What have I missed in the last 12 years?

I'm a fan of streamcasting since local radio is *meh*.  Connection speeds are up, so there's less dropouts now.  But that'll depend on your wire...

The 'connection/wire wars' continue unabated, as do discussions on most anything else.  Tweek as you wish or can afford. ;)

Digital enhancements fall into the same conundrum.

That's the Cliff's Notes version, but that's MHO.

Sounds like you've got a good stack in the meantime. *S*  I'd lurk around for awhile and get your feet wet....education is free, mistakes get costly and frustrating.

And, of course, remember the old saw about 'opinions'....;)

The Rum Runner is the name of the night club where Duran Duran got their break. Black sabbath played regularly at that club too. The owner mortgaged his home to finance five young kids....

Be prepared for sticker shock. Sorry but that is a fact these days. Good luck.

@rhum_runner,

You picked a very good time to take 12 years off from the hobby. I think a lot of concepts have solidified over that time and consequently you are likely to have saved a lot of money that you may have otherwise wasted.

So, here we go......

First, it's confirmed. Vinyl is here to stay, at least for the near future. Keep your record collection and add to it when you feel like it. There are lots more new releases, re-releases, re-masters, etc now than there was 12 years ago. Go enjoy National Record Store Day next spring and go enjoy searching through the bins at one or more of the new record stores that have likely popped up in your city.

Second, digital music streaming has become mainstream and quality digital music hardware has exploded. It is available at all price-points. Decent sounding USB DACs can be had for as little as $99, but you can also pay 10's of thousands of dollars for top-tear DACs. Digital streamers, like the $499 Bluesound Node 2 can be used to stream your music that you rip to a hard drive or NAS, as well as stream from a service like Tidal, Dweezer, Spotify, etc. For $20 a month on Tidal you can stream unlimited high bitrate digital audio. There's no way you could have ever bought as much music for only $20 a month 12 years ago, and the streams sound good.

BTW, your existing system is perfectly fine and it will be costly to get anything better. Just do some homework on streaming and ripping digital audio and add to your current system. After you've done that, decide if it's important to upgrade/change your hardware and decide how much of an investment it is worth to you. 

It's a really good time to be an audiophile or music lover. Enjoy your newly re-found hobby and ENJOY THE MUSIC. And get those kids involved.........

With both embracers and detractors; Class D amplification has gone from an audiophile novelty to fairly common with a variety of manufacturers to choose from.