Just starting out

Music servers are easy to use, at least some of them. The problem with these is generally sound quality. It can be improved significantly by adding a digital reclocker.

If you want the best possible SQ, this will not deliver it. The best SQ is currently from a select group of USB to digital converters. You will need a computer, like a Mac Mini and playback software like Amarra to make these sing. Then need feed a decent DAC, like a Wired for Sound DAC2 or Metrum Octave.

Use a transformer-based preamp like these http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=89744.0 and you will get a good result. Use an active preamp or receiver, and all of the great SQ will be buried.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Active preamps all add noise, distortion and compression. The only good thing is they usually have stronger drive than a DAC. Just get the right DAC with strong drive and use a transformer linestage.

Once you have a low-jitter source, you will easily hear what an active preamp does to this source. Many times, the gains in tranparency and detail from low-jitter are lost if you use an active preamp.