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.
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.