The outlaw is a receiver with a DAC but is not itself a streamer...at the price, a chromecast audio is the only one leaving any room in the budget for speakers
I think you’ve gotten lots of good advice but there seem to be a few divergent paths. To summarize:
1) super simple system: streamer + powered speakers —> the advantage here is portability and ease of placement in unknown rooms down the line.
—For this a Node 2 plus the best powered speakers you can get is probably a solid option and I doubt you’d ever have trouble finding a home somewhere in your home for both purchases down the road. A chromecast audio plus speakers lets you have more money for speakers and is even tinier for moving around but you’d lose MQA.
2) simple “separates”: integrated amp + passive speakers + chromecast audio
a) better amp with cheaper speakers
b) cheaper amp with better speakers
c) middle ground for both
— disadvantage here is no MQA, which you’ve expressed an interest in and there’s a better chance you’ll be unhappy with at least part of your system and just get rid of something later rather than keeping it. Also, some of the integrated amps are larger to move around than others but since you aren’t flying it’s probably not a dealbreaker. One advantage may be flexibility down the line and another is significantly better connectivity options down the line since most integrated amps have more inputs than most powered speakers and some integrated amps will have built in phono inputs. Depending on the components in the “old system” you want to upgrade after this year of moving around, it’s possible at least one component might stick around for the main rig...if that’s the case, perhaps you can stretch the budget farther but only you can decide if and how far.
I think you’ve gotten lots of good advice but there seem to be a few divergent paths. To summarize:
1) super simple system: streamer + powered speakers —> the advantage here is portability and ease of placement in unknown rooms down the line.
—For this a Node 2 plus the best powered speakers you can get is probably a solid option and I doubt you’d ever have trouble finding a home somewhere in your home for both purchases down the road. A chromecast audio plus speakers lets you have more money for speakers and is even tinier for moving around but you’d lose MQA.
2) simple “separates”: integrated amp + passive speakers + chromecast audio
a) better amp with cheaper speakers
b) cheaper amp with better speakers
c) middle ground for both
— disadvantage here is no MQA, which you’ve expressed an interest in and there’s a better chance you’ll be unhappy with at least part of your system and just get rid of something later rather than keeping it. Also, some of the integrated amps are larger to move around than others but since you aren’t flying it’s probably not a dealbreaker. One advantage may be flexibility down the line and another is significantly better connectivity options down the line since most integrated amps have more inputs than most powered speakers and some integrated amps will have built in phono inputs. Depending on the components in the “old system” you want to upgrade after this year of moving around, it’s possible at least one component might stick around for the main rig...if that’s the case, perhaps you can stretch the budget farther but only you can decide if and how far.