OP wrote:
Like everyone else above wrote about the RaspberryPi (RPi) option, you can build your own streamer for well under $1000 and it will include a 'audiophile-quality' DAC. I have two, both based on the RPi 3B+: a HifiBerry DAC+ Pro and a Orchard Audio ApplePi DAC. Both are dual-boot: Volumio for hifi audio streaming and playback, and OSMC/Kodi for HD movie streaming to RPi hdmi-out. The Orchard Audio ApplePi DAC is quite good though obviously won't match dedicated up-market hifi DACs of $3K+.
Read about a quarterly RPi DAC 'shoot-out' here, with DAC boards ranked: https://forum.volumio.org/volumio-soundcheck-invitation-for-hamburg-germany-t5918-230.html
"Is the sound quality from Raspberry Pi good for audiophiles?"Yes.
Like everyone else above wrote about the RaspberryPi (RPi) option, you can build your own streamer for well under $1000 and it will include a 'audiophile-quality' DAC. I have two, both based on the RPi 3B+: a HifiBerry DAC+ Pro and a Orchard Audio ApplePi DAC. Both are dual-boot: Volumio for hifi audio streaming and playback, and OSMC/Kodi for HD movie streaming to RPi hdmi-out. The Orchard Audio ApplePi DAC is quite good though obviously won't match dedicated up-market hifi DACs of $3K+.
Read about a quarterly RPi DAC 'shoot-out' here, with DAC boards ranked: https://forum.volumio.org/volumio-soundcheck-invitation-for-hamburg-germany-t5918-230.html