To clarify, I have an Eversolo T8 streamer in the room on purchase for evaluation.
I’m quite impressed for the money (~$1,400). Previous streamers I’ve had here for longer periods (3 or more months) are: Lumin T3, Roon Nucleus clone (upgraded SSD, RAM, isolation, etc.), Roon NUC, Bluesound, Wiim Ultra (used as streamer only/not DAC, and a few others that I’m struggling to remember.
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My current system is intentionally put together around products that are about less than equal to $5-6,000 each. The current setup is:
HiFi Rose RA 280 Integrated (Class "AD" amplification usesGaN (Gallium nitride) FET output switching)
Linear Tube Audio Aero Tube DAC (fed by some DH Labs coax cable right now)
Revival Audio Atalante 5 loudspeakers
Torus Tot Power
[Technics 1200 GAE, Modwright Reference Phono, Marantz Ruby SACD/DAC].
Room is 16.5’ wide, 22’ long, with 10’ ceilings
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This is an excellent streamer both for the money it cost and then more in a big way. I haven’t compared it to its likely competition (first thought- HiFi Rose $5k unit). After reading some forum threads, I was pleasantly surprised to see how well it is made and packaged. The fit and finish are great. The box is solid, the screen is beautiful, and the connections/back panel are well spaced out and laid out.
The remote is superb. It’s got the basic necessities of features on it--nothing more--and it feels wonderful. In fact, you could argue that it feels a bit nicer than the T8 unit itself (save for the T8’s elegant screen).
I think I should be careful to point out that I may have struck a nice synergy with the LTA Aero Tube DAC here; the pairing is remarkably warm with lots of air on top and just the right detail for my taste. I never ran that Lumin out to the Aero DAC--I only used it with its DAC and a Marantz Ruby SACD’s DAC. The Lumin’s DAC was super with bass--I felt it was special. I am much happier with this pairing though, as the music has such flow and instruments have such developed body.
I was a bit surprised to hear it really easily best the decent, yet not state of the art, Roon Nucleus/Roc and other very stable streamers. Things with the T8 are just less cloudy while not becoming too "modern" or "analytical" for these ears. I like music to emerge, bloom, glow, and I like to bask in that. I’m not a fan of laser like precision. However, it’s clear this is a good match as it has cleaned up a bit of fog over my sound.
The clarity is so improved that my thoughts on moving in move speakers to try in this system fell down. The Revival Audio A5’s are staying put. I previously thought they got too jittery when pushed, losing composure. I also thought they could have more definition. It’s too early to say where I land, but I can now hear them in a much improved light. They sound suuuuper relaxed and comfortable with all volume levels. Oddly though, the bass output is lower. That comes with more precision though.
I’m going to stop now though with these opinions as so much is subjective and I haven’t lived with the product for months yet---a requisite for me to know what I know and what I don’t know.
I will say this: If this kind of money is within your budget and especially for those just below (I was thinking of going up to $3-5k for a streamer), I feel safe in saying you may want to give it a tryout. The only other product I’ve spent $1400-ish on and felt so happy with it has been a cartridge or two (e.g. I’m thinking AudioTechnica ART9 and Goldring Ethos--super carts).
Now, be careful, this is just my positive experience. So much of it may be due to my quest to get a system together that (a) keeps each piece around $5k or so; and (b) has a digital setup that doesn’t make me turn it off and run to my analog side. Another part is my DAC and speakers may be more different than the more common modern offerings in the market.
At any rate, I was so pleased that I wanted to post a note to say that if you were thinking of maybe running dedicated streamer to your existing DAC this may be one to put on your shortlist.
PS. The screen and its settings (including the Vu meter selections) are elegant and so well done.
