Advice for Streaming Newbies - Best Bang for Our Bucks

Actually you do need to spend thousands to get the BEST out of Tidal.  What's good enough for you, well that's a different story entirely You're obviously a tweeker, which when done the right way can yield good results.  Personally I'd start looking at putting some of that hard earned cash into better basic components.

Thanks @fuzztone. Interesting observation on the DAC. The Zen DAC has the same form factor as the Zen Stream and Zen Can so the PA5 is the aesthetic odd one out.

I'm not looking at changing components just yet but if I did I'd probably lose the PA5 as it is just too crowded at the rear with the power cable almost touching the speaker cables. Plus the external power brick is huge!

As an experiment today I have put an iPower X on the EE 8Switch and noticed a significant uplift in SQ; I'm going to test it with the iPower Elite when it comes too. The EE and the Bonn are based on the same circuit board, they differ in the modifications of course.

@marco1 - tweeker is probably a great word for me; I am a nerd and love to optimise within limits. I am sure a lot of people are the same too within reason.

I agree that you can't get good sound for under £1k but I don't believe you need to be spending NAIM money on a £13k streamer that needs a £7k power supply either. I am convinced that you can great sound for reasonable money but I'm not averse to spending more hard earned in the right places to maximise enjoyment (this word is key, it's not just about chasing perfection, I want to love what I'm hearing!)

Out of interest which of the components would you replace first? They are all very well-reviewed and regarded but I do agree that over time a few will benefit from an upgrade.

The purpose of my post was not to criticize but rather to make a general statement based on my own personal experiences. That is sometimes you can only improve performance so far and that same money can be better spent by upgrading the component rather than tweeking it.

That said, I've found the biggest bang for the buck is usually a speaker upgrade.

@marco1 your response was absolutely not seen as being critical my friend. On the contrary!

I've read elsewhere that the most money in a system should be devoted to speakers so I agree with you on that point!

My speakers are rather lovely (to me) and are currently the most expensive component in my setup. As time goes on I can see each component being upgraded. 

@jabbaman , 

Would you care to elucidate what your system is comprised of?

B