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

Waxing philosophical for second or so on the occasion of my 70th birthday (born 12/25/52) I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing as “sitting pat on what we know.” Lots of great answers here to this fair question. With so many new artists, remasters and great recordings available to stream, the driver behind more convenient and higher quality delivery is strong. Demand drives innovation and resistance to learning about new stuff is self defeating for people who enjoy HiFi. In the last couple months my enjoyment has flourished by digging around the theory behind the big baffle revival in speakers, the importance of stacking the gain in your audio chain cleverly and, most recently, a wave of low cost wireless streamers with high quality chips!

@walkenfan2013 

I get the exposure to discover new bands. I just think it is so complicated and overpriced to need all that new equipment. 

You don't need a lot of equipment. Or expensive equipment. I stream through an Amazon Echo via voice control, or a $179 laptop into a $130 SMSL DAC. And as far as complexity, it's nothing more than downloading an app or two. And I only need Amazon Music HD at $14/month.

The sound quality of streamers only depends upon the analog conversion, which at this point is standardized and audibly perfected. And as a former software engineer, I understand that the rest of the hype is just marketing nonsense sold to the uninformed or those suffering from what psychologists call "belief perseverance." So save your money. It's easy. It doesn't clutter your house like physical media (I sold almost all of mine), it's as cheap as buying one album per month and you can probably do it from an existing computer. All you need is an audibly perfect DAC like the SMSL.

@jssmith

The sound quality of streamers only depends upon the analog conversion, which at this point is standardized and audibly perfected. And as a former software engineer, I understand that the rest of the hype is just marketing nonsense sold to the uninformed or those suffering from what psychologists call "belief perseverance." So save your money

You offer encouragement and a way to achieve a very affordable entry point for audio streaming. I’m sure that the OP is grateful for this. And if one decides never to venture beyond this initial stage and they enjoy what they hear, that’s a wonderful outcome. Enjoyable and very affordable streaming in your home.

Beyond that however I believe that your further comments are misguided (Although I do not doubt the good intentions). There have simply been a huge number of people who have begun streaming at a modest level and subsequently moved upward in sound quality and performance. They are not delusional or gullible.

Multitudes have candidly shared their experiences of gaining significant improvement by purchasing better DACs and music servers/network players. It is unreasonable and irrational to believe all these folks are duped by clever suggestive marketing. Or to resort to the overused “confirmation bias” to explain why sonic improvement is heard.

I appreciate that you are a software engineer, that’s nice. There are people with equal and perhaps a broader and deeper technical experience and backgrounds (Than you) who can attest to the benefit of better equipment. Obviously you have every right to your convictions.

The OP may agree with you and that is his prerogative. To suggest that any digital audio system that goes above and beyond yours is wasteful of money and a foolish undertaking is exceptionally shortsighted and narrow. You have created a nice streaming set up that pleases you, good. But keep in mind that much better sound quality is obtainable if so desired.

Charles

Anyone trying to put together the ultimate system knows that such a system does not exist.  When having an obsession with musical reproduction, it is difficult to say this is it, but this is what some on this forum have been able to do.  I've built my system over the last eight months after almost twenty years away from the hobby due to space and clutter issues as perceived by the boss. I started with the McIntosh MA12000 and Wilson Sabrina X. Neither are "the best", but both are worth building a system around.  Everyone has differing demands for musical reproduction.  Nobody in my family has ever had any interest in sitting down in my two channel room.  Everyone is in the media room watching KDramas...guilty of that myself.

My sense of what I wanted in musical reproduction has changed radically over the last eight months.  I now realize that many gear suggestions on this forum stem from a limited exposure to varied gear and environments and personal taste vary wildly.  That said, there are some with a great deal of experience and keen ears.  Some of these members have replied to this thread.  I'm not in that category.

A personal response to your question is that my improvements in analog left me interested in improving the digital and then better digital drove me to improve my analog.  So why did I do this?  Improvements added a difficult to describe musicality to reproduction that I really appreciate when temperatures outside hit 110, or conversely 8 degrees.  My digital and analog are now quite satisfying and much of this I attribute to cable selection.  All of it I attribute to direction from members on this forum.  Musicality to my streaming allows for a vast selection of material and analog provides what my film cameras provide.  What is it?  A routine, a need for great care and to some degree skill and a satisfaction when the end product meets expectation.  Digital anything gives me variety and ease of access.  All of this is personal and if you are happy where you are, consider it a gift.