OP here. I want to thank all the kind posters above. What a wealth of helpful information.
I am leaning toward a Auralic Aries G2.1 (DAC less) transport with 2 TB SSD storage.
I should make my purchase at the end of November(+/ -) I will post my impressions and set- up experience in Jan 23
At this point I will not bore you with the issues I would have in running cable (tri level house, block walls, flat roof, 13 Ft ceiling etc.).
Anyway, thanks again.