On Christmas night in year 2024, I had a dinner with my audiophile friend who purchased EtherStream2 network switch and Nikola2 linear power supply to upgrade from previous highend network switch and use with his dCS Vivaldi One streaming CD player.
After dining, he proposed the idea of building a better version of network switch knowing what I’m capable of from listening to Erawan flagship streamer product in his system. I confessed to him that I considered it but it’d create a dilemma with EtherStream2 + Nikola2 combo.
He understood my point and clarified the issues he had further. The switch is so small. It’s very hard to keep switch attached with isolation feet after swapping audiophile ethernet cables. Cables from Nikola2 to EtherStream2 + AirStream2 + main router are cluttering audio rack too.
At that moment, I realized that making linear power supply infrastructure and route access to network as a single box product that surpasses both EtherStream2 and Nikola2 is the solution we’re looking for. Customers can send EtherStream2 and Nikola2 to be upgraded as well.
With a clear vision in mind, I finalized Lira as a suitable companion of Erawan flagship streamer. Aside from thick aluminum chassis enclosure and footer to handle resonance and vibration control better, Lira has the improvements over EtherStream2 and Nikola2 as below:
Improvements from EtherStream2 network switch
-Bypass power switch and input socket completely improving purity of power distribution
-Optimized output for shortest path possible to supply power from output board to network switch circuit
-Upgrade input capacitor upgraded with high quality polymer hybrid design with much lower impedance
-Upgrade noise reduction capacitors with even lower ESR with improving tuning for lower impedance and current leakage
-Upgrade resistors around grounding and internal circuit components to further reduce noise in circuit
Improvements from Nikola2 linear power supply
-Add dedicated chassis ground connector to ground conditioner product
-Change output connector to gold plated XLR with very high voltage rating (same termination as HDPlex)
-Upgrade DC output cable with high quality pure copper wiring
-Upgrade diodes with Schottky design with years of listening tests with different models
-Upgrade internal wiring with high quality solid core pure copper wiring
-Upgrade output transformer with 100VA Toroidy audio grade transformer
-Upgrade stock fuse with improved dynamics and musicality
After testing Lira in a few audio shows and with highend to ultra high-end level systems using $30-50k sources from CD and vinyl as reference, I’m confident that Lira will deliver worthwhile improvements that meets ultra high-end standards.
The product price will be $1899 USD with 30-day money back guaranteed and free shipping until 30st November 2025. You can read more about Lira network station product in details before ordering with discount up to $900 USD if you upgrade from EtherStream2 and Nikola2.