Streamer with PLEX-like UI and companion app? Or sending PLEX stream through DAC?

TLDR: I got my friend upgraded to a nice stereo, but I can't get him to stop using PLEX and a bluetooth soundbar for his digital collection because he loves the PLEX UI, mainly for the gallery-style navigation. Are there any streamers with a similar gallery-style UI? Or even better, is there any way to send a PLEX stream to a DAC without quality loss?

Long story...

I helped a friend upgrade his (his words) "$99 pair of Sony towers and $99 a/v receiver from Circuit City" to something worthy of his amazing vinyl collection.

The problem: He has a huge digital collection on a QNAP NAS that he streams on his TV via PLEX and then sends the TV audio to a soundbar via bluetooth. He loves the PLEX UI, so the only way I'm going to sell him on ditching the soundbar for a streamer and DAC is if I can find a streamer that has as UI similar to PLEX, in terms of being user friendly.

The chain I personally use is UPnP server > Streamer > DAC > Stereo. While I love the sound of my Naim streamer, the UI of their app is horrendous, but for me it's about sound, not the UI, so I deal with it. I'd like to get my friend set up with a similar chain so he can start using his main system for his digital collection instead of a soundbar, but I don't know what kind of streamers have a similar gallery-style UI.

If there is a way to keep using PLEX on his TV for music selection and playback control, but have the music files processed by a DAC to send to his main system, that would be the ideal solution since he's comfortable with the PLEX UI. He likes being able to control the library from a TV, but I could sell him on using an iPad if the streaming solution has an iOS companion (control) app.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.