There are I think two distinct aspects to streamers / music servers. One is sound quality (perhaps stating the obvious), the other is functionality (not to be underestimated). Sound quality is the easy one to consider, you want as much of it as possible within budget. Functionality is a matter of taste, in terms of how you want to consume your music. As an example, Roon compatibility is a must have for some, others are not concerned with Roon, some want a simple all in one box (like the Aurender / Melco options), others are happy to have a networked Mac or PC in the chain. Only you can decide on these points.
So here is a suggestion to spur some thoughts.....
For sound quality within a sensible budget, I would say something like the microRendu feeding a Mutec MC3+USB is pretty much unbeatable. Maybe now also consider the SotM SMS-200 rather than a microRendu, for me though it is the Mutec that really offers the SQ bangs for your buck. Then in terms of functionality, you have a number of options depending on how you want to consume your music. You could just use Roon / JRiver or whatever else you fancied on a networked Mac or PC, controlled by tablet. You could link up something like Small Green Computer's Sonic Transporter to create a discrete system . Also, with the SotM SMS-200 it looks like you can simply plug in a hard drive full of music, which is quite neat.
Having written all that, I am a big fan of the Aurender N10 feeding a Devialet by AES/EBU. I noticed that you mentioned the Aurender S10 (presumably considered as a second hand purchase as now discontinued) in your earlier post. If you are happy with the Aurender conductor app, this is a pretty same bet I would have thought, simple, great SQ, what's not to like?
So here is a suggestion to spur some thoughts.....
For sound quality within a sensible budget, I would say something like the microRendu feeding a Mutec MC3+USB is pretty much unbeatable. Maybe now also consider the SotM SMS-200 rather than a microRendu, for me though it is the Mutec that really offers the SQ bangs for your buck. Then in terms of functionality, you have a number of options depending on how you want to consume your music. You could just use Roon / JRiver or whatever else you fancied on a networked Mac or PC, controlled by tablet. You could link up something like Small Green Computer's Sonic Transporter to create a discrete system . Also, with the SotM SMS-200 it looks like you can simply plug in a hard drive full of music, which is quite neat.
Having written all that, I am a big fan of the Aurender N10 feeding a Devialet by AES/EBU. I noticed that you mentioned the Aurender S10 (presumably considered as a second hand purchase as now discontinued) in your earlier post. If you are happy with the Aurender conductor app, this is a pretty same bet I would have thought, simple, great SQ, what's not to like?
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
