Streamer creates a Wow experience

@soix Thats it..I think you’ve hit it on the head. That’s been my concern with moving to a Denafrips in the comparable range of offerings (at least with the way my system is going). However or whatever it is that renders a more subdued high frequency detail or shimmer, seems many who finally get the Pegasus say what you’re indicating here. I don’t know if I can justify getting into the Aquarius price range, but the Pegasus seems a remarkable value proposition. I’ve also been curious about the new Ladder Schumann, also compares favorably against the Pegasus. But don’t know if the I2s pinout configs would match up with the Mercury. 

Nonetheless, very cool of you for sharing your insights. Helps many of us here feel better about embracing the latest streaming possibilities. 

Your journey to separate Streamer mirrors my own.

I was an early user of the ZEN Stream, and was impressed by this little unit. I have a DAC that offers I2S and I really wanted that, so I bought the Matrix X-SPDIF 2 USB Interface with I2S. I used that between the ZEN Stream and my DAC and got another level of clarity with that.

I have now moved on to the Musica Pristina A Capella III which is a dedicated Streamer with native I2S outputs. Astonishing upgrade! Everything improved, including lower noise floor, crystal clarity and certified Roon Ready support.

Talk to Kevin a Musica Pristina. He is easy to work with, and incredibly knowledgeable.

Wow is right.  I just splurged based on this thread and everyone's advice and some more googling and got the iPower Elite.  I had just ordered the Japanese SHM version of The Police Greatest Hits but hadn't listened.  The first cut, Roxanne, is well known and the sequence of play was the Zen Stream with its standard power supply, then the CD.  Obviously the CD was much better in every way.  These play through a Canare coax cable into the "DAC" of a Marantz SA10, then into a Luxman 590AXii (Class A) integrated and then into Yamaha NS-5000 speakers, so I consider that setup a "compact reference system".  So then I switched the power supply to the iPower Elite.  Heard it right away.  All streaming just wirelessly from free Spotify from my Macbook Air laptop.  Now as recommended will try a trial of Quobuz.  It does seem like overkill to spend almost as much on the power supply as the streamer, but in this case, where the system is pretty much higher end I guess anything that's a weak link like the standard Zen Stream power supply shows up as such.

You can’t really assess streaming seriously with Spotify.  Report back after you get Qobuz. 

+1 @eisen0169. Enjoy!