[JackD]

At least one of the two is or was a member here too.

[mitch stl]

Not interested in "technical" or DIY solutions or necessarily in saving the maximum money.  And want something better than casual listening (Apple Express).

Squeezebox - had a horrible experience with it, 2 weeks of bliss followed by 2 weeks of hell (pure distortion that I couldn't fix no matter what I tried).  Very unstable.  That is one of the things I'm trying to avoid like the plague.  An Apple Express would be far superior to that.

Looking for a family friendly turnkey solution that easy to set up and comes with local support.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I've had Squeezeboxes since the first MP3 player came out over 15 years ago. I've since had a SB3, a Duet (both sold) and now have had two Touches since the Touch was first released. Have to say all of them have been the most stable computer-based components I've owned.

But, every manufacturer -- even the upscale ones -- have a dud roll off the production line every now and then.

[A_shah]

There are two for sale on the PS website for $400.

Jack
thanks to your tip was able to purchase a bridge 2 from a member on PS audio website for $ 475.00 , I just sent back the cambridge audio CXN V2 streamer back to Amazon, for now maybe that is the best way for me to go although I was getting a very good deal for a Wyred4Sound streamer


Asghar

[JLM]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I've had Squeezeboxes since the first MP3 player came out over 15 years ago. I've since had a SB3, a Duet (both sold) and now have had two Touches since the Touch was first released. Have to say all of them have been the most stable computer-based components I've owned.

But, every manufacturer -- even the upscale ones -- have a dud roll off the production line every now and then.

Unfortunately my experience with SB was far from unique.  I really like their design concept, especially the Duet but have no tolerance for product glitches.

[mitch stl]

Unfortunately my experience with SB was far from unique.  I really like their design concept, especially the Duet but have no tolerance for product glitches.

Again interesting. I have zero interest in changing your opinion on the subject. You've got a lot of good ideas to choose from with current products. However, I followed the Slimdevices forum closely for a lot of years and never noticed too many issues with their stuff. The biggest item I recall were those, right after the Touch was originally released and well before streaming got going, who wanted to plug their hard drive directly into the Touch, using it as both player and server. The Touch didn't have enough horsepower to directly manage a hard drive with a large collection.

If I recall, your issue was the player sounding distorted after working fine for a couple of weeks. Sounds like a product failure, which is an issue I've never had.

Good luck with whatever you end up doing!

[A_shah]

After months of testing  couple of streamers with my PS's audio-Directstream DAC both using USB, Coax and glass Toslink (which now runs into the newly acquired LG Oled TV) finally settled on PS AudioDirectStream Bridge Card 11 hard wired via a cat 7 cable to an old Netgear Gigabit switch . using the Mconnect app on my I phone I am finally seeing and listening to  true 24 bit/192 streaming using Quboz  the digital lens built into the output of the bridge really does reduce jitter plus the fact that the Bridge  11 uses complex programming into the requisite I2S format is an added bonus for streaming since one cannot get that without additional external  hardware and extra cables . The audio quality is truly superb - Now I can listen to music the way I want to without waiting for the next technological streamer to come on to the market  or using a noisy  mac computer 
Asghar

[JLM]

Just picked up a NAD M10 "streaming (stereo) amplifier".  It's a thoroughly modern piece, compact (smaller than a piece of notebook paper 4 inches thick), no buttons, very large clear gorilla glass touch screen, from NAD's Master series.  Inputs analog (2), coax, optical, ethernet, WiFi, AirPlay, Bluetooth (both input and output), and USB stored files.  It outputs 100 wpc (hybrid class D), preamp outs, subwoofers (2), and (reportedly) Bluetooth headphones.  Can be controlled via touch screen, Android/iOS phones via BluOS, and Windows/Mac computers via BluOS (am using iPhone and Mac).

It's sound complements my speakers very well.  Waiting for parts before trying Dirac (<500 Hz basic).

[witchdoctor]

Just picked up a NAD M10 "streaming (stereo) amplifier".  It's a thoroughly modern piece, compact (smaller than a piece of notebook paper 4 inches thick), no buttons, very large clear gorilla glass touch screen, from NAD's Master series.  Inputs analog (2), coax, optical, ethernet, WiFi, AirPlay, Bluetooth (both input and output), and USB stored files.  It outputs 100 wpc (hybrid class D), preamp outs, subwoofers (2), and (reportedly) Bluetooth headphones.  Can be controlled via touch screen, Android/iOS phones via BluOS, and Windows/Mac computers via BluOS (am using iPhone and Mac).

It's sound complements my speakers very well.  Waiting for parts before trying Dirac (<500 Hz basic).

Congratulations! I like the BluOS and MQA offered in the Bluesound Node. The NAD is a significant step up from Bluesound, look forward to your review. Quite an accomplishment that they include all of that plus dirac.

[charmerci]

Just picked up a NAD M10 "streaming (stereo) amplifier".  It's a thoroughly modern piece, compact (smaller than a piece of notebook paper 4 inches thick), no buttons, very large clear gorilla glass touch screen, from NAD's Master series.  Inputs analog (2), coax, optical, ethernet, WiFi, AirPlay, Bluetooth (both input and output), and USB stored files.  It outputs 100 wpc (hybrid class D), preamp outs, subwoofers (2), and (reportedly) Bluetooth headphones.  Can be controlled via touch screen, Android/iOS phones via BluOS, and Windows/Mac computers via BluOS (am using iPhone and Mac).

It's sound complements my speakers very well.  Waiting for parts before trying Dirac (<500 Hz basic).

 Holy moly, does the thing balance your bank account and do your taxes too? 

[JLM]

Forgot, the M10 also inputs HDMI audio.  The Bluetooth output is for wireless headphones.    

Gatto127 and I swapped, my PS Audio DirectStream Junior (DSJ) for his M10.  I was debating between Cambridge Audio CXN v.2, NAD C658, and the M10.  Come to find out he missed his old DSJ and the M10 was too streamlined/simple to satisfy his yearnings.  But the chance to swap convinced me to give the M10 a try.

I made Tidal favorites of all of my library that could and got my library down to 53 GB, so ordered a pair of 128 GB 3.1 flash drives to plug the rest of my library (iTunes ALAC) into the back of the M10.

Gatto127 is sending along an adapter needed to plug the microphone into the M10 to allow Dirac calibration (only have the <500 Hz version that comes standard, and many say the full Dirac is of questionable value).  Finally got my subs reset and am ready to tackle Dirac when the adapter arrives.

Will issue a review when I've got the Dirac set up.

[orchardaudio]

One would need to rip on their computer and then how to get the ripped music over to the PecanPI?  I didn't see any specs for storage.

You can plug a big storage device into the PecanPi Streamer's usb port. It will also play music from network attached storage.

[Doublej]

Does the M10 have XLR outputs?

[JLM]

Does the M10 have XLR outputs?

Nope.  A "theoretical" disappointment for me, coming from balanced components.  But it sounds wonderful.