The Emperor Has No Clothes!!

must have been Lauda

@bolong 

an interesting metaphor indeed.  I have frequently been accused of not understanding or embracing the digital side of our hobby whenever I point out the server/streamer craziness out there (and don’t get me started on network switches).  But I’ve tried to use knowledge and common sense as a restraint.  The irony is I’ve been streaming since about 2004 - I invested considerable $ in the original Yamaha Musiccast system: the MCX-1000 server/streamer/DAC, as well as 3 client A10 streamers.  I was an audiophile snob, so didn’t want my home computer touching my audio system.  But to 

oops, fat fingers:  to finish the thought:  I finally realized that the Yamaha stuff was great engineering, but a terrible user interface, which was just getting in the way of musical enjoyment.  That’s when I moved to Sonos (~2007 maybe?), before moving to Roon a few years ago.  The technology is so good, and so simple, I find it easy to stay out of the candy store.

@mdalton You definitely [accidentally😀 ] struck a nerve even without naming names.  I'm in your camp on digital as far as server/streamers/switches not imparting a sound of their own although my Pandora Dac is quite distinguishable from my Mytek Dac which i suppose could be tubes v SS.  As for that wall of glass behind your speakers i can see why you don't want to cover that view; however, i have a similar setup with a giant window behind my speakers--the system still sounds good with the window exposed so i'm guessing that wall doesn't influence as much as if the glass were on the side(s) or behind the listening position, but i finally broke down and installed a curtain rod with mechanized drape to cover that window. The difference was quite noticeable and an improvement--sound is fine without it when i want the view (mine's not nearly as nice as yours) but at night i always cover that window and the sound is better--just a thought...

Oh--also meant to say that everything sounds better with single malt...