Higher End DACs

If you don't  have CDs I would go with streaming. It would take a lifetime to accumulate the music you can access.

Only focusing on the two...

any fatal flaws with focusing on these 2 for the purposes above

I have recently auditioned the Audio Research DAC 9 together with the Aurender ACS10.
The sound is supreme abd the storage capacity is enormous and CDs can also be burned and stored.
The total cost minus the the cables is under 11K.

@djones51 I recently demoed the Matrix X-Sabre Pro and unfortunately found it one of the least compelling of the DACs I was trying (Audio Mirror T3 SE, iFi iDSD pro, Lampizator Amber 3, Shiit Bifrost 2, & PS Audio Directstream).  It sounded mellow and smooth with no noise, but didn't really build a 3 dimensional soundstage.  I found it a little grey and sterile and always just wanted to switch over and listen to one of the other dacs whenever it was up in the rotation.  That said, Apos audio gives you no-hassle 30-day free auditions, so if you're interested you can give it a shot fairly easily.  [P.S.  Of those DACs, the Audio Mirror sounded best in my system.]

@david_ten yes, i need to narrow the field somewhat, at least starting out so that i can reach out to associated dealers and get the demo pipeline going.

is there another brand or two you would otherwise start with - and why?

@djones51 yeah, that sort of what i figured..so much love for those transports though lol