Actually there are quite a few PCs that are as small or smaller than a Mac Mini. All of them are cheaper as well.
This one of them Acer Aspire.
Here's another called the Fit PC
Since you're using a wireless head unit, I'm not sure there will be a real difference in using any of them. I suspect not.
There's quite a few others out there as well. You could go with a full tower and just store it away using it as a server. Noise wouldn't be a factor in that setup. That takes the equation out of it having a fan or not.
For a server, I would opt for a more powerful full tower machine. And yes they can be whisper quiet as well if need be. Reason being you may in the future find more uses for it, other than just a music server.
I know many here are hell bent on a Mac, but there's always more than one way to skin a cat.
This one of them Acer Aspire.
Here's another called the Fit PC
Since you're using a wireless head unit, I'm not sure there will be a real difference in using any of them. I suspect not.
There's quite a few others out there as well. You could go with a full tower and just store it away using it as a server. Noise wouldn't be a factor in that setup. That takes the equation out of it having a fan or not.
For a server, I would opt for a more powerful full tower machine. And yes they can be whisper quiet as well if need be. Reason being you may in the future find more uses for it, other than just a music server.
I know many here are hell bent on a Mac, but there's always more than one way to skin a cat.