Upgrading my blusound streamer

I am using optical digital out from the blusound to the c47 pre amp, which means I’m using the DAC in the McIntosh C47
Have not tried analog out from Blusound, In other words, have not tried the DAC in the Blusound.  My thinking is how can it be better than the McIntosh.....

Have not tried coaxial 

My guess is that the DAC in the preamp will be the superior DAC too, but I'd still go ahead and do the comparison anyway.   And different cables can make a difference.   All Toslinks are not the same.   All Coax cables are not the same.   And what is the best combo for one DAC and player may not be the best for another.  The question to answer is how much do you like the DAC you have.   You may want to go about auditioning other DACs both at your dealer and in your system.  

The next question is how do you utilize your streamer.
Just for Tidal (and maybe Qobuz or the like); or is their any intent to stream music from ripped CD's or downloads?

I

Curious why you went Toslink over Coax and what Toslink are you using? I know with my Vault 2, aftermarket Coax and PC made a significant difference over the cables that came with along with a Supra Ethernet cable. I’m sure the DAC in your C47 is better than the one in your Bluesound as the one in my Cambridge 851C is better as well. I haven’t crack the case on my Vault yet, but I’m tempted to find out if there’s fuses in there to swap out. I’m sure there’s better streamers but agree a DAC is going to be a more noticeable. If you really want a significant improvement I’d explore a standalone DAC and try the Coax on your C47 first.

I just went with a optical that I had previously. I will try coax and will try Blusound DAC. But still would like a better streamer than the blusound. Can someone recommend a good one. I just think a $500 dollar DAC does my system any justice
99.9% of the time I use Tidal only. Is there a better source I should try?

If you can run ethernet cable to it, you’ll get a monumental improvement for $2k by going with the Teac NT-505 streamer dac.

Dual monaural design, fully balanced, AK4497 dacs in dual monaural, full MQA, DSD512, etc., etc...  Teac is the parent company of Esoteric, considered by some to be the ultimate in digital streaming/dacs, at upwards of $20k in price, but there is a lot of technology trickle down into the $2k Teac NT-505.  Just try and find anyone who has owned one who doesn't love it.

I own it and a Bluesound Powernode 2, and it is Major League versus Little League in quality. Lumin’s operating system can be used with the Teac and while it isn't quite as full featured as BluOS, it rivals BluOS imo and I get fewer drops with my Teac than I do with my BluSound, far fewer (none versus a few over an 8 hr period).

Perhaps you’d find a used one near $1.5k. At $1k or under, I’d look for a used Cambridge 851n or a new CXN model (I forget the exact model number) - either of these should be better than node2.