The OP actually gives a very good reason for not breaking the bank on a streamer/dac. If you spend $20K on the latest hot streamer, that may put a crimp in your ability to upgrade for a while. As he noted digital technology changes very fast, and they greatest innovations tend to trickle down fast as well. Todays innovation at $20K may be largely reproducible for a fraction of that price in a year or two
Is there such a thing as a FOREVER DAC/streamer?
I know I might be talking about rehab in a back alley, but here it goes.
I've been looking to upgrade my Hegel H390's internal DAC. But I would only do it to knock it out of the park; as the Hegel's internal DAC does an admirable job. So the question is, is there such a thing as an end game-forever DAC. At the end of the day, DAC is a digital product. Digital technology evolve quicker than analog technology.
Will that Lumin X1, Bartok, Dave, etc be obsolete in 3 years? Thus making this a moot conversation...