Favorite Streamer/DAC combo under 3k?

I have nor heard the Teac UD-701N - but am a big fan of Esoteric.  Looking at their specs and reviews it appears that they share engineering with Esoteric.  You might find one used <$3K that you could audition.

From watching several reviews from trustworthy reviewers, I am fairly confident about the following two points:

1. Within the everSolo ecosystem, the T8 sounds better than the A6 Gen 1 & 2, A6 Master, and A8. If you already have a good external DAC, choosing the T8 and using its digital output to feed your DAC is definitely the way to go—again, strictly within the Eversolo ecosystem.

2. The T8 is generally comparable to the Rivo Plus (with LPS) in both sound quality and cost. However, reviewers seem divided on which one has the edge.

   • iiwi thinks the T8 has a slight advantage through its USB output (Hans disagrees).

   • Tarun rates the Rivo as outstanding and the T8 as highly recommended.

   • Passion for Sound considers them interchangeable.

   • Hans places the T8 at the lower end of his 1B setup tier, even though its price suggests it should be higher; he rates the Rivo higher, in the mid-1B tier.
     As a Rivo Plus owner, I think the Eversolo T8 is still a solid choice.

Just like the A6 when it first launched—where hype from reviewers and users was followed by a noticeable amount of negative feedback—I also had a disappointing experience with the A6 after extensive at-home auditioning. That experience made me suspect there might have been quality-control issues.  Today, although I do believe the T8 is a strong contender and a well-designed product, I’m still not fully certain whether those QC issues have been resolved, based on the negative feedback I’ve seen on this forum.

I have been using Sonore Optical Rendu for close to a decade now. I had the Lumin X1 DAC/streamer which was $15k. The DAC is OK and the streamer in it is great. You can buy that streamer standalone now as the Lumin U2x for $10k.

I also have the PlayBack Designs STREAM-IF for $3k and that was also great but I only used SPDIF since I did not own a PBD DAC which has fibre optic connection (via PLINK) from the STREAM-IF to a PBD DAC.

I also had the ROON-ONLY OpticalRendu. I compared all 3 streamers side-by-side and found they were ALL great,but sounded different. I ended up selling the Lumin X1 and the STREAM-IF and bought 2 more Sonore OpticalRendu's.

I ran all 3 in 3 different rooms and I controlled them using ROON.

I have 2 Rendu's and 2 DACs left. I am looking to sell one set of the Rendu/DAC so I can start saving up for a much more expensive DAC, which I will use a OpticalRendu to stream to.

BTW - Streaming via fibre is the way to go because it does not matter what is behind the fibre (glass cable). The glass kills the analog noise that resides in Ethernet cables.

Both the Holo Audio Red and the Denafrips Arce cost less and sound significantly better than the T8.

The Eversolo losses a lot of micro detail easily heard in a headphone setup. And with speakers I found it reduced the soundstage compared to other gear I have. I compared it directly to a number of other streamers, with a variety of headphone and speaker amps, and with a variety of DACs.

There is some good advice on optimizing the T8 if you really enjoy the screen and various functions. But do not be mislead - it is not the best sounding streamer at its price point.

90% of the Youtube salesmen (reviewers) have a long history of gushing over every new item that comes out. Often being able to keep the gear as a reward or upping their Youtube income with clickbait.

How many gushed over the Willsenton R300 amp - the only one I have ever had fail on me - only to wait for an honest reviewer (Skunkster) to show it is a pile of crap.

I'm going to pair the Eversolo T8 with either a Pontus 15th or a Garlubidor Divinity-- combined are around $4K, a little above your budget but worth considering IMO.