Computer vs CD/SACD discs

I also think CDs ripped to lossless files on FLAC can sound better than the original CD, my theory being the error correction while ripping produces a more stable file (but don't have a shred of engineering background to prove this).

Austinbob, Most of CD players can read CD sector only once (since they work in real time). It can error correct for short scratches (up to about 4mm along the track) but for longer scratch (4-8mm) it interpolates. Computer rip reads CD like data and can go to the same sector multiple times (even thousands of times) until it gets proper checksum. Computer file can be better than original CD but I doubt that you can hear any difference unless original CD is badly scratched. On the other hand it can be very useful to create good CD-R copy of CDs that won't play or play with a lot of pops.

AFAIK every computer buffers data in RAM before playback since music is stored on hard disk without timing as data and timing has to be always recreated. Hard disk has hefty cache buffer to start with. At the end everything comes to quality of final clock governing D/A conversion.

I like wireless transfer since it allows to discard everything on computer side of the wireless bridge. It also allows me to keep computer away from DAC. Computer speed, amount of RAM playback program etc. play no role. Clock on the DAC side can be greatly improved by reclocking.