Sound quality differences in streamers

I was considering an inexpensive streamer for less critical but still enjoyable listening to music that I don't own (61,100 LPs/CDs/78s/R2R).  It will be installed into a Lampizator Poseidon DAC.  Can I get somewhat satisfying sound from an under $1,000 streamer (often mentioned are $200 to $400 cheap streamers)? 

@fleschler 

Yes, you can get enjoyable sound from a streamer in the price range you suggest. A pre-owned Aurender, Auralic, Innuos would fit the bill.

But you have a beautiful, well thought out system and room. And, while you have a great collection of music, streaming via Qobuz or Tidal gives you access to an even greater library. With a streamer of similar quality to the rest of your system, you can explore that world library at the same quality as you enjoy via your CDs when played through your Poseidon. And, you’d have access to a large library of hi-res streaming content as well. Not all of it is good, but some of it is noticeably better than CD quality. With a good quality streamer, you might find you rarely spin a silver disk. 

Dipping your toe in is a good start, but for your system, I’d jump in. 

My two cents. 

Best,

Can I get somewhat satisfying sound from an under $1,000 streamer (often mentioned are $200 to $400 cheap streamers)?

@fleschler  Sure you can.  A Bluesound Node with and external LPS from LHY, SBooster, or Teddy Pardo will get you pretty decent sound and a user-friendly app for under $1000, but you’ll also want a Qobuz or Tidal subscription to go with it. 

@fleschler 

iFi Zen Stream: $400

Primare NP5 Prisma: $800

Project Stream Box S2 Ultra: $900

Holo Audio Red: $950

Volumio Rivo:  $1200

Volumio Rivo+: $1500

@kckrs - it must be draining having to read through so many polar opposite comments, so I’ll keep this an easy read. It is known we each sense the world differently - as a trained architect, I am able to tell when a line is off level by an eighth of an inch over the length of three and a half feet, while I have friends who couldn’t tell even if the level is off by an entire inch and a quarter. In much the same way, we each hear very differently, but by degrees much finer than the sense of sight. I know a concert pianist who hears and understands timing, pitch and upper frequencies so acutely and accurately, it boggles my mind. Likewise I know a good many audiophiles more experienced with listening and who hear considerably better than I can.

The differences in opinion we read in audiogon are as coloured by natural or learned ability over listening as they are by equipment performance. Mdalton and some others cannot hear much of the difference between cheap and expensive streamers to make the expensive ones worth their while. Steakster, fleschler and a few others more can, and understand for themselves how important those differences and/or improvements are for each themselves. You have to find a way to listen to different streamers in a system where the only thing that gets switched is the streamer, to know if the quality differences between streamers is something you can indeed hear. If you do hear those differences, then welcome to this difficult and potentially expensive world of our wonderful and amazing hobby. If you don’t, thank your lucky stars and settle for something along the lines of what mdalton is recommending - you wouldn’t be able to hear much difference in any case - not a bad thing really, since you won’t have to deal with the finer, nuanced aspects of music realism.

In friendship - kevin