Recommended streamers/servers?


Up to $5,000. At present I have a SILENT ANGEL RHEIN Z1 V2 MUSIC SERVER connected to a PS Audio DS DAC via USB CABLE.
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I really like my Cambridge Audio CXN V2, for a little over a grand.  It does a great job with Internet Radio, the app works well, and it has Bluetooth, AirPlay, and Chromecast.  The latter has really impressed me as a wireless high resolution source.  The C.A. works with a variety of streaming services, and you may want to check to see if yours is included (amongst popular services, Pandora seems to not work with every streamer), but if you pick a service that isn’t included you can still use one of the above wireless technologies above.  I did recently have an issue where the C.A. stopped recognizing my server, but their support was very responsive and helped me fix it.  Streamers are networking computers, subject to all the IT issues that computers have, and a reliable C.S. Is important.  The CA also has a good DAC, which you won’t need, but it has digital inputs so if the PS Audio goes on the friz it is a good digital stopgap
Have a close look at Aurender. They produce outstanding streamers in different configuration. I own two and have owned and listened to many others. I believe in general them to be the leaders in the field. There flagship is probably the most used reference streamer used in high end audio shows. They sound dead quiet (something not that common), very musical, and detailed. Buying used might be a good way to move up another level in their product lines.

I have found putting more money in the streamer than other non-speaker components a worthwhile investment. They are like turntables, if you don’t have it at the start of the signal chain then it isn’t coming out the other end… well, unless it is noise and distortion.
Auralic Aries G1 or G2.1. I have the former and think it’s great; I use the USB output. The latter is top of their line, and more costly.

Besides excellent streaming performance, both models include top-flight DSP that you can engage if you want to try resampling, parametric EQ, and such. (Or, you can leave it turned off.)
A excellent dac+ streamer board is the Bricasti M3 
retail is $ 6500, give Perrotta consultants a call and ask Him what is his best price is , it has a lot of high quality  for the money 
and many excellent reviews.
When I tried a streamer server years ago, the Auralic sounded better than the Aurender and others. I decided to stop using USB because it just never sounded good, so I bought a very good dac with i2s and Ethernet and went with Roon and sounds better than any configuration before. I don’t like proprietary servers because of many reasons, a couple are: no built in backups, sometimes proprietary OS’s, how are you going to fix an issue if the OS update fails or server can’t boot???
I understand that some of these proprietary servers tweak their USB ports for audio, but since I won’t use usb and no server company has software that compares more favorable than Roon, then why use a proprietary server