Upgrade DAC Power Supply, Streamer, or ?

As @logistics mentioned, a power conditioner is a worthwhile addition. My listening experience after adding an Audioquest Niagara 1200 is:

My immediate reaction was that the quality of the sound seemed calmer, but without any loss of pace or tonal richness. The overall character of the sound remains the same. Upbeat music still remains upbeat, but calmer music feels even more calm.

There is slightly less edginess to the quality of the sound but to a perceptible degree. My system was already pretty good in terms of not sounding harsh or edgy, but the AQ Niagara tones it down a bit more. With the AQ Niagara 1200 in place, listening fatigue seems to have gone away altogether for me.

I'm better able to follow individual instruments and voices when they are layered together in music. In complex music passages in some tracks, I'm used to voices and instruments sounding mixed together. The AQ Niagara 1200 seems to provide better separation and more defined placement of individual voices and instruments.  

More "air" around instruments & voices. Better able to hear the acoustics of the recording space: On the Cowboy Junkies, The Trinity Session

• Highs seem sweeter: 

• Better flow.

• Tonal quality sounds more evident: 

• No loss of pace or timing.

• Bass seems fuller.

Put all your files on a NAS, get rid of the computers altogether, and buy the best streamer you can afford. At $1800,The Eversolo T8 is the best thing you can get under the $5K HiFi Rose RS130. But you have to use the SFP to realize it’s best performance. Which means buying a decent switch with SFP out. 

 lanx0003 I had momentarily forgotten that it's streamer -> DAC -> preamp.  You also answered my question about adapter cables.

retiredaudioguy thank you for that information. I'll do more research on streamers and also USB/adapter cables.

adasdad good advice and yes I'm happy with the DAC and feel it's worth an LPS.

Soix thank you, for a minute I forgot the DAC was the middle-man.

Calvinandhobbes thank you for sharing the benefits of the Niagra 1200. Sounds excellent.

ericrhodes1 thank you. I thought I was sold on the Innuos line and the SENSE App but I will do more research including the T8.

Thanks everyone.

@foamcutter, you’ve received some great advice here. While the Innuos and Eversolo units are popular "one-box" choices, your Merason Frerot is a serious DAC that deserves a truly isolated source. Forum experts have already noted that its asynchronous USB input is its best-performing connection—bypassing the jitter issues of your current coax setup.

Since you are Mac-based and want to avoid technical headaches, I highly recommend a "Three Tier Roon + Diretta" setup. This architecture physically separates the server, the player, and the DAC. In my experience, this specific design has successfully outperformed dedicated streaming transports costing up to $8,000.

The Setup (Total Hardware/Software: ~$951)

1. The Server (Roon Core): A GMKTec NucBox G3 Plus (~$207). This tiny, silent unit runs Roon OS and sits near your router.

2. The Library (Internal Storage): A 1TB Transcend MTS425S M.2 SATA SSD (~$96). This fits inside the NucBox, providing a clean home for your music. Note: You must use a SATA drive (like this Transcend) for the expansion slot, as NVMe drives are not compatible with the G3 Plus for storage. For context, 1 TB holds about 2,500 CDs—nearly double your current 1,300-disc library.

3. The Protection (Backups): A Samsung FIT thumb drive ($20) for automated Roon database backups and a 2TB external USB HDD ($90) for a full backup of your music library.

4. The Bridge (The Player): A Diretta Kit (~$450). This consists of two tiny units—roughly 3.5" x 1.0" x 2.5"—that are typically placed 2 to 3 feet apart. One connects to your network, and the other connects directly to your Frerot via USB.

5. The Ripping Station: An ASUS ZenDrive ($40) and dBpoweramp software ($48) for your Mac.

Why this is the "Best Bang for the Buck":

• Mac-Centric Workflow: You do all your ripping on your Mac using dBpoweramp. It uses "AccurateRip" to ensure every disc is a perfect, bit-perfect archive.

• Appliance Simplicity: Once configured, you never touch the "computer." You use the free Roon App on your smartphones, tablets, and computers to browse your library and Tidal. It’s as easy as using a remote control but provides a magazine-like browsing experience.

• High-End Isolation: By moving the noisy processing (Tier 1) away from the bridge (Tier 2) and the DAC (Tier 3), you get a level of transparency that single-box streamers can't match.

At ~$951 (plus $148/year for your Roon subscription), you are achieving performance that rivals $8k transports while staying well under your $2,000 budget. This leaves you almost $900 for more music or that Merason POW1 power supply upgrade discussed earlier.

I’ve walked several people through this exact configuration via screen-share. It’s a "set and forget" system, and I’d be happy to help you get it running.

dsnyder0cnn,  thank you for your post and generous offer. I will study your recommendations and then hopefully I can contact you  here through private messages if I have any questions. I appreciate it very much.