maybe I've missed it but do you need a streamer? According to the spec on your amp it has a "media player" which sounds like a built in streamer.
At any rate there isn't going to be any significant sonic difference between a Bluesound Node and the bog standard PC . The Node is a computer peripheral masquerading as an Audio component. Part of it's budget went for a DAC which you will not be using. I have used a PC (MacAir) running Audirvana Plus at the same time as I had a Node in the same system and did many comparisons. They sound a little different, but my preference would vary by the track. Your dealer obviously has an agenda--to make a profit from selling the node.
In theory the Node ought to sound better than a PC, since it is optimized for music playback, and PCs are not, though a Program such as Audirvana Plus shuts down the other stuff on the PC and tries to optimize it for music playback. I understand why the Node should sound a tad better, but it simply did not in my experience.
With the Node one doesn't get dropouts as each new email arrives, and the BlueOS works pretty well to control things from a tablet, and there are other reasons to invest in it, not the least IMO that I don't like having an actual computer in my Audio System. If you spend much higher on a streamer, it will sound better than the PC.
At any rate there isn't going to be any significant sonic difference between a Bluesound Node and the bog standard PC . The Node is a computer peripheral masquerading as an Audio component. Part of it's budget went for a DAC which you will not be using. I have used a PC (MacAir) running Audirvana Plus at the same time as I had a Node in the same system and did many comparisons. They sound a little different, but my preference would vary by the track. Your dealer obviously has an agenda--to make a profit from selling the node.
In theory the Node ought to sound better than a PC, since it is optimized for music playback, and PCs are not, though a Program such as Audirvana Plus shuts down the other stuff on the PC and tries to optimize it for music playback. I understand why the Node should sound a tad better, but it simply did not in my experience.
With the Node one doesn't get dropouts as each new email arrives, and the BlueOS works pretty well to control things from a tablet, and there are other reasons to invest in it, not the least IMO that I don't like having an actual computer in my Audio System. If you spend much higher on a streamer, it will sound better than the PC.