Okay, so there’s not exactly a sea view from our Brighton Store but the sea breeze is definitely felt in the extremities! Thanks to Auralic however, we no longer need to venture out into the chilly sea breeze, and can stay warm and fully entertained from the comfort of our very own sofa.

We’ve recently become stockists of the fabulous Auralic range of products, and we are thoroughly impressed with them. We’ve tested and played with them extensively, comparing them to our favourite ‘high-end’ streamers, and it’s safe to say they have performed admirably.

In our biggest test, we paired the Aries G2.1 with the Vega G2.1 Streaming DAC, and put it up against a Naim streaming system - NDX 2 with XPS power supply - both systems into a Naim 282 power amp. Now, the Vega G2.1 is a Streaming DAC, and the Aries G2.1 is a standalone streamer. When you connect the two together, the Vega becomes a very high quality DAC.

“Were we surprised?”

We started with a blind test, and for a few minutes, we couldn’t be sure which was the NDX and which was the Auralic. Were we surprised? Absolutely. We listen to the NDX 2 in the shop almost every day, so we are very familiar with how it sounds, so to not be able to differentiate easily was unexpected.

That said, as we listened on the differences did become apparent. That’s not to say they were bad, not at all, just different. The NDX 2 had all of its usual Naim characteristics, presenting the music in the way we expected. The Auralic was cleaner, a bit more controlled in the lower frequencies, and overall a bit more ‘studio’ sounding, rather than a live band in the room. All of this of course depends on the music being played. I personally like the cleaner sound, but the others in the shop are very big Naim fans.

The Altair G1, Auralic’s all-in-one streamer!

Then there is the Altair G1, which stands out as a great entry to the Auralic world. It’s priced moderately and is in roughly the same area as the Naim Uniti Atom. In terms of performance, they’re similar, both being all in one systems - Streamers with power amps built inside. The sound quality of both is extremely good, however, with those same nuanced differences noted above. They offer a great alternative to the Naim Uniti range.

The basic ‘all albums’ page that shows upon opening the app.

Auralic also have their own bespoke app. Although it is basic, it has all the features needed to get the unit to do what you need from it. It is also compatible with Roon, which a lot of people already use, and it would integrate into your existing system quite easily.

Although these Auralic products aren’t ‘entry level’ pieces, as reflected in their cost, they are by no means priced above their performance! There is an Auralic product to suit everybody’s needs, and they definitely deserve a serious listen when you are upgrading your streamer, or even purchasing a streamer for the first time.

We are here in store to answer your questions by phone or email, and we can satisfy your Hi-Fi needs by offering click & collect, or delivery.

John, Paul and Chris - Audio-T Brighton

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AURALiC can be found at the following Audio-T stores