Would you still pay $10k or more for a turntable not full analog front end these days ?

I said everyone is free to spend their money the way that want. They are also free to think what they want. They may even disagree with professionals. Their choice. But stream is exactly the same in $1K streamer (actually, in $50 streamer) as it is in $10K streamer.

@mikhailark You keep sidestepping the ultimate point that more expensive streamers can and do sound better. Of course all streamers receive the same bit stream, it’s what they do with it afterwards that makes the difference. So now you’re saying a $50 streamer sounds the same as a $10k streamer? Gimme a break dude.

Spending that much on one component would make me want to upgrade everything else too. Well, maybe except one power cord and a set of RCAs.

@mikhailark I write code every day ETL-ing Gigs of data so I know a bit more than the basics.

@soix - your question includes multiple other components. Please re-read my information. I said bits come identical from $50 device and from $50K device. It is trivial to verify having proper equipment.

Now, you are changing this to "sounds different". In this case you have to consider the entire chain. Maybe DAC is over sensitive to RF noise? I don't know. "Sounds" is subjective. Did they stage experiment properly? Who knows.

I know that amp that looks nicer to me also sounds better to me :-) and this is normal since our perception is not isolated. 

@grislybutter good for you, so you already know everything you need.