Question Suggestions for foundational parts of a longer term vinyl setup

[twinkletoes]

My nightmare of a brain and itchy wallet finger are getting jittery again. I'm just pondering the merits of upgrading the WiiM Mini purely at a theoretical level at this stage and trying to understand what costlier kit actually gets me. I would imagine that they should offer better build quality and components, but whether than translates into audible benefits is another matter.

One thing I've noticed is absolutely zero coverage anywhere of the ARCAM ST25 and I find that really weird. The A5/A15/A25 have all had plenty of reviews and the ST25 is available to buy but there's not a single review anywhere of it. I find that rather perplexing so have asked ARCAM what that's all about because that alone is enough to put me off.

Is this common? I'd have assumed that if you've just had a successful launch of a new bunch of amps and you follow that up with some new streamers, that you have the chance to snare a bunch of sales. The ST5 received a lukewarm reception, so does this imply that ARCAM know they've launched another sub-par streamer and so they haven't sent out loan units for review? Even then, I'd expect stockists to put out some sort of coverage.

It's very odd. I think ARCAM have a couple of all-in-one streamers due to release imminently (SA35 and SA40) but that shouldn't delay reviews of a standalone streamer, should it? They are somewhat positioned as a "family" of products (even though you'd never buy all three), so maybe that's it.

Dont worry about reviews ive owned many products that are hardly muttered about, Sugden for example or the Nait 50 I have just bought nearly nothing online or in publications.

Blusound have just released some very intreating updates to there there dac/streamer range, the Icon and the new Node. These have room correction, and that really does bring about some tangible benefits. But it comes at cost but worth investigating.

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

Dont worry about reviews ive owned many products that are hardly muttered about, Sugden for example or the Nait 50 I have just bought nearly nothing online or in publications.

Blusound have just released some very intreating updates to there there dac/streamer range, the Icon and the new Node. These have room correction, and that really does bring about some tangible benefits. But it comes at cost but worth investigating.

Subscribing to follow the journey..
Similarly I have just bought a NAIT50 and considering relocation of the a WiiM Ultra to bedroom duty and replacement with new Node Icon, although balanced outputs worthless into NAIM 5PIN DIN

 

[twinkletoes]

Subscribing to follow the journey..
Similarly I have just bought a NAIT50 and considering relocation of the a WiiM Ultra to bedroom duty and replacement with new Node Icon, although balanced outputs worthless into NAIM 5PIN DIN

I run the wiim straight in to a DAC the qutest in this case, use everything in the main system. It's all the amp I need with such sensitive speakers, I can easily achieve 100db constant levels at just over a a quarter turn. It s a very capable preformer that im sure it will get repackaged into another product at sompoint.

It actually sounds almost like my sugden a21 with just alot more control and grunt.

the stand out for me is the phono stage it really is quite nice easily surpassing my MS mx vynl.

Best bit though it didnt cost me a penny on a trade in. The sugden has gone up so much in price over the years I got back what payed for it.