McIntosh 830

Is the Node 2i your DAC or the 8900? Either way, I think you are doing a disservice to the amps and preamp (yes, the C2700 would be better) by not getting a better DAC/Streamer.

I’ve tried both DAC’s and prefer the 8900 DAC via coax. You are probably right though but considering I’m new to the high res streaming it’s sounding pretty good. At this point I’d rather put money towards a pair of La Scalas than a better DAC.

What are your speakers? It seems like you spent a lot on amps and preamp. Your amp implies you definitely will get a much better sound with upgrading your streaming/DAC solution. 

Currently speakers are Sonus Fabre sonetto fives 😃

What are you currently running ?

I guess I'm just not sure how you're allocating budget with the 830 monoblocks. They're like $8k, right? If you are spending that much on amps, and $5k on speakers, spending like $2000 or so on a good DAC seems like a logical next step, unless you don't listening to digital music. There are so many great options. What do I have? I'm not sure why it matters, but my current list of DACs (in order of most used): dCS Rossini+Clock, dCS Bartok, Chord Hugo 2, RME ADI-2, Lynx Aurora (n), Mytek Manhattan 2, Mytek Brooklyn DAC+, Theta Casablanca V.