Combination streamer and music server…without DAC

everyone is going to recommend the brands they use so here’s mine 

Wolf Audio Systems. I use a LUNA R pure digital. Wolf works with stillpoints and audience for their internal vibration control, and wiring. If your music system is in your TV room, The Wolf 🐺 can hook up to your television and display your music on your TV as well and you can use a wireless mouse to navigate through your server or roon or whatever. They are built in Florida and they can be remotely accessed from the manufacturer who is available almost all the time to help over the phone. I had an issue this week and all I had to do was call Joe and he access to my server and fix it while I was at work.  
 

also the sound quality… it’s amazing but don’t take my word for it. It’s also a stereophile recommended component. 

Audiotroy does not hide the fact that they are a dealer.  Dealers can offer insight, have experience with different products and are exposed to things we are not. I want to hear from people/dealers with that experience. Dealers that put themselves out there are at great risk on these forums because they know that if someone buys something from them because of a recommendation they made and it does not perform or if they give bad service, they will be destroyed on the same forum with negative comments.  In my mind, I would feel more comfortable with a dealer like that because they know all eyes will be on them. 

Take a look at Melco’s. Not as big on this side of the pond but huge in Europe and Asia. Storage as you need, Roon ready. You can stream thru Ethernet without the use of USB. I have had Aurender and Lumin’s and Melco’s are a step above. 

@russellrcncom 

Congratulations on your retirement! One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post is App interface and tech support.  A robust, well laid out app interface that allows for easy browsing and access to / curation of your stored music is equally important as choosing the right hardware. For longevity, sound & build quality and worry free operation, I highly recommend one of the Aurender streamer that fits your budget. 

Just read up on customer service experience of Bluesound owner, not only its atrocious but non-existent for most part. I know this cause I used to own BS Vault. You can save money and buy one but be prepared to toss it in the bin when it fails. 

Before you spend a few grand on a streamer/server I have a suggestion. For reference, I'm using an ASUS gaming laptop, PSA PerfectWave MkII DAC, PSA PerfectWave transport, Krell preamp and amp, and Thiel CS6 speakers. I have hooked up my laptop to my DAC using an average quality 15' USB cable. I ripped my CDs (over 4,000) to uncompressed FLAC using dBPoweramp.

If you have a laptop handy you can do a little test that may be enlightening. I'm assuming that you have Tidal or Qobuz and you also have a CD player. Hopefully your CD Player/DAC has a USB input.
 - Rip a favorite CD to uncompressed FLAC on your laptop.
 - Install a music playback program on your laptop such as foobar2000 (it's free).
 - Hook up your laptop to your DAC with a USB cable.
 - Compare the ripped CD to the same CD played in your player.
 - If you have a high res music service compare the same version of the album with the rip and the actual CD.

On my system I can't hear a significant difference between the ripped file and the actual CD. I'm pretty sure that in a blind test I couldn't tell them apart. Same thing when I play the same version of the CD through Qobuz. I've tried this with several CDs (using one song to do the test) on several different days and I'm comfortable that if there are audible differences they are not significant to me.

I'm not adverse to spending good money on a streamer/server but so far I can't justify it. I wouldn't expect a ripped file or the Qobuz version to sound better than my CD player but I'm really surprised that they don't sound worse. If you follow the conventional wisdom, my setup should lead to horrible sound. I'm using a supposedly noisy PC and I'm hooking it up with an inexpensive long USB cable.

One possible explanation for this homogenization is that my DAC has a "Digital Lens" that buffers and reclocks all incoming data. All I can say is that I'm glad that I spent an evening geeking out on my system so that I wasn't blindly spending significant money on an alternative setup. I am probably going to go with a Roon Nucleus at some point but more for convenience than sound quality. 
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