What is it with the orthodoxy guard dogs in these threads?
Part of the problem, other than rudeness, is that a baseline set of definitions is never established before the debate even starts. I was speaking specifically of lightweight streamers whose only mission is to accept streaming audio data and render it to the DAC.
Those beasts like the Innuos Zenith are servers and not just streamers. They need way more computing power for processing, DSP, etc. than a streamer alone requires. This triggers the neurosis of ambient noise reduction, custom motherboards and power supplies and such. In effect, a model like that is fully featured but seriously overpowered and overpriced as a streamer, and really works against itself as a streamer.
I prefer the Roon model of a powerful machine on the server end, kept away from the audio system, and a lightweight low powered quiet streamer connected to DAC. This means you can use an ordinary computer at 1/5 the price as your server and its even well more flexible.
When I said streamers don’t have a sound I was specifically referring to the “more depth and greater soundstage and higher highs and lower lows” dreck, and actually to the specific question of the OP about pairing with preamp and amp. A streamer isn’t going to add warmth to a cold system or such, I.e. like pairing analog components to create proper synergies, except via DSP. The analog section of a DAC is the closest item to the digital chain that might have that influence.
when I see posters spouting off about these high 4 and 5 figure server/streamer combos, I see it as about convenience and features, but they really fight against themselves because of the need for computing power and then the huge efforts to contain the theoretical consequences of that much power on rendering to the DAC. They are not optimal but rather a convenience compromise.
Streamers are and IMHO should be relatively simple and low powered computing devices. I’ve built hundreds of computing devices and have been streaming on my own network since the 1990s. I’ve built many of the Audiophile Style machines they publish configurations for. My audio system is designed to test the efficacy of component combinations. And I spend most of my time listening, not defending my conspicuous expenditures on forums and telling people they have to spend multiple thousands to get good digital audio.
