Fred,
I am not trying to be argumentative.
It is difficult to seriously discuss what you have said. But, first, a well chosen $50K analog leg will definitely sound way better than your Esoteric K… whatever. Second, by contemporary technology I mean an independent streamer and DAC. Well, that is highly dependent on your choices… but the combo of a transport, streamer, and DAC in a box if for a brief time is a sweet spot,.. it will not last long… or be cost effective when you have to buy music on a physical media.