@hilde45 

Thanks for the empathy and the link.  ;o)

Well I recently journed to the local high end stereo store to listen to the new stuff.  I came away wanting a DCS Bartok. It was playing through the new SF Amati G5's, Nordost flat cables (forgot the model #), the 2 piece Mac Pre c1200 and Mac Mono-Block 611's. Extremely musical, fantastic detail, but most of all I was left with sense of palable depth and substance to each individual player in the quartet.  This was all through Roon and I did not note their Roon core (the Bartok is a Streamer/Dac/Pre).  Oh well, my audio budget is blown for the year.

I find it odd that a lot of folks want to invest in room treatments AFTER they've purchased and setup all their gear. That's backwards. Better late than never, I guess. I just finished my room a few months ago so we're going to sit back and enjoy it in 2024. No planned purchases at all!

New step up transformer for the Koetsu Urushi Tsugaru I got a couple of years ago.  Would replace mt Rothwell - considering a Swissonor (Hashimoto transformers), or if I feel rich, a Koetsu to match.  

(1) Finish my audio room, with all of the delays.....hopefully by March/April?

(2) Receive and start breaking in my Clayton Shaw Caladan speakers

(3) Build all of the DIY speaker and power cables that I've purchased over the last 6 months (Oyaide, Furutech, Neotech, RAMM, Acoustic Revive, SAEC, Viborg, DH Labs, GR Research)....got at least 2 months worth of work.