Waht is the best streamer for the money under $2500 (no DAC or storage required).

Good choice with the PS Audio. I would have answered your original question by recommending the Bricasti M5. Best streamer under $5K and I have tried a bunch of them!

I'm quite happy with the PS, thanks... Would have been nice to have the resources to put several units in line and were able to sample several options  against each other.   My 

i have the nt505 and its been sitting at the authorized repair facility for a month now waiting on a specific part from Japan. Covid19 along with Onkyo apparently closing its doors has added to the delay.

The dual ak4497 dac is stellar imho and can do dsd512. Streams like a champion.

As far as it being robust... I don’t know. I’m assuming the replacement part (usb board) is perhaps v2 now?

Btw - Onkyo which handled several brands dropped the ball and now Klipsch is handling everything Onkyo had under their umbrella.

FWIW - the nt505 owes its design to Esoteric and Lumin.

I have no idea how many of these are out there, but I’d buy it again because of the assumption that most things don’t break.

I haven't heard it paired with the clock, but what few reviews are out there state its a welcome and noticeable improvement.

I'm guessing you could purchase both for $2500 or less if you search hard enough.

How bout wayyyyy under 2500? At the risk of being unpopular (I got lots of practice in high school), dissatisfaction with dynamics and pace as compared with my ’pre-streamer’ days leading to less musical engagement, lead me to replace my SOTM SMS-200 neo using Sbooster 12v lpsu once again with the 2011 Mac mini I had used prior to buying it. The musical engagement and dynamics quickly returned to their pre-Covid (and pre-streamer levels:) So too did my interest in listening again. It should be noted I use Audirvana exclusively (with Tidal and Quobuz) as it had always sounded better to me than Roon (past iterations anyway-- that in itself is probably a can o’ worms) so that may be a factor. There are all kinds of things on-line about how high processing power (like in a dedicated computer CPU in a relatively quiet Mac mini) may make things ’easier’/lower the workload and thus lead to less noise transmission etc with certain protocols or how the improvement comes from the fact that I’m eliminating an additional renderer separate from the computer source), but i’m sure none of this is measurable and of course, there are just as many opinions to the contrary:) Fortunately I am clueless technically, so I go by ears not measurements. I love gear though, and I soooo wanted to enjoy my system more with the much lauded Sotm/Sbooster combo and maybe upgrade to a SOTM Ultra etc. when that one came out etc, but after a year streaming and trying hard to love more what I was hearing because Hans B. and the internet-at-large said I should, on a whim I put back my Mac mini and am now much happier. I would still love to try an Auralic or a Lumin or a Roon Nucleus ala Steve Huff, but for the time being, the convenience, musicality, minimal noise and versatility (HBOnow!) of the Mac mini win the day. No dropouts ever either. I have no clue why my Mac mini should be more involving musically (maybe I just lucked into a ’special’ Mac mini? HA!)-- but it does bear saying in a thread such as this that it has been, just in case someone fears leaning in that direction. Have courage lad! I’m with you.