Your streamer is not the bottleneck

Most people asking me which streamer to buy are asking the wrong question. The limiting factor in most systems is not the streamer. It is the speakers, it is the electronics, and maybe the cables.

I found that out comparing a $329 WiiM Ultra with a $1,400 Eversolo A6 Master Edition for over three months. On my reference system the Eversolo won, but only by the last few per cent. In a system where most components sit in the $5,000 to $10,000 range, I am not convinced you could tell them apart after a long pause.

Why? Because a streamer can only pass on what the rest of the chain is able to show. If the speakers cannot resolve it and the electronics cannot carry it, the extra detail upstream has nowhere to go. That is why I put the money downstream first.

There is a ceiling, and I name it. Between $15,000 and $30,000 the WiiM is still viable, especially used purely as a streamer, while the Eversolo's analogue stage, linear supply and digital inputs and outputs begin to earn their keep. Above $30,000 the WiiM is no longer viable even as a streamer, and a separate streamer and DAC make more sense.

Very few of the people who ask me are anywhere near $30,000. For everyone else, the bottleneck is standing at the front of the room.