Auralic Altair G1

+1 @easystreamer. The Auralic G units are well built, and I would guess that currently, the return on the market would be small. They are Roon-Ready, compatible with OpenHome controllers, and the Web interface allows configuration. I'm keeping my Aries G1 for now.

I will add, while Auralic is indeed well known for their DAC technology, they were, IIRC, the first to demonstrate reliable wifi streaming, in the original Aries. Their streamers have always been well above average in this crowded marketplace.

Yes, I remember too how Auralic claimed to have implemented Wifi better than the rest without giving any real details. Not sure what else they could have done with the Intel cards they were using. I kind of guessed most user reported Wifi issues were ID-10-T issues.

I never had a problem with wifi streaming, no matter the product. You have to setup your home wifi thoughtfully with regard to device settings and physical arrangement. But then again I don't claim to hear the difference between wifi and ethernet streaming.

Other areas where Auralic paid particular attention in all their products were the power supplies and USB implementations. I am just guessing, but maybe that was the magic in their Aries streamers. They called it "Pure Power".

Then you had their over engineered Aluminum casework for shielding, especially the G2.x stuff with the inner copper Faraday cage.

Oh those were good times, good value!

Any streamer/dac combo recommendations? A streamer with a good sounding dac.  Or perhaps a cheap steamer into my current Altair? Run the streamer through the usb input?

The best budget streamer/DAC I’ve used under $500 is the BS Node Nano. Its TOSLINK output sounds the best. You could compare its internal DAC with the G1 DAC to see which sounds better in your system.  I like it better than everSolo A6 mk I that costs $860 back then.

The sound is smooth, rich and bass is weighty, though the soundstage isn’t as wide or deep as higher-end units like the Innuos Zen 3 or Rivo Plus—but those cost four to five times more.

Good luck!

@pureclarity What are your music sources? Local file server, Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz, or other?