In that case, I think the price would be roughly equivalent to Eversolo. If that were to happen, would it still be acceptable?
No.
At that point you start getting some really good DACs. And the combination of current Ultra with an external DAC starts to push into the High End.
Look, a WiiM Ultra + Nitsch Pietus Maximus with Multibit USB DAC runs, today, 1200 bucks. Using only the ethernet/WiFi in and USB out of the Ultra plus it's streaming... it gives you a great streamer that sounds better -when coupled with an external USB DAC- than the all in one Eversolo (the Nitsch is a stripped down version of a fancier Schiit, just the minimum functionality at the highest quality ).
And in the future, you can upgrade the DAC easily while keeping the streaming functions untouched.
If the WiiM Ultra were to move up... it would start competing with much stronger competition. If WiiM were to release a streamer only, then the volume would drop and they price would not be any cheaper. So, pretty much, at its price point, the Ultra has no competition and does a few things extremely well, the rest does at a Mid-Fi level.
If anything, I'd dump the phono preamp and put the money on some better opamps and do a balanced output. Perhaps offer an optional analog power supply as an upgrade. I would not raise the price more than 50 bucks. For fun, they could make the analog output section made with DIP sockets so people could roll the op amps.
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