Streamer Upgrade


I have a modified Bluesound Node 2i with an upgraded power supply board and Terry Pardo power supply. While I am happy with it, I have the upgrade itch! I'm curious if anyone has upgraded from a modded Bluesound Node and what your thoughts are/were? On the TP website, they claim this upgrade brings "it very close to the level of network streamers costing twice as much" which makes me curious as to how big of a jump others experienced. I'm looking at streamer only as I am not interested in units with onboard DAC's. I currently use Roon with a Mac Mini as my Core. My DAC is the Schiit Gungnir MB. 

Thanks!

-Will

128x128willg1985

@curiousjim 

Info given on this site as any other needs to be taken with a grain of salt. The OP says that the Teddy Pardo LPS would be a good recommendation for the Bluesound specifically if you use its internal dac. Well, I got the absolute opposite recommendation from someone who was highly knowledgeable with the technology and explained it with technical jargon that went well above my head. What he says is upgrading the LPS on the Bluesound if using its own dac is a waste of money due to the configuration of its dac, but highly worth it if using an external dac. He also mentions examples of high quality dacs with external LPS, and the difference in cost when they sell their dac with internal or external LPS to explain why the Teddy Pardo cost vs value is so high. I use the Gustard X26 PRO dac and am very pleased with upgrade in clarity and sense of space. Sometimes I just have to put my two cents in because info given here can take you right down the rabbit hole :)

BTW, I owned the Aries 2 also but the Gustard beats it plenty, even for an analogue fan as my system demonstrates. Not sure about that R2R thing. It was highly recommended here and is another example of advice I could have done without. However,  overall, it still has been a good education to research stuff here but no reason to dive all in on anything specific you hear without backing it up through further research. So many sites, so many opinions...

 

@dinov You’re welcome. I’m going to reach out to you via PM to share some thoughts more directly with you. 

If you are looking at U1 Mini, there is also a power supply upgrade as well.  PD Creative in Poland.

@baylinor 

I have the new node and it’s going to a Pontus ll DAC. I was looking at getting the PD Creative power board and the S Booster power supply. Together, they will double the cost of the Node N130, so if the benefit outweighs the cost, I was thinking about trying it.  If not, I’ll eventually move on from the N130 to??

@curiousjim I paid $515 for the NODE, $545 for the Pardo and yet plenty worth it. Look at my post in the Did you notice discussion. It will tell you plenty.