Am I the only one that thinks Qobuz is a bargain?
Maybe I’m the only one who likes Roon.
Sounds like you need a DAC too. No mention of that in posts.
15-20k Budget MU2
10k budget Aurlic G2.2 (the one with the DAC)
With Trade ins, you might be 7-8k for the PSAudio combo Airlens / MKII
2k Eversolo A8
I did skip the 2-6k range. There are sooo many dacs and streamers to list. But from what I know those are ranges and units.
If no DAC is needed
G2.2 streamer is 6k
Rose 130 5k
Eversolo A6 Master 1400
I’m running the BHK Pre with BHK600s fed by the DS MKII, Rose 150B with Roon lifetime subscription and it is glorious connected with a mix of Transparent and AudioQuest wire loom. If I were buying a new DAC today, in addition to the DS MKII ($7K) which needs a streamer, I would consider the Grimm MU2 ($18K), the Mola Mola Tambique ($14K) (spelling?), the Playback Designs MPD8 Dream DAC ($26k). For streamers, the Rose offerings are impressive.
Great choices. All three DAC’s are engineered by renowned designers that build around their own code written on FPGA’s. I have not heard the
MPD-8. The MU2 and Tambaqui have different presentations which I generalize as being relaxed verses forward, respectively. Both good.
If streaming is in the picture the MU2 might offer better value as has a good one and negates the need for another cable. Have fun.
If you have the funds and a local dealer by all means give the MPD-8 a listen, The most natural sounding DAC under $50k I have heard.
I have subscribed to both roon and qobuz, and now I need both.
Finding new music has been fantastic. Have already found some great music.
I resisted getting Roon since their “sub $500” lifetime membership, and I finally gave in because that is the only way to operate MU2. I have had Euphony Summus 2 and Lumin U2 (all pure streamers w/o DAC, and w/o Roon) in the system. Their sound is fine, but Grimm MU2 is at a different league.
I have both of those units, one in each of my two systems. They are most excellent all-in-one streamers. The dac in the G2.2 sounds as good as my Luxman D-08u that costs three times as much. Not the same but equally fine. It’s nice having a 4tb ssd on board for storage of files you can’t get on streaming services.