Been away for a while, need some help

A Cambridge Azur 851N is a very balanced streamer with good sound quality that can be had for around $1k.

If you want to stick with your Classe gear without needing an additional DAC, you should consider a high quality streamer with a built in DAC for a nice uptick in sound quality from the built in DAC in your Classe processor.  A Lumin D2 or T2 would be a considerable step up in sound quality from the Cambridge with considerably better DAC section, they would be considered end game streamers for most people.  

Not sure if you're referring to the Aries G1 or Vega G1,the Vega G1 also serves as a DAC but the streamer is a bit of an afterthought compared to the Aries G1 dedicated streamer. The Lumins would be considered more refined than the G1 models, and most would agree the Lumins would win in sound quality.  The Aries G2, however would give the Lumin models a run for their money if you're streaming to an external DAC. Better than the G1 but might have a more detailed, brighter (in a good way) sound signature compared to the more refined Lumin offerings. But then again you lose the built in DAC which the Lumin models have and the G2 does not.  

If you want a bit more warmth and natural sound from your system without sacrificing detail, go for the Lumins.  If you want a little more detail at the expense of warmth from your system, go for the Aries G2.  Hope this helps!

Thanks Alexbpm, I did not realize Aries G1 did not have a DAC. At that point I would probably go for the Lumin D2. I have to watch my budget, we are helping our daughter who just started Vet school, plus I want to keep things simple and as much as I know a separate DAC would sound incredible, I would stay with an all in one streamer and DAC. Also the reason I am thinking about going with a nice classic tube integrated like a Primaluna EVO300 or something similar. 

Another streamer in the price range of the D2 to consider is the TEAC NT-505.  You might give the search function a try also, there are a lot of existing threads about streamer recommendations.

My situation was similar to yours in some ways. I had a decent but older stereo that had fallen into disuse - just didn’t listen to a lot of music anymore. We did a remodel of our main living area a couple years ago and in the run up to that I got back into audio and bought some better equipment. Initially had a Blusound Node 2 and experienced exactly what you did - listening to a lot more music for the first time in a long while. My CDs weren’t stolen but they were put away in different places for the renovation and to be honest I have never gotten them back out. 
The node 2 was ok - really I thought better than ok though I often noticed issues in what I take to be the upper midrange whenever the music was intense. But the ability to listen to such a wide variety of music - first with Spotify since that’s what my kids used and then with Tidal - and the mixes and artist radio stations those services provided exposed me to a huge variety of related but new to me music, as did my kids. Bottomline is streaming has amplified my enjoyment of music tremendously and I think you are at the top of that iceberg. 
Just recently I upgraded the Node2 to a Mytek Manhattan DAC w/network card.  I had planned to just by a DAC and still stream from the Node but Mytek was throwing in the network card for free. The difference in sound quality was absolutely night and day. I am blown away with the Manhattan. The sound is so much fuller with much more definition. I find myself counting the number of backing vocalists and learning lyrics to songs I’ve been listening to for 40 years (think REM). 
My experience with Mytek has been outstanding as well. When I email Michal, the mastermind, always emails me back within a few minutes day or night so I’m not sure when the man sleeps but he has always been helpful. 
The Manhattan is a little above your budget - so you might be interested in other Mytek offerings. Full disclosure - my experience is pretty much limited to the Node and the Manhattan. I am sure that there are many other great products out there. I hope you find the right fit for you and your system. 

JM,
I was in your exact spot not long ago- ironically I also have a Sony ES combo player. If you are a DIYer, try a raspberry pi with an Allo or Hifiberry DAC hat. I use Volumio as the software- small subscription fee required, and am very pleased. It wasnt difficult to set this up..and could have been easily nder $100. An RPI ZERO W from the PI Shop is $15-20, case is under 20, and the hat, possibly an Allo mini-bosd is under 40. You could also buy an RPI 4 and it woukd be multi useful down the road. Mine is set up in a small box with a screen- it looks like an audio component and can run Tidalnor Qubuz

It may also be possible to just use a rpi to stream to your Sony. I don’t recall if yours has a digital in. BTW....don't ditch your CD player immediately.I still enjoy mine very much and will most likely keep it. 

I agree that you should keep your CD player and CD's.  Good to have a backup to a streamer and media copies.  I stream via Tidal and love the hi-def sound but enjoy my rip CD's played via my Aurender N10.  I would look for a used Aurender and get an N10 if you can afford it.  You won't be disappointed.  

I'm a Raspberry Pi fan -- I have two that I use as streamers. One is in my main system and uses a HiFiBerry Digi+Pro Hat for output to my Bel Canto amplifier which has a built-in DAC. The other RPi uses a HiFiBerry DAC Hat that I use in my small office system. I find the sound excellent and you can get a RPi/DAC player up and running for under $100. That's a great option for someone who is new to streaming and wants to get the lay of the land before they start throwing the big bucks around. So, unless you just want a bigger, fancier box in your system, I'd suggest the RPi.

Mlsstl,
I don't want to hi-jack the thread, but curious which RPI you use and what OS. I have an RPI4 W/HifiBerry DSP +DAC running Volumio.  I am contemplating a ZERO with an Allo miniboss for a camper and while Volumio works great, curious about others.

To stream or not to stream ,that is the question, I dont stream well I listen on you tube .But I love my lps,cd,cassettes, r to r ...my own source. At times I just but the FM on .....to each his own.

Agreed on the streaming. I still play CD's regularly and probably prefer it. I also listen to Tidal. I buy what I love, but Tidal opens new avenues. 

Op,
    Before investing in a lot of equipment, you might want to take some time and explore or do a free trial of "Audirvana" on your mac book.  I use Audirvana with Qobuz and have no desire or need to purchase CDs or other equipment. The sound quality is beyond superb if you employ a good DAC.  I think the investment is around $80 and you can then take a lot of time to audition transports if that is the direction you choose to go.  Best of luck. Lots of different opinions on this topic. 
    

A Good Cheap cd player Onkyo C 7030 you can get them for under $200  I have 2 of them...excellent dac in them .The sound Great

Get the get the Blusound Node 2i and you are all set.

If you want to buy a great streamer that is also a great cd player and ripper along with an excellent Dac and server (when you add an optional solid state drive)  and Roon ready endpoint take a look at the Cocktail Audio X45. It's also a preamp so you could sell off your SSP-25 and Sony player and probably cover a significant amount of cost. I've had both it and the Auralic G1 side by side in my system and preferred the sound of the Cocktail on low bass. 

Similar to you, I took a hiatus of 34 years from audio.  Back in the day had a Goldmund, Koetsu, ML, Krell, Apogees.  Did other things in the interim.  I went digital and now stream only and did it right.  I have no cd's, no vinyl, but my system is top shelf.  I don't regret it at all--in fact I would do the same thing again.  Do one thing and do it right.  Don't try to do too many things.  It might not work for everyone.  The sound I have today is so much better than back in the day.

why do you think you need a dedicated streamer? I got rid of my Auralic Aries (which I thought was the best at that time) years ago along with my attached USB dac. Use a Mac or raspberry to run Roon and get a network attached dac, which is the most important component to spend your money on. By getting a network attached dac, you can place the Mac/raspberry in a different room and any disks that you need for any ripped/purchased music. With Roon, you can setup many endpoints around the house using different pieces of equipment (like an older Apple TV) and your network attached dac also becomes a Roon endpoint, all controlled from your smart phone or tablet

To enjoy digital you need the best sounding DAC (to you) that you can be happy with. All network attached hardware I've seen is on streamers. A SOtM (USB out) for $450 will blow out Cambridge SQ. A Magna Mano has digital outs for $740.
Both sound better with files on SSD rather than WiFi from my NAS.
Good luck and happy listening.

You already have the streamer in your MacBook. Now put your money into a good dac and you are set. That is the way I have gone. Nice part is my MacBook is always updating and my dac can do the same from a mini USB port. Trouble buying an all in one is to keep cost down you are going to be compromised somewhere. 

I think you would be totally satisfied with a Bluesound Node 2i.  Tidal has an enormous library and I think you will enjoy their layout.  I think there is less noise streaming music than playing CD's and vinyl.  You also would have to spend a fortune buying CD's and vinyl to compare with their library.  Besides you can hear hi-res.

Hello from photographer to photographer… as per usual, there are already lots of good suggestions here. I certainly would echo @fuzztone that whatever streamer/Dac you end up with, have it connected directly to the network. Depending on what controller software you settle on (say Bluesound or Roon for instance) you can use multiple devices to control/select/change the music - say from your Macbook Pro when you are your desk and your phone when on the couch etc. Say you start listening using the Bluesound app on your Mac to control a Node 2i, the music keeps playing when you shut down your computer, and you can pick up the control from any other device that runs the Bluesound software. This may already be obvious to you, but to me it wasn’t and it took me a minute to discern the differences and advantages of streaming vs playing my own files using Audirvana from my computer (also great in it’s own right in terms of sound quality, as already mentioned previously).

In terms of what product I would recommend, I have limited experience and budget - so far I have been using the Bluesound Node 2i using it’s optical output into a SMSL 500 as my Dac. By doing that I am actually losing the Node’s capability to decode MQA so I am definitely not advocating my setup. I am however a review junkie and eager to upgrade myself in the near future and from everything I have read (READ, mind you, not listened to) here are my comments:

In your price range (2-3k) these recommended products from previous commenters have all been very favorably reviewed and compared, and unless you need to counter a strong coloration of your existing sound to even things out, my guess is you can choose any of these simply based on price and aesthetics and not go wrong:
Any Lumin, any Auralic option. Mytek was mentioned, and they have the Brooklyn Bridge that might still be in your budget.
Innuos has the Zen MK3 (or Zen Mini 3 + LPSU) with the added capability to rip Cd’s and store music internally (don’t know anything about their controller software but sound wise they seem to be excellent). The mentioned Cocktail Audio X45 also has CD ripping capability, if that is of interest.

My personal budget is $1500 max, and I am eyeing the Cambridge Audio CXN V2 series 2, predominately for the added user experience, display, physical remote control and broader connectivity options than my Node 2i. I am aware that the internal DAC won’t be quite as good as in the units mentioned above in your price range and will most likely only be a marginal upgrade to my Node, but even the Node sounds already very good to my ears, so I am mostly taken by the CXN's feature set, built in Chromecast, Airplay 2 capable, and ease of use for streaming from pretty much any existing platform beyond Tidal & co.

I highly recommend watching this detailed review, simply as a terrific demonstration for a beginner of all the different ways and services for streaming music and maybe learning about features that may be desirable for you to have in whatever unit you end up choosing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8bSQSFm56E

Thank you all for the loads of wonderful info. NKphoto, thank you, although I am retired from the photography business, wedding's did me in after 25 years, now I enjoy a M-F corporate office job and my weekends free. After reading over all the great info above, I can say I am not a DIY person and building things even though it sounds like many of you like the Raspberry stuff. I am a buy it, plug it in and enjoy. I think I may start small on this and go with something like the Bluesound Node 2i and use the DAC in Classe SSP-25 and eventually down the road add a DAC or network DAC as many of you suggest. I think it may be a good way to start and start to get my feet wet with the streaming instead of dumping a ton of money and maybe making a decision that wasn't the best fit for me. This may also help me get to my goal of owning a tube amp/integrated. 

Solid choice! ...and do watch that video at some point, has lots of good info on streaming in general...