What to judiciously invest in next to improve SQ?

[zambie]

Axel - appreciate the thought here. Agree that the NUC does appear to be a very attractive option as a source. The 1 year Roon license seems to be a good add on. It's staggering how much some of these music server/ streamers are if you go the branded path. My initial assumption is that this would be the last cog of the wheel where I'd manage to extract improvements in SQ (e.g. mac running room over Roon AIR v/s NUC running Roon ...)

Have to disagree.  We had a reasonably optimized Mac Mini with an internal SSD and linear supply with a nice Nordost power cord but a Auralic Aries quickly blew it away. No contest.  No comparison to the Mini...Shortly thereafter a ROON ROCK was installed and everything further improved...these front end things are far more important than, say, a Ted Denny power cord or similar.  IMHO

Interesting observation Wdw ... I was leaning more heavily towards cables and power initially - but this has got me rethinking that. Was working under the impression that a mac as a dedicated music source would work well as long as I've got a good robust transport mechanism through to the devialet. Clearly more homework needed on this front.