Best Mods for a Mac-mini used as a Music Server

@sbank 

While I strongly suspect that your assessments & prediction [that I will eventually jump into the deep end of the pool] are absolutely correct, I am refraining from doing so at this point in time.  My nature is to be pretty fastidious with purchases, so I tend to dabble in the more shallow end of the pool until I decided whether or not to expend the capital to get serious.  In my mind, going Mac-mini is precisely that.  I know going into it that it is not THE way to go, but I do not have enough experience with the whole music server/streaming experience to justify, in my mind, going for broke.  I would be totally pissed at myself were I to drop $10~15k on a set up & then decide it was not the right choice for me.  Does that make sense?
@n80 

Thanks for article!

@erik_squires 

Upgraded power supply makes totally good sense!  Any recommendations on where I could acquire a high-quality, linear power supply?  Honestly, I do not even know what a Mac-mini requires nor how much it can tolerate.

OldManDave

Hi OP,
I don't know much about your particular Mac, but here's' one interesting place to get you started.
You can find a lot of info just by googling "Mac Mini Linear Power Supply"

@erik_squires 

2018 Mac-mini w/ 6-core I-5 chip, 8gig RAM & 512gig of flash SSD - "brand new" Apple refurbished model!  In fact, I am leaving in the next 5min to go pick it up from the Apple Store.

Forgot the link

https://uptoneaudio.com/products/mac-mini-dc-conversion-linear-fan-controller-kit-mmk

The nice thing about the Mac Mini is that if this all blows up in your face and you hate it as a music server it remains a perfectly cable little PC you can use for something else.

I am currently using an old iMac as my music server through a modestly priced DAC using iTunes and Apple Remote (very convenient). CDs are ripped to ALAC using the free XLR app. 

Currently I'm perfectly happy with this super inexpensive set up and found the SQ to be very close to that of CD on a decent CDP. Sound is warmer and a little less bright that CD.....which my wife actually likes better.

I do not think my ears are as critical as some here.