Fiber is Coming to my neighborhood

What’s your budget for a DAC and streamer, and are you looking for new or used?  Also, what sound characteristics are most important to you, and what’s the rest of the equipment in your system?  Sorry for all the questions, but more info leads to much better recommendations and just trying to help. 

My speakers are NX-Otica's with triple threat OB subs from gr research.  I have a SMC TLC2 gt 24 preamp being built and a SMC DNA.5 GT24 amplifier.  The amplifier is single ended but the Pramp has XLR inputs.  I think my budget is around 4K for a DAC.  I don't mind purchasing used.  I have been looking at Denafrips, Musetec, and Mojo Audio, Holo Audio.  So many choices for DAC's and still need a way to stream other than a computer.

Ha, I’ve got the same amp. Did you get the full gravity base? All great DACs you’ve got there. I’ll throw out a thought — I have a Musician Pegasus R2R DAC that shares a lot of DNA with the Denafrips Pontus, and when I put an Iris DDC between it and my streamer and took advantage of the i2S input the performance jump was like upgrading to a much higher-level DAC. Toward that end, a Pontus 15th and an Iris are in your budget (the Iris is frequently available used, which is how I bought mine in case it didn’t do much) and would likely be a great sounding front end. But obviously your other candidates are extremely strong too so as always at this level it comes down to personal taste as much as anything. For a streamer I’d suggest Innuos for sound quality and their outstanding Sense app that’s so good it’s led some to even abandon Roon — high praise. Best of luck.

@soix  It has the full gravity base.  It doesn't have the external power supply but the Preamp will.  The preamp is being built from the ground up.  There is a two or three page review online just google TLC2 GT24 and it comes right up.  It shows some cool pictures of the internals.  It is definitely a very clean looking build like the rest of the equipment they build.  

Sweet!  I bet it’ll sound awesome and I’ll definitely check the review.  I decided to go with a tube pre for the first time and digging it — a LTA MZ2 w/ upgraded LPS.  Enjoy! 

Fibre optic internet is a “nice to have” , but not a “ need to have”.

Streaming dropout frustrations are as much an issue with the inherent hardware and app software warts in budget strata streamers, that are designed and built to their modest price-point; rather than blaming the internet access into your house.

Don't want to sound like a Grinch, but I've heard that same "very soon" spiel from AT&T. Took 2 years. Either way, I think fiber optic will have more impact on television picture quality than music streaming.

@akg_ca 

You are laying the blame for dropouts on budget streamers, but the OP doesn’t currently own a streamer.  In fact he is asking for recommendations on streamers.  Therefore his current internet dropouts are either due to his computer or his actual internet setup.

I've had an AT&T fiber connection for three or four years and it has been rock solid. It's sold as providing gigabit speed but I typically get download speed about half that. Of course, that's far more than is needed for audio streaming or anything else I do. 

@thecarpathian Yes it may be wishful thinking.  The guy I spoke with was actually in a repair truck a block from my street.  I figure they are in the know more than a customer service rep. I have had lots of issues with my current provider.  It seems like they just put bandaids on everything instead of solving the real issue.  

My doctor says that fibre is good

I've had AT&T fiber for years now. It is rock solid. Once they start in your neighborhood, things move pretty quickly. Depending on your service tier, the ultimate speed to your systems will depend on your gateway and interior wiring. I have gigabit service and the speed to the modem is usually close to 1000Mbps. Wi-Fi to my phone varies from high 300's to high 400's. All this is way more speed than you will ever need but to me the best feature is the reliability.

@llg98ljk When you talk about the gateway are you referring to the modem?  Did. you use the equipment from AT&T or did you purchase your own?

brbrock: Yes, I use their equipment, and the gateway is a modem. You have to use their gateway if you have fiber. I don't know of any way to get around that. Apparently, you can piggy-back your stuff onto it but that gets into areas that are way above my pay grade, I like to keep thigs simple and it all works to my satisfaction as is.