Some have suggested that I spend $200-300 +/- for a player/dac. Do you really think that will sound good or be competitive in my system? Of course not.The Node 2 was a good way for me to dip my toes into the world of streaming, but the turning point for me was when I spent some time listening to the same song on my two turntables, my CD player, and the Bluesound.
Obviously there are a number of factors that contribute to the sound quality, the recording itself, phono stages, cables, etc. Having said that, the Bluesound was the least good sounding source in my system. And I was using my Auralic Vega as the DAC instead of the Bluesound's DAC. I never thought the Bluesound sounded bad, but it wasn't as good.
After upgrading to the TEAC NT-505 I've had thoughts of going all digital. I enjoy spinning records too much and they do have their "magic", but the playing field has been leveled, if not tipped in favor of digital due to the convenience factor and access to an exponentially larger collection of music than I have at my fingertips through streaming services. I know you've said you don't plan to use any streaming services, but you should really give them a try. Sound quality is excellent and it greatly expands your music library. For the price of a few lattes, you can have an enormous library of music available.
Starting out with something like the Bluesound might not be in line with the quality of the rest of your system, but it will give you a chance to find out if streaming is for you or not. I bought mine as a demo unit and flipped it for about what I paid for it when I upgraded. The Lumin D2 or the TEAC NT-505 would be in line with the rest of your system and both are around your budget. If you're convinced that streaming is something you'll use and enjoy, then I'd just skip the lower end stuff and start there.
