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Thanks everyone for the enlightening responses! I have to admit I wanst even thinking about a wireless solution (luddite!) but now I have even more to think about.

I have one of these hooked up to some speakers, also have my turntable hooked up to it.

https://www.marantz.com/en-us/product/w ... ms/m-cr510

I will generally stream from my phone, either the bandcamp App, or Apple music (we have a family subscription, and also the 1000s of albums I've been accumulating for the last 20 years), or a couple radio stations that I listen to

This thread has been eye opening.

My old method was to walk over to my CD collection, put something on my very modest stereo set up. My ex now has the stereo, and I have the CDs in storage. Like a divorce version of that O'Henry story. On the go, I'd just listen to files on my phone, transferred from my computer master collection (all my CDs are duplicated there). I used my trusty Koss Porta Pros.

So the past few years my music situation has been a bit stinky. I mostly still do the phone thing. Fortunately, I don't get many calls/etc. Of course, my new phone has no headphone jack, so I have a super cheap little bluetooth square that my headphones plug into. It works fine for my walks. It can also plug into my old ass Toyota's tape deck adapter.

When I have a chance to listen to something at home, I still use headphones a lot, but I also have a super cheap set of Edifier powered speakers which have a number of input options, including bluetooth. Not ideal, but I change location too often and have too little space to invest in a better set up at the moment. It sounds just okay for the low volume listening I do. Not the worst dirtbag cheapo scenario.

Do you have an Apple phone? If so you should get an old Airport Express. Airplay streaming is lossless (unlike Bluetooth) and the DAC in the "flat square brick" Airport Express is unbelievably good, Ken Rockwell's site measures it all.

matttkkkk wrote: Thu Oct 27, 2022 6:53 pm Do you have an Apple phone?

Nah.

I've been doing some digging and keep coming back to the Audioengine B-Fi as a suitable streamer for my needs. Nothing exotic, just a solid seeming wi-fi streamer.

https://audioengine.com/shop/adapters/b ... -streamer/

I have a pair of Kliptsch s shelf speakers that get Bluetooth with no receiver. They were perfect for my old apartment. There is a subwoofer with the set but it’s not totally needed for a regular sized living/bedroom. I also have a portable SONY party speaker/karaoke machine that I use in other parts of the house. It can even act as an impromptu speaker for my modular.

Dr Tony Balls wrote: Fri Oct 28, 2022 9:47 am

matttkkkk wrote: Thu Oct 27, 2022 6:53 pm Do you have an Apple phone?

Nah.

I've been doing some digging and keep coming back to the Audioengine B-Fi as a suitable streamer for my needs. Nothing exotic, just a solid seeming wi-fi streamer.

https://audioengine.com/shop/adapters/b ... -streamer/

after reading the website for that, I am not convinced that the phone is not the source. first, there is no ethernet port on the back. ok, so maybe it is wifi only.
then the chart that differentiates the models says "stream music through your phone".

so it may just be a fancy bluetooth adapter.

Check out this thing instead:
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_246ZSTREA ... tream.html

but of course that one doesn't have analog outputs, so you would need a DAC.

JDS labs Atom DAC for hifi

Phone for shower (I like disco showers).

Laptop if in front room and it is late.

Prism Atlas when doing nerd things.

I built a couple of Raspberry Pi amps for the kitchen/dining/living rooms and they've been rock-solid. I've been using Roon hosted on an Intel Nuc to tie everything together and its been great as it makes it easy to go between locally hosted files and Tidal / online radio stations. I have a DAC with a streamer for the "hifi", but I mostly play LP's so it doesn't get a whole hell of a lot of use.

Roon is a little on the expensive side, but I highly recommend it. It isn't the closed ecosystem that Sonos or Bluesound are, and it can even control those devices so it is super flexible. They just came out with a new update that allows you to stream your locally hosted files remotely from your phone which is pretty cool.
https://roonlabs.com

I finally upgraded my dodgy 50 year old JVC (more like JFC) to a Sony last year based on recs here. Has built in bluetooth. I'm not unhappy w/ it. Sound quality seems dependent on the source material more than anything else. The nice bonus for me is having an easier-to-access alternative listening station for mixes w/ out having to take extra steps to x-fer to home stereo.