If you had to start all over again in this day and age

Thanks ovine. Although my knowledge of traditional equipment and its innards and tech has done me and my customers well throughout the years, I know next to nothing of this new digital stuff.
I understood "dac" and "case" in your post but I have no clue what a Pi 4 is nor "volumio" or where to download it on.

You know what is really putting me off on this streaming stuff? I can’t own the music. My tastes in music run rather tight. I am NOT an "overall" music lover by any means. "Hip-Hop" or "Rap" will never see the inside of this house ( except for one very hauntingly beautiful rap I heard as a prelude to a Blue Man Group show) as well as Michael Bolton or Barry Manilow or Janis Joplin or Kenny G and God forbid, Alanis Morrisette.

I have bought entire albums for just one song. There are only a few classical reproductions I like. In short, I’m rather "selective" with most of my preference in note structure associated with minor cord grouping.

It makes me wonder if this whole streaming thing is right for a person such as myself as opposed to finding a song, buying it for $1.99, burning it on a cd and playing it on what I consider a very good player.

That's fair - that "ownership" versus "renting" aspect is a hurdle for some.  If you're happy enough without the streaming then just keep on with what you're doing.  Surely not for everyone.

Wireless streaming of FLAC and Amazon Music HD (which I've already done). There's no difference between streaming and a CD ... except convenience and having a massive library at hand. Bits is bits.

And I would have stopped creeping up the upgraditis speaker ladder and just gone straight to the top of my wishlist. It would have been cheaper.

I took a long time to jump into streaming, but a year or two ago bought a Bluesound Vault 2. For around $1200 it includes a 2 terrabyte hard drive so I can burn cd's as well as stream from Spotify Premium andTidal... BTW, Spotify has improved its bandwidth so while not cd quality it is closer. If I discover music that I want to own I buy the cd's.

I might buy better B&W speakers, but the subs I built using DM16 (Prototype 801) drivers makes me happy with my crystal clear 803's, especially since the subs are powered by my Audire Forte, which the Audio Emporium's online museum stated had, "Gargantuan Bass".