Elite Audio Sixteen Streamer Showdown: See Who Came Out on Top!

[@davidrivera2165]

Extremely enlightening shootout. Thank you for your hard work and magnificent contribution to our hifi enthusiast community. Cheers from Clearwater, Florida.

[@rumbolzpunktde]

Would be interested in an battle between the best of each group to find out if more money is always better. Double the money will not bring double the quality. Maybe 20%?

[@EliteAudioUK]

I think that two of the tests showed this (Innuos Pulse v SOtM Bundle) and the XACT v Innuos Statement Next Gen. Generally speaking, the most expensive won, but with exceptions (Electrocompaniet Rena S2). It was however some fun that everyone enjoyed, including us. Cheers, Mark :)

[@elthamlad468]

Super test. As a bit of a cheeky surprise test I'd have loved to see the winners of the cheaper tests blind tested against some more expensive rivals to see if people can identify the more expensive devices and whether this generated some unexpected results? 😊

[@PB-tc6hw]

I am with you on this! A way of doing this could be by each participants noting each devices on a scale of 1 to 10, then compiling the score. Maybe a surprise or two ?

[@amalgamus1]

Hello! During the second test, you showed an image of the Volumio Rivo but mentioned the Volumio Rivo Plus. Which of the two Volumio models did you test - Volumio Rivo Plus or Volumio Rivo?

[@bin.x]

what's the music source? tidal max? apple music lossless? or local flac / dsf / wav files?

[@chengo51]

How far in SQ the Electrocompaniet could go compare to pricier streamers ?

[@RogerWebster-ht3jr]

Interesting event and outcomes - wish I could've been there! Did you also experiment with the tube-rolling for the La Scala dac as advertised previously? As one of I suspect several La Scala dac owners it would be interesting to know outcomes for this too.

[@EliteAudioUK]

Hi Roger, we did late in the afternoon - the stock valves replaced by some tasy NOS. The DAC sounded better with the valve swap in my opinion. Cheers, Mark :)

[@RogerWebster-ht3jr]

@@EliteAudioUK Thanks for reply Mark - can you specify which NOS valves? There's a thread on PFM regarding the La Scala and which valves offer the best performance.

[@ayup1234]

It was a great day and really interesting. Thanks to Mark and all the team for being such great hosts. The event is always a highlight in my calendar. I noticed the biggest difference for where you were room during Andrews tube rolling demo. At the front to my ears it was incredibly bright with a really shallow sound stage. Moving further back everything balanced out and opened up. Special mention needs to go to the Woodfired pizzas for lunch. I also discovered some amazing artists from the demo tracks to add to my playlists and met some amazing fellow enthusiasts.

[@indrakumarc73]

I received the Luxman NT-07 today, connected to the Accuphase E-280 and also to the TV via HDMI ARC and USB connection to an external SSD that contains FLAC music files and folders. I had a Marantz 40N before, which was below average. Luxman is on another level, with stunning clarity and a pitch black background. Totally happy:-).

[@JDavidG.700]

It is my1st time on your channel & enjoyed it immensely. Now I'm a subscriber. I'm in the country in the US, so the dialect is interestingly entertaining, also. The question I would have is with the understanding that in your test, if there was a built in dac, that is what was used. Correct? I have the Bluesound and I connected it to what I hope is an outstanding dac and I am curious as to how this would stack up against the big boys in your showdown? Cheers!

[@justasimplefox]

I hope we will move quickly to more streamers only with separate dacs and leave all the devices with build in dacs behind us 🙏

[@paulomontero12]

U missed the opportunity to really mix it up. Put medium priced dac on the more expensive category and see what happens?

[@EliteAudioUK]

That would have been intersting. Next time! ;) Cheers, Mark

[@gr8ednz]

How come Antipodes wasn’t in the mix?

[@EliteAudioUK]

Good morning and a great question. There were so many other devices we could have included accross the board, but we had to make a choice based on time available and also new product launches (e.g. XACT) that some people have never had a chance to listen to. Cheers, Mark :)

[@goodsound4756]

The DAC has more impact on SQ than a transport.

[@REX4340]

Streamers are digital transports only. Streamer DACs have er DACs...you can of course use a streamer DAC as a transport tho😊

[@Ranghocsing]

I was waiting for this video…. Your old match ups are really good…

[@EliteAudioUK]

Good morning and thank you, hope you enjoyed it. Cheers, Mark :)

[@tamil.f.3734]

No Antipodes at all? Not a single model? I wonder why?

[@timsmith1668]

No RS130 ?

[@EliteAudioUK]

Hi Tim, thanks for the comment and there is no doubt the RS130 would have done well (see what the 250a did!). The swapping of devices was very complex for the team as 'handshaking' on the network and with dacs, can sometimes not run smoothly. We were also aware that even with what we had set up, we ran till about 3.30pm on the day which is a LONG time to keep people comparing devices. There were a significant number of other devices we could have included too. Cheers, Mark :)

[@timsmith1668]

@@EliteAudioUK Fair comment. Perhaps the next battle should be a high end shootout for transports, Antipodes, Lumen, Aurender, Innuos and Hifi Rose to name but a few. 🍿

[@adsph]

Really enjoyed this one.

[@EliteAudioUK]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it :) Cheers, Mark

[@jiyadas]

You should have borrowed the Aurender, Auralic and Lumin to compare as well probably the highest selling streamer group. I said borrowed as i understand you dont carry them. Good video enjoyed it!

[@reinhard1888]

That would've been great for people watching the video. However, if I were a dealer, I would not do it but only compare the products I offer. Adrian from Audio Excellence from Canada gives good arguments for not including products he doesn't carry in comparisons.

[@paulomontero12]

Too expensive for most chaps out there.

[@johnratcliffe6438]

Consumers should know the truth. Do it properly, or don't bother. ​@@reinhard1888

[@mymusic5772]

Cheers Mark

[@EliteAudioUK]

You are very welcome :)

[@titntin5178]

Shame you didn't test only transports. Most audiophiles will have a DAC they love and don't need or want an all in one solution. Still interesting, just irrelevant for many of us (I'm, not giving up my TT2 for any other DAC). Thanks anyway, always enjoy your videos.

[@Ruger62]

It's such a waster of money to buy a streamer with a DAC in it when one already has a loved DAC. A shame no one in the industry has gotten their head out of the sand about this except the DYI Raspberry guys.

[@martinlindberg1983]

Thank you, but still a lot of confusion about what people call a "streamer"... When you mentioned that you used the internal DAC (when a DAC was build in) I was very disappointed. Please understand that many many Audiophiles has their own dedicated and very personal chosen DAC and want to gain knowledge about a dedicated "streamer" (digital out) only, better call it a transport if you will. Your test involves too many factors that will tailor the sound to directions that nobody can handle - is it the DAC, the transport or perhaps a better/worse app vs Roon?! An "Audiophile" wants the best possible performance in every separate gear to gain control and tailor the sound to his/hers preference. This test is of course interesting for an all-in-all piece, but that next level thing, is to me, missing and wanted. Cheers!

[@titntin5178]

Exactly the same mate. I use chord dacs and only interested in transports, as are most audiophiles. It makes this test irrelevant.

[@REX4340]

​@@titntin5178if a streamer DAC beat your separates, you'd switch, right?

[@quma001]

I was also a bit confused. I was expecting a comparison of pure Streamers (even if they have an internal DAC) going into the same external DAC.

[@Ruger62]

@@REX4340 For how much?

[@Ruger62]

Same. I too am not interested in DAC streamers. The DAC is more important for synergy. I think most streamer engines sound very close and this is why we don't see tests/shootouts on the just the streamer transport. Build a Qutest DAC with integrated Eversolo streamer engine/UI and then you'd have a product worth buying as an all inclusive unit.

[@billarmstrong5568]

I had a chance last week to directly compare the pre-amp abilitiies of the Eversolo and Classe Delta as cited by Andrew Robinson. And although admittedly it wasn't done blind, three of us agreed the delta (pardon the pun) in the Classe's favour was unmissable... I believe Andrew is an honest reviewer but he hit the corner flag on this particular occasion. Thx 4 all your hard graft; cool test👍🍻

[@razzman2987]

Compressed internet music 😮

[@tommy-6597]

funny video this one - leaving out arguably one of the very top streamers in the world (the Antipodes Oladra) after Antipodes had the common sense to remove elite audio from their dealer network due to their terrible customer service and lack of porfessionalism. The video should be titled - 'top streamer from all the ones elite can sell you, excluding better ones they are not good enough to sell'

[@paulomontero12]

How many pints 🍻

[@70grade37]

Innous beats all of these.

[@jrdavisphd]

What a long-winded, uninteresting intro. Elite audio at what looks like a shack with a gravel parking lot and an off-kilter chip wagon. Oh, my.

[@JDavidG.700]

This was my 1st experience @ Elite Audio and I enjoyed it all. Are you a competitor?