Affordable "audiophile" network player?

SBT is your only and best choice in this range. Don't even think about it, just BUY one!

Much more versatile would be something like a used Mac Mini. Love mine and control it from my phone, laptop, or could set up a keyboard & mouse and use it through the TV.

You'd probably want to get an Intel version. But these can be found around $300 or less if you are patient.

Squeezebox Touch hands-down.

mac mini running pure music. can't beat it. why buy a squeezebox when you need a computer anyway, doesn't make sense. get a used intel based 1.66 or 1.8 ghz mac mini at the minimum and max out the memory. you can run snow leopard on it. you can get an airport express or apple tv if you want to setup remote rooms with the mac being your music server. for your main listening room, you will need a good external dac, and for your other rooms for background music, you can use an internal dac in a receiver or get a cheaper dac for better sound quality. this will give you a system that you can grow.

Affordable " audiophile " , thats an oxymoron .