The overall point I was attempting to convey by using my own direct experience as an example was...the importance of understanding and managing your expectations.
I invested in digital streaming because I wanted to see if the claims made by the market were true. Vastly better quality for a relatively inexpensive investment. In my case $4K was my line in the sand and It still did not get me threre.
As others have pointed out, and I agree, it will take layers of investment to achieve your goal. It will cost you $$$$ to get streaming to sound as good as CD. What you put into it is what you will get out of it. In my case the biggest change was adding a power chord (I borrowed from my primary system) that cost 2X more than the entire set up its self and it still did not match up.
A Value Engineered System is a Long Game.
If it were me, I would take an "organic approach" and start with a versitale Dac/Preamp that will grow with your budget and the technology. You can switch/upgrade streamers, CDP/transports, cables & clocks in and out as you go.
Invest in a used unit to keep in line with your budget. Look to companies that have solid proprietary technology and upgrade policies...
https://www.lampizator.com/
https://msbtechnology.com/
https://dcsaudio.com/
What else did I learn...
A few of my peers, who are in IT and proclaimed that streaming was the greatest format of all time also invested in putting together systems for themselves using several top rated Streaming Tecnology forward units.
Every one of those guys ended up unloading thier systems.
Only one of those guys still streams regularly and that is through his mac book pro.
In my Case - I still have mine, collecting dust waiting to hook up to a secondary multi media system, but that project is on hold because my kids prefer to use thier phones and earbuds; my wife prefers pandora on the refidgerator, And I still prefer the CDP Dac playing Red Book CDs
... mange expectations... Good luck!
