adding a DAC/Streamer or what

With the rapid advancement i’ve seen/heard in DACs, diminishing returns will hit you like a brick wall on well made stand-alone DeltaSigma DACs beyond a 1000 bucks. This is not the year 2000 when it actually made sense to dump significant cash into a standalone dac. I can gaurantee you this. When PS Audio snake oil DACs charge you 5k for deltasigma, it is just a pathetic attempt in coloration and tweaks to make it sound more "analog"!. They are able to fool the older guys out there with this crap. Examples of astounding non-snake oil stand alone deltasigma dacs are Topping D90, Aune S8, etc. If you want to spend more than that, I would recommend you go for a good DAC implementation in a CD player, network player etc for the added functionality (Yamaha CD-S2100 @ 3k, Marantz ND8006 @ 1.2k etc....The Marantz is a phenomenal value unit.

Remember, when you go separate streamer transport, separate CD transport, separate DAC, etc, you are also paying for the extra/redundant fancy chassis, knobs etc. Sonically, this is also an area in hifi where separates ’can’ sound worse than a well integrated cdplayer+dac or streamer/networkplayer+dac. In other words, separates are not always better here. So be careful.

The only exception here is R2R DACs. They are in a class of their own and deserve the stand-alone DAC purchase.If you are a big fan of the analog like sound (but without all the pestilence of a turntable setup), go with the R2R offerings like Denafrips Ares II, Denafrips Venus, Musician Pegasus, etc and prepare to get mind blown.

So, in short,
IF you’re looking into Delta Sigma DACs, buy a good DS dac implementation in a streamer or CD player/streamer/combo unit instead.

IF you’re looking into R2R DACs, but strapped for cash, buy a cheap streamer or cd player for use as a transport and buy a good stand alone R2R DAC.

My recommendation would be that you get something like a Marantz ND8006 (streamer+cd player+dac), which has digital outs. This unit will get you to the peak of what DeltaSigma can get you. When you have cash and looking for a separate DAC, get a R2R Denafrips Venus or similar (in this case, the ND8006 will serve as a transport). This will have all bases covered. Don’t throw your cash on a standalone DeltaSigma DAC.

Good luck.

Thanks to Raw33 for starting a great thread and all those who've contributed.  I am where you were last fall.  Cheers.

the voicing of modern dacs goes well beyond the specific d-to-a conversion technology used -- modern bitstream chips can be voiced to sound very very analog-like (and virtually indistinguishable to r2r conversion units, be it through discrete resistor ladders or on silicon equivalents) -- it is mostly about the power supply design and analog output stage design ... smart designers often bring the tonal ’magic’ of high quality output transformers, or vacuum tubes, or just a plain ol’ super high quality, ultra clean amplifier circuit -- to enhance the sound to be pleasant to the ears

I would say the key is getting figuring out what sound profile you enjoy.  Pass with Kef Reference 5 is brilliant match.  The question becomes are you looking for something to add a hint of warmth, dead neutral or a bit of brightness.  

Everyone says they want neutral, but in practice, few things are actually neutral.  For instance, your Kef Speakers are generally considered forward/bright but you are pairing them with an amp that is generally considered warm. The net effect is likely neutral to somewhat forward/bright.  

The Qutest and Node 2i are a wonderful test.  Get those into your system and see if you like the system better.  Chord's sound is a bit forward with a focus on clarity while remaining musical and dynamic.  This can be a bit "in-your-face" in the wrong system or to a person with taste leaning toward laid back to neutral.  

If Chord is appealing, then it is easy.  You get a TT2 or wait for a deal on a Dave and then pick a steamer/server to match.  Roon Nucleus or something of that sort.  That really depends on your system, proximity to an ethernet cable, etc...

If Chord is not appealing and is too bright...then you need to look at warmer options and there is a lot of choice.  There are literally too many products to list.   The question is then, how warm?  Could be dead neutral is fine.  Could be you need something a it warm.  It is very difficult to tell without you testing something in your system.  

On a side note, PS Audio's Directstream DAC is an FPGA DAC rather than delta-sigma.  There are wild differences in terms of quality and sound among delta sigma, R2R and FPGA DACs.  I can show you brilliant and awful examples of each.  We will do our best to steer you toward the brilliant options.  The key is finding one you like the sound of, you like the looks of and integrates nicely in your system.