Here’s my short story:
I consider myself old school. I have been in this audio hobby since the early 80’s.
I am one of those that love knobs and hated anything with digital buttons.
My go to sources were mainly CD with an occasional vinyl record. In the past year or so I began getting curious about streaming, so I bought a DAC. There are many options for streaming out there, but I decided to use one of my laptops connected to the DAC via a USB cable to my preamp and power amps. Since I already paid for Amazon Prime, I decided to pay an extra $9.99 per month and get Amazon Music Unlimited HD to see what all the hype was all about.
I thought that I was going to be disappointed with the audio quality, but I was actually very impressed. Nothing was lacking and sounded better than any turntable or CD player that I had ever owned (dozens).
Ever since, I have literally not touched a record or CD other than to store away the ones that remained lingering throughout the house. I don’t foresee myself going back to records or CDs anytime soon and I am actually wondering what I should do with my extensive collection of media, which I now consider to be an eyesore taking up space in vain.
I have since purchased 5 more DACs, for a total of 6, one for each audio system in the house. I keep a USB cable attached to each one of my systems and just take the laptop along to the systems that doesn’t yet have it’s dedicated laptop and I am ready to go!
Over 100 million songs, great audio quality, the ability to make your own playlists and be introduced to an overwhelming library of new songs, artists, genres, not having to clean records or put away CD cases and the ability to do it all with the click of a mouse from a nice comfortable recliner. What’s there not to like?
Best thing that has happened in my audio journey. I don’t believe that you will be disappointed regardless of what speakers you have.
If I was in your shoes, I would first try a laptop connected to a DAC and connect the analog outputs of the DAC to your amp. The main thing to look for is the quality of the output stage of the DAC. Don’t pay much mind to the chips used. Now days they are all pretty good. Watch YouTube videos and go with a DAC that is described as "musical". Do pay attention to what connections you want the unit to have. No need to spend thousands on a DAC, the point of diminishing returns versus cost starts quite low, unlike other audio components.
I am sure you’ll get many suggestions on streaming services and equipment to use, but there is mine and I am very content! Best of luck!