Arcam rPlay Hi-Fi Network Music Streamer with Built-in DAC, Wi-Fi, DTS Play-Fi, Apple Airplay, UPnP, Analog & Digital Output

I bought this after reading a review in a Sunday Newspaper. I have had a Sonos Play 5 for a few years, but lately I have being going back to an Audio Technica turntable and an Onkyo Amp. I still wanted the sonos for my Streaming and also my substantial music collection on my NAS but my gadgets were taking over the lounge. Step up the Arcam rPlay.It's a nice size, mine is now discreetly tucked away behind my tv cabinet, about two feet away from my router.Setting it up didn't go without a hitch. I connected it to my amp, attached the wifi aerial switched on and went for the WPS option. All the LED light sequences went as described and according to the instructions all was good. It wasn't, I could not find it on my network. Try again, light sequence ok but still no network. Was the device faulty? I connected it to my router with a network cable and bingo, it was there.I downloaded the Play-Fi app and started listening to some streamed music, but I wanted a wireless connection. I did a bit of searching and there is a more up to date manual on the Arcam website.I got my Arcam ready for wireless connection again, and as advised reset my Sky Q router. It worked, lovely sound from my streaming account. The app has internet radio and also easily able to access all my music on my NAS.So far it does exactly what I wanted, I could have waited to see if the price comes down, but I suspect that won't be soon. It is a premium piece of kit .A couple of minor niggles, the app is a bit fiddly but once you work it out it is fine although it doesn't support cross fade or gap less playback.I am very satisfied with it and there is one less piece of tech on view, so happy partner too.

Ignore any bad reviews, this is a superb streamer and stands up to comparison against much more expensive streaming devices from the likes of Cyrus and Naim (I have both these brands and when plugged into the same pre-amp swear you can't tell the difference!). I can only assume that the flakey connections reported in other reviews are caused by poor network speed, however if you are streaming hi-res 24 bit files you will almost certainly need an ethernet connection. You will get the most out of your music library, Qobuz or Spotify subscription by streaming direct form your Mac, iPhone or iPad via Apple AirPlay, although the 3rd party Play-fi app (free to rPlay users) is OK. If hi-res 24 bit streaming is your objective I can't recommend this product highly enough.

I had been looking for a steamer which would give me access to internet radio, some of which is high quality, and a steamer service as the market matures.Some of the money asked for seemed to me significantly excessive, and I was looking for a piece of kit with digital output so that I could make the best use of my Cyrus Dac Xp Signature. Via the coax output the sound is expansive and high quality. The set up was easy- use hard wide ethernet, and allow 10 minutes using the android app.I reckon this saved me a grand. Five stars.

The player has noticeable improvement of sound quality over the Squeezebox I have used for some years. The only controlling app Play Fi however failed to function normally. After connecting, it never succeeded in playing a full album smoothly encountering frequent dropouts and lost connection with the network wired NAS media server. These never happened to my gears which have performed satisfactorily with technology more than 5 years old. There is no alternative replacement app. The only choice is to return the item. A score of 4 is given to hardware, and -2 to software and waste of time.

Compact, easy to use, good sounding and solid-performing without spending a fortune.