HiFi Rose RS150 Network Streamer Preview

With a large front touchscreen and a Bluetooth remote, you can stream music through AirPlay or straight from Tidal and Qobuz. You can watch video from RoseTube, HiFi Rose’s own curated music video library, through an HDMI 2.0 port. A premium Asahi AK4499EQ DAC promises fantastic sound quality through its balanced outputs.

Though HiFi Rose calls the RS150 a streamer, it is far more than that. A powerful preamp section with volume control, toroidal power supply, and balanced output means you can hook it directly to your favorite power amp. I’ve just received one for review and right off the bat, I can see it’s premium all the way. The chassis is made from milled aluminum and weighs nearly 30 pounds. It’s the heaviest source component I’ve encountered although to be fair, it is a fully functional preamp.

It’s easy to set up too, with AirPlay that works right out of the box. I’ve already hooked it up to an Emotive XPA-5 and once I connected to my home network with the included WiFi dongle, I was listening to a Vivaldi bassoon concerto within a few minutes. The front touchscreen is super cool and something I’ve not seen before. It’s very responsive as is the Bluetooth remote.

The RS150’s capabilities are extensive, and I’ll be spending quite a lot of time experimenting over the next couple of weeks. Watch this space for my full review!