First Streamer...

johndyson,

I have the original Rega Apollo CD player. Although it is good, the Wolfson DAC is dated now. My Node 2 and Schiit Bifrost 2 together sound a couple of notches better. In fact the internal DAC in the newest Node 2 would IMHO sound better than the Rega internal DAC. I would be very, very surprised if it did not. DAC’s are getting better every year. With my current setup, the Bifrost 2 does the DAC duties for both the Node 2 streamer and my Rega CD player. And both the Bifrost 2 and the Node 2 are considered budget products. Food for thought ....

I have a bluesound node and a Paradigm PW Link. The PW Link is a preamp as well as a streamer AND includes Anthem ARC room correction. You can run everything from your android phone via the DTS playfi app and will be surprised how much ARC will bring to your system. The Link is on sale for $199 and easily worth it. It even has a digital out if you want to use a different DAC but keep the room correction in the system.

@johndyson I’m in north Jersey and just switched from Fios to T-Mobile and YouTube TV (even a better deal if you switch to T-Mobile cell service and get their package deal — T-Mobile has been great for both internet and cell service BTW) and saving a ton of $$$.  Fios is WAY overpriced in our area IMHO. You could also use a Wi-Fi extender from TP-Link, etc. and a shorter Ethernet cable rather than running a long CAT8.  I agree with others you should consider upgrading to a better DAC when possible, which can happen sooner if you can stop throwing money away to Fios.  Just sayin’.  Hope this helps, and best of luck.