Which is the best upgrade for the money for steaming from lap to through amp?

I didn't realize that.   Do you get a an appreciable gain in performance from a range of $500 Streamer to $2000 streamer?  And i'm not necessarily in necessity of storage capacity 1T/ 2T, etc..  I'm more keen on sound as determining factor of value for purchase.

Generally yes, but it is all dependent on the rest of your system of course. 

The streamers I mentioned don't have any storage. They are just that, streamers. Not servers, no storage.

Thanks!  I'll check out those streamers.   i also have a DVD player from McIntosh, 901.  Do you know off hand if i can use it as a streamer? I looked at the owner manual, it says there is an ethernet option.

Sorry I am not familiar with that Mac. I highly doubt it though

I received the USB cable and rigged it today. I must confess that i was pleasantly surprised with the sonic improvement.  I can't talk all that audiophile lango, but i assuredly heard recordings in a different way.. the nuances of drums rolls, horn flutters, gasps of breath even.  Pretty remarkable.   My conclusion is that purchasing a $350 digital cable for a $5,000 headphone amplifier is justifiable.   Makes me wonder if spending the extra $300 for the next level cable would have been worth it?  And here i go down the rabbit hole :)   If you are curious, I'm pairing Foster MK II (closed) headphones with a MHA 100 Headphone amp and a MVP 901 DVD.  I have a pair of Soliloquy book shelves running to the 50W headphone amp but they get little usage.  Happy to be streaming-along better now.  Thanks for all the tips.