Why are so many people spending so much money to build “perfect” streaming system?

To address your basic question of why people are spending so much money to achieve "perfect" streaming, my experience is that they don't need to.

I stream through an Asus gaming laptop hooked up to my PS Audio DAC with USB. I have ripped my CD collection to uncompressed FLAC (over 4000 discs) and I subscribe to Qobuz. I still have all my CDs. I have compared the same title/version of several CDs in my collection with the corresponding title on Qobuz through the same DAC (using a PSA transport). I would defy anyone to tell the difference between the two in a blind test. As far as I can tell, I have already reached "Perfection." I wouldn't expect the Qobuz version to sound better than the same version of a CD played through the same DAC. So far no one has explained to me why a digital WAV file would sound better after being converted to compressed FLAC, put on a server, transmitted over the internet through thousands of miles of wires and thousands of switches to a streamer, and then fed to the DAC. Where in this chain would you expect the digital information to improve compared to spinning a disc on a high quality transport and transmitting the WAV signal to the DAC through a short cable?

I've also compared my ripped FLACs to the corresponding CD (again through the same DAC) and found that the FLAC versions sound identical to the CD.

I am seriously skeptical that spending $8K on a dedicated audio streamer will make Qobuz sound better than the same CD played through my system. If someone has truly compared the two sources and found that the streamed version sounds better than the CD (through the same DAC) I would like to hear from them. I would be particularly interested in results from a blind test that confirmed that an expensive dedicated streamer sounds different than a garden variety PC. I'm thrilled that my humble PC/streamer setup can equal the SQ of playing the actual CD. I consider that a technical miracle.

One more thing. I normally stream the highest resolution version available on Qobuz so I stream a fair amount of 24/192 and 24/96. I consider this another reason to pay the subscription to Qobuz - I have the opportunity to hear upgraded/remastered versions of many of my favorite CDs. As often as not, the remastered version sounds worse than the original CD.

op you can get state of the art streamingfor 7200in an easy to use streaming dac 

the avik s180 sounds like an analog system 

best sounding  dacstreamer under 10k 

and we have sold most of the Best brands

Dav and Troy

Audio intellect  nj

Aavik dealers

@mikelavigne  first post says it all.

And one can make setup simple or complex, spend a lot or not so much. You can get damn nice sound quality with lower expenditures, spending more gives marginal increases, and then one may get past this certain plateau of marginal increases to where sound quality goes into revelatory territory.

I have well over 3.5k physical cd media, around 3.5k vinyl and even with this relatively large collection streaming has so far much more to offer, I've found SO MUCH new wonderful music! I'd have to spend multiples of $10k on physical media to match whats in my streaming libraries. And I can play all this music in stream of consciousness mode, I love all genres of music and playing a particular track may bring to mind another completely unrelated track in totally different genre, its like my own personal radio station attuned directly to my mood, and this with SQ that competes with the best of best vinyl setups I've heard in over thirty years involvement with high end audio.

IME, there is no longer any reason to even start a physical media collection, just go straight to streaming, don't divide your expenditures over various sources, you'll get to great destination sooner than later with this focus.

Do you like classical music? How many recordings of Wagner’s Ring Cycle do you have? I have 5. Can you get 5 different recordings on ANY streaming platform?

@laoman

i listen to 70% classical. there are dozens of recordings of most any classical composition. unlimited access to classical.

Tidal is very good for classical. Quboz is the best for classical since it has higher resolution files, whereas Tidal uses MQA. personally i prefer the naked higher rez. but 16/44 streaming files can sound fantastic. either one can take you a long way with classical.

i own 12,000 Lps, of which 5000 are classical. 3500 CD’s, one third classical. but most of my classical listening is streaming.

i have a few ’Ring’ recording on Lp. i’m not home right now, so off the top of my head i can’t recall which they are. i enjoy Opera but really don’t know it.

@walkenfan2013 -- just to add one comment -- are you unaware of the amount of money that can be spent on turntables and phono preamps for LP playback? You can easily exceed $100K for a turntable if you wish. Same thing for CD players -- you can spend tens of thousands, and that's without going to a separate DAC.

With audio, as with almost any hobby, you can get as carried away as your urges and budget permit. But you can put together an eminently enjoyable streaming system for no more than you'd spend on an equivalent level vinyl or CD setup.