STREAMER - WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?

@fire_water - I understand your frustration of not being able to audition the speakers extensively, I also had to buy without being able to listen to them as much as I would have liked to.

My living room is ~ 20' * 18' and is an open layout with an equal sized dining room behind and a longish corridor on one side. I haven't done any room treatments specifically and am sure much better sound would be possible from the Grimm MU2+ATC actives combination once I get the opportunity to do that. But they still do sound absolutely wonderful (and significantly better than my previous Naim and Audio Physic speakers combination).

I doubt you can tell the difference between your Eversolo a8 vs a top of the line streamer connected to the same external DAC when doing a blind test 😂

@thuhaile You're not the first to suggest that and I only wish that were true.  I could save thousands.  My system has the double-edged sword of being extraordinarily revealing.  I've been living with the RS130 for almost a week and it's a clear improvement over the Eversolo. . 

Sharper.. The 130 is more airy and holographic....and that says a lot given the excellent performance that I enjoyfrom the A8.  

Im curious, why would you think I'd hear no difference? 

My primary concern with a streamer is that it gives me access to all the music I want as painlessly as possible.  For me, that means it must have Qobuz Connect, Tidal Connect, and Spotify connect.  It's aggravating how few of these "high end" streamers can achieve that basic prerequisite. 

 Antipdes K21/K22: no Qobuz connect

HiFi Rose RS130: no Tidal connect

@patrickalston 

I think the contention of the objectivist camp is that your biases subconsciously influence what you think you are hearing.  Why did you buy a RS130?  Maybe you read somewhere that it sounds more airy/holographic than a cheaper streamer.  So that's how your brain perceives it.

I don't have a dog in the fight.  Just saying.