At the Aurender A15's heart sits a dual-mono AKM4490 DAC with MQA full-decoding going out to balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) analogue outputs. The DAC also decodes PCM files up to 32bit/768kHz and DSD up to DSD512.

Aurender's cached playback feature utilises an innovative internal solid state cache. Once any track, album, or playlist is added to the queue, the content is immediately downloaded to the internal cache memory for playback. By caching tracks to the solid state drive, electrical and acoustic noise generated from spinning disks, moving heads and motors are entirely eliminated, says the company. We're informed that this technology results in lower demand on overall system resources and power supplies, less wear-and-tear on internal storage drives, increased reliability and most importantly, superior audio performance.

Around the rear are two bays for user-installable 2.5-inch HDDs or SSDs of up to 8TB, which should be enough for the average listener. Up front, and taking the lead from the N20, you'll find a 6.9-inch full-colour LCD screen taking up much of the aluminium faceplate and shows album cover art along with the artist's name and song title on the “now playing” display.

Other audio-related upgrades include a dual-mono linear power supply, double-isolated LAN port and an FPGA-based precision clock.

Operationally, A15 can function as a digital hub streaming from NAS or its internal storage, as well as Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify Connect and Internet Radio. When set to use its variable output, it can perform as a preamplifier allowing gain adjustment from the front panel, IR remote or the Aurender Conductor app.

Aurender's A15 can also accept other digital sources via its optical or coaxial digital inputs to use its internal DAC. Additionally, system expansion is made possible by the provided Audio Class USB 2.0 output.

Supported on both IOS and Android platforms, the Aurender Conductor app enables content control from your mobile device where streaming service and local content can be conveniently merged and playlists managed.

The Aurender A15 is available now, in silver or black, priced at £8,900.

Visit Aurender for more information