Bluesound Powernode Wireless Multi-Room High Resolution Music Streaming Amplifier - Black

UPDATE 9/2024. After 2 years, the unit completely died. I opted to have it serviced out of warranty at my local electronics shop, turns out a new power supply was required. The cost for repair was around about 300 USD. I have noticed the unit tends to stay warm. It was housed within a small bookshelf, not completely sealed, but without much ventilation. I have since moved it to the top shelf for maximum ventilation. I don’t know what caused the power supply to fail, but the unit should not have failed this quickly. Although I am disappointed, I still think this unit is very good for what it is. Now my original review: Not a whole lot I can add to the positive reviews. This is paired with my B&W bookshelf speakers for a rich and detailed sound. There is almost no setup time right out of the box. Although the amp is class D, there is no harshness or leanness with B&W speakers. This system just delivers sound in a pleasing way. Lots to be said for technology, class D is very efficient and runs cooler in a small form factor. The only downside, it may not drive low impedance speakers to high volume levels due to insufficient current. I like the support for Apple Airplay, a Wi-Fi connection is used to transmit sound from your iPad and is technically a higher bandwidth than the lofi Bluetooth protocols supported by IOS devices. A nice bonus you can use any remote, it will learn the codes from you favorite remote. The built in MQA hardware support requires an upgraded Tidal account. While the politics of MQA are interesting, what matters to the end consumer is how it sounds. After listening for a week, my take on MQA it’s sort of like a sophisticated tone control. It can make a track sound more spacious and airy with more clarity and definition of instruments. While some tracks sound better with MQA, can’t tell with other tracks. CD quality tracks that sound “flat“ stand to benefit the most from MQA. You will be able to do some AB comparisons in Tidal, judge for yourself. I personally like MQA as an option.

Initially purchased this item and loved it. Sound quality was great. Worked really well with my speakers and setup. Two weeks after getting the amp something broke internally and it stopped sending a signal to my speakers. I was still able to hook up headphones and hear music, but connecting speakers was a no go. I enjoyed the sound quality enough to give the product another chance. I returned the first amp and purchased a second bluesound once I got my refund. The second unit lasted a few weeks longer. However the device has now stopped working again. I'm outside my return date which means I just threw away $1000. Fantastic. Do not purchase this item. It sounds good, but the build quality is clearly lacking and it seems liable to break after just a few weeks of use.

Great product. Exceeded all my expectations. Clear detailed sound punchy quick bass lovely sound quality. POWERNODE easily handled B&W and Focal Aria speakers—even my 802 Nautilus B&W. Outstanding product. I am amazed at what it can do.

Best seller. Good product.

Couldn't be happier. This has great sound quality for the price and is super responsive. The Phone app is wonderful and easy to use. I love how you can prioritize TV over stereo and it automatically switches inputs. Using Tidal, Spotify, Alexa and other inputs without issue. By far the easiest to setup receiver I've ever had.

Do yourself a favor and stay far away from this product. I don't think you could come up with a more difficult set up to work with if you tried. And if you like listening to your music off one of the places they've chosen for you to be able to listen to music from through Wi-Fi with everything hooked up to the same Wi-Fi still is not great but doable. If you wanna use Bluetooth get ready for about an hour's worth of setup and then don't walk away from the unit for more than 10 feet. I mean there could be an easy fix to that but there is absolutely zero response ever from their customer service they'll send you to the frequently asked questions and none of them match the problem you're having they'll just take you to the 300 other problems people are having. stay away

I bought the Powernode to replace a music streamer and a separate power amp. Unlike my previous amp, the Powernode is very quiet; no hiss. It powers my Bowers and Wilkins 706 s2 speakers perfectly. I really like the Bluesound interface. I also own Yamaha's MusicCast and Denon's Heos and I prefer Bluesound.

The product creates great sound and is easy to use, but less than 3 years after purchase, there are no lights on the unit. I worked with support and they determined that it was a hardware problem, but being 3 years old, the best they could do was offer me a $475 refurbished replacement. I will never do business with them again and do not recommend anyone else buy their products either. The expected lifespan when I purchased it was 10 years+.