I got my stereo back after almost 20 years!

marktomaras,

I used aiff. 

And now you got me worried I made the wrong choice!

Bob

No, AIFF is fully uncompressed with zero loss, you made the correct choice. You're in a good position, DAC technology changes fast, which means they depreciate faster than speakers, amps, and analog gear.  If you have a budget in the neighborhood of $2k, you can get a lot for it.

i cannot speak for all the myriad DACs out there, but I can speak with confidence about my setup, which is excellent.

PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC mk II
($4,000 new, $1350-$1450 used)

Mac mini, external hard disk, $90, basic but high quality Transparent USB cable.

CDs ripped in AIFF, some high res music files in various better than CD resolutions, subscription to Tidal HiFi with full CD quality streaming, music control software by Roon.

this seems to all be within your budget.  This setup sounds absolutely outstanding. I'm sure there are several ways to get better sound, but this keeps fairly close pace with my analog rig worth $7k!

I very highly recommend Roon software.  Simply amazing.  I also recommend dropping Spotify in favor of Tidal Hifi; you can't beat uncompressed!

hope this is useful info, enjoy!

Congratulations on getting your house back, and on surviving twenty years of living with your mother-in-law. Damn!

"I really can't hear much of a difference between Spotify, my ripped music on my Macbook or the transport."

jzzmusician -Your unselfishness and charity towards your MinL is to be commended.  Glad you are getting back to listening as you want.  Is your above statement a bad thing?  Maybe not.  I certainly can't tell you with any certainty spending on a new DAC or upgrading your front end is going to make a huge difference to your listening enjoyment.  Seems like you already have some good gear. Maybe consider upgrading your cabling? (interconnects, speaker cables, & power cords)  I've been very happy with Pangea PCs, Morrow Audio ICs (MA-4) and Morrow Audio SP-4 speaker cables.  Clear Day double shotgun speaker wire was also VERY good but I give a slight edge in clarity to the Morrow SP-4.  I used to think "wire is wire" but when someone loaned me some different speaker cables to compare to the JPS Labs wire I had been using (and having replaced old Monster cable with the JPS Labs wire before that), there was no denying the difference better wire made.  

FWIW, we are a similar age and my system is listed.  I have a Schiit Gungnir w/V-Link 192 for Macbook Air/USB playback of CDs ripped to external HD using ALAC into iTunes.  I went back and forth when first starting out comparing ALAC vs WAV.  I couldn't hear a difference so went with ALAC  given the convenient metadata management it allows.  Playback is via BitPerfect.  I use the Gungnir for listening to Spotify Premium as well.  While I can hear differences between CD playback and Spotify, I would not call them huge.  I'd also note the quality of recordings on Spotify are not all the same - some Spotify recordings sound way better than others. Maybe just a reflection of the quality of the original material???  Of 3 playback options, however (direct CD playback, ripped CD, Spotify) my preference is my ripped files.    I do tend to buy CDs of music I really like that was discovered on Spotify.  

Schiit allows an in home trial period for the Gungnir.  There are other on-line sellers that allow in home trials as well:  Audio Advisor and Music Direct, for example.  Regarding wire, check out The Cable Company.  They have a cable lending library.  Morrow has a good in-home trial program.  You can also save a ton buying used there.  Paul Laudati at Clear Day is a gem and great to do business with.  

I doubt anyone can predict what YOUR ears will hear but unless you've already done it, my suggestion is consider spending your upgrade $ on better wire.  Have fun, enjoy the music and let us know what you like to listen to. 

You mention that you've been working on your current setup for 5 months.  How long has it been stable (complete) and you have you been sitting and listening to it?  In addition to possible break-in issues (especially with rebuilt speakers), after so many years away from a high-resolution system, it may take some time for your ears to become readjusted.  It's possible that as you become attuned to the new system's sound, you will begin to notice differences you didn't before.  I'd let things settle in before I spent significant money.  Dick