Sound quality differences in streamers

Note:  Besides the Stack Audio Smooth Lan, the AudioQuest Cinnamon Ethernet cable, & the linear power supply to the eero6+ node by the stereo,  I did this ethernet to fiber optic to ethernet to eero6+ anchor node to help clean up my AT&T DSL - which is all copper.   I cannot tell you if it made a difference in sound because I made all my ethernet changes all at once.  One thing I did notice is that my TV picture got better, ie Blacks, color, and resolution.  My TV is using wifi from the eero6+ anchor node.  Overall, I am very happy with the sound quality of the Rivo+, but, I cannot really tell you which changes made a sound quality difference, or if they made a difference from just the Rivo+ with a Linear Power supply.  Adding the eero6+ mesh system made a huge improvement in Rivo+ performance overall, so, that was a game changer in itself. 

@hjdca 

pretty system.  what are your speakers?

@ mdalton

Thanks so much.  I run Wilson Watt Puppy 8.  They really complement the tube gear well.  

Can there be sonic differences between moderate and high priced streamers when used for streaming only.
 

Short answer is it depends. If your downstream components are of very high quality,  your room acoustics are dialed in and you have revealing speakers + trained ear, you will easily hear the difference. It also depends what streamers you are comparing. If you use MSB Reference DAC and compare WiiM to Taiko Extreme you will hear the difference. You will hear the difference even if you compare WiiM to a bottom of the line Lumin or Aurender. So without any specifics it’s Impossible to tell whether or not you need a higher end streamer.

@hjdca nice system! 
I’m contemplating eero 6+. I have the old original eero now with one of the eero nodes feeding my streamer. I’m curious to see if there’s anything else that’s improvement in sound going from eero to eero 6+

@audphile1

Thanks so much.  

Regarding the erro 6+, all I can tell you is that it was a huge improvement with wifi from the standard DSL wifi.   I was only getting 2.5 ghz wifi at the Rivo+ location and installing the eero 6+ node behind the Rivo+ made the wifi fantastic.  With the eero 6+ node, it was easy to go to ethernet, and I wanted to turnoff the wifi circuitry in the Rivo+, so, I went to hardwired ethernet into the eero 6+ node plus linear power supply and response is also instantaneous.  Note:  I started out as a pure analog guy.  I have been slowly upgrading my Digital front ends with DAC, SACD/CD, wav files, dsf files, and now the Rivo+ and ethernet, filters, linear power supply, etc...  I am a total digital / Streamer guy now, and I am super impressed with Qobuz hi-res streaming and the Rivo+ with all the garnish.  5 years ago, I would not have believed the sound quality that can be achieved with hi-res streaming from an online streaming service.