What streamer?

Thanks to all who have responded. I went to a local stereo store and they demonstrated the Cambridge Audio Azure 851NQ network player along with the 851W which allowed WiFi streaming from a local iTunes library as well as Apple Music. It was touted as extremely easy to set up with little hiccups. This would exclude the need for a separate pre-amp as the 851NQ is an all in one streamer, DAC and preamp. I also saw on their website the equivalent higher end Edge NQ and W models. The Azure line has pretty favorable feedback. Has anyone had experience with the Edge network player and amp?

@ymc226 if you liked the sound quality of the Azur 851N, the Edge NQ would be a step up in quality (although perhaps not as pleasing to your ears—as you'd have to make that determination yourself).

However I assume when the 851N was demonstrated to you that Apple Music was playing via AirPlay, and not with native support. Just something you should be aware of. If you're willing to use AirPlay from the iPad app, then you have a very large number of options because almost everything supports AirPlay these days.

How is playing through AirPlay different from native support via WiFi?

Airplay streams at 16/44.1 so your ripped CD's will stream unmolested. Higher bit/sample rates will be down-sampled, which is only cause for concern if you have some high res you'd like to stream at its native rate.

No, airplay converts your 16/44.1 cd to apple lossless. Airplay is junk.