I'm a vintage audiophile using vintage 90's Denon gear and a Sonos Port to stream to B&W 630i towers from a NAS drive. The 5-star Node reviews got me to test the Node vs Port for an expected upgrade. First, a wired Ethernet connection failed to activate but a wireless WiFi connection worked. Next, it couldn't 'find' my NAS 'share' drive and it took a few calls to sort out. Last, it indexed my 14k files oddly (band name variations) where Sonos got it right. Re audio, I did a direct A-B test (Node-Port) streaming live jazz (in perfect sync) and using speakers and AKG K240 phones, they sounded parity. With FLAC streaming, the Node had a smaller soundstage and flatter EQ, perhaps more accurate but for me less inviting. Audio is subjective so it may sound better to you but the Node wasn't 'a tier above' the Port without the Sonos' stellar interface - it all works out of the box. Net, the Node is a solid choice with rare 2-way BT to headphones. I hope the next version comes with a display and remote to justify the price point. Customer Support is slow but excellent.