Mac vs streamer.

 Thank you so much for that information. It makes the streamer thing much more viable for me in my situation.

Streamers can offer some improvement and people certainly like them but dropping several thousand for a streamer doesn't appear to get the results for the money. People have done these tests and comparisons at high level evaluations before.

Have a high end tube monoblock system and it is very sensitive to changes even one small tube can produce a far greater result than anticipated.

If you have a mac, any mac, it's Audirvana that makes a big difference. At least I can say from personal experience running it on mac laptops and minis, it's very impressive. 

Have been using version 3.5 but Audirvana is out with a relatively new version called Studio. I like version 3.5 so much, I've yet to try Studio. It's that good. 

R: Thanks!

It depends on the execution. Either approach can deliver exceptional sound quality. If not done well, both will fall short.

The past few years have seen advances in software, addition of intermediate steps, and exceptional components at relatively low price points that "date" some of the posts above.