A quick question on what streamers to consider.......


Hello fellow Audiogoners - a quick question as I have noted above on streamers. I am looking for a steamer only,  no DAC,  that would be easy to use. I don't want to worry about any updates and would prefer a US made product if at all possible. I have a WiFi service coming into my home so that would be how I would be getting my music. I would like it simple to use and without any hassles. I would be using it in the summer providing music to my back dec, or when cooking or entertaining inside. I would looking in the price range say of ; $2,000 to $5,000 used or new. Thank you in advance and look forward to suggestions on what to buy based on what I have outlined above. Thank you in advance and please stay safe and well.....        

garebear

@garebear, my music server/streamer is a simple Roon Nucleus that I use to stream music to wifi speakers, my dedicated headphone setup which is hard wired of course, and other Roon Ready devices that we have all around our condo, from our patio deck to the bedrooms, the living room, the kitchen dining area, an upstairs loft, and to our basement, all at the same time if we so desire. All you need is a wired Ethernet connection for the Nucleus, but after that it’s super simple to use WiFi through the Roon app. 
 

 I learned about the Nucleus from my stereo guy who uses one at his store so that his customers can demo several audio systems simultaneously by just using an iPad. He regularly puts together high end audio systems in giant McHomes for rich folks who think nothing of dropping $250K and more on audio gear so their homes have music in every room. Yes it requires a Roon subscription. But the cost breaks down to about $0.50 a day, which to me is pretty cheap. 

@tommyr1963 
I have the same streaming setup.  iFi Zen Stream, iFi LAN Silencer and the iFi iPower Elite power supply.  I think it works quite well.  Do you find that Qobuz sounds better using Roon than, say, the mconnectHD app?

Have only used Qobuz via Roon.  I find myself choosing Hi-Res versions of albums and songs from Qobuz over my CD rips.

Any thoughts on using a Naim Anton headphone streamer with a Macintosh 

MA 8950 with KLIPSCH PALLADIUM P17b

@longball44 I use an Atom into a preamp as a streamer… a waste of its other integrated amp capability. I don’t have the headphone specific model. One does need to be careful with having two volume controls… 

Hope this helps.