streaming and audiophile stereo

op the quality of the dac and the streaming device are both extremely important 

just because a dac can process Mqa does not guaranty sound quality 

there are very inexpensive dacs that can do mqa that does not mean they will sound as good as state of the art dacs one of the most critical aspects is a dacs analog stage.

we sell a lot of streamig systems and  dacs fromy Mytek, nad, 

naim, aqua hifi, Aavik, mojo audio, Atoll,krell and 432 evo sercers, baetis and others,

selecting a front end can be daunting however by asking a few questions and determining a possibile strategy can be easier once you understand a few key issues.

Dave and Troy

Audio Intellect NJ

And what KIND of Dac..

I prefer the sound of an R2R over a sigma delta..

and yeah, connectivity..  data drops, whether mqa or qobuz, ruin a song worse than a scratched record.. though I get fewer audible  drops with qobuz, they seem to do a better job caching.

I would start small with a blue node like mentioned above, just don’t waste your money on expensive Ethernet cables and so called audiophile Ethernet products, they don’t work.

what you may want to consider since you are using tubes, is to move your wireless router away from your equipment. Some products are poorly designed and pick up noise from the radios in the wireless router. 

In a digital source chain the streamer is probabaly most important, try a reasonably affordable all-in-one streamer/DAC like a Lumin T3 that has very good digital outs via USB and BNC so you can rotate other DACs into your system. Lumin's app sounds good and has a reasonable UX. Aurender's A15 is also a good choice for an all-in-one and has similarly high-quality build/sound/features/app. Don't skimp on the switch (preferably one that has an OXCO clock and fiber optic i/o) and cables, as others have said, every component counts in the chain.