STREAMER - WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?

@mdalton so you're saying that the issues regarding the power supply and other distortions from the streamer can be boiled down to SNR?  What about clocking issues?  How is this measured through SNR?  I think people try to oversimplify things too often but your approach may be valid if somehow clock offsets can be measured properly through SNR.  

OP, you are on the right track. Don't let other people get you off the rails.  Just test twor three competent streamers in your system and let us know your thoughts!  I'd personally really love to hear which one works in your tube based system.  Good luck homie!

@jrareform nope, absolutely not what I said.  I said it is very helpful for evaluating streamers.  Unless somebody is just looking to pick a fight, that is an incredibly non controversial statement.  Another measurement that is useful, and also published in many HiFi News reviews, is jitter.  As I am sure you know, the primary purpose of reclocking is to remove jitter, and it can be done at the streamer, a separate product, or alternatively by the dac itself.  Having insight as to how much jitter a streamer adds to a dac’s output can give you insight into whether you want to explore reclocking.

@jrareform nope, absolutely not what I said.  I said it is very helpful for evaluating streamers.  Unless somebody is just looking to pick a fight, that is an incredibly non controversial statement.  Another measurement that is useful, and also published in many HiFi News reviews, is jitter.  As I am sure you know, the primary purpose of reclocking is to remove jitter, and it can be done at the streamer, a separate product, or alternatively by the dac itself.  Having insight as to how much jitter a streamer adds to a dac’s output can give you insight into whether you want to explore reclocking.

@mdalton oh ok when you said "But for streamers, SNR really tells you a lot; that’s because noise is the only differentiator among streamers" it sounded like you're saying "noise is the only differentiator among streamers" I was just taking you literally.  But gotcha.  I think

I have the HiFi Rose RS 130. I have not tried any other streamer other than Bluesound. The quality of the HiFi Rose is very good. I have no doubt the sound is superior. I have not compared it to Innous, Eversolo, Lumin or other hi end brands. The screen is beautiful, the sound is spectacular, it’s built very well and has the best connections. T-base fiber optic Ethernet, Is2, hdmi, SSD HDD for storage and caching, OCXO external master clock, DSD and a great analog section. The user interface is not as great as Bluesound (but like another audiophile here, I pair it with Roon). It’s expensive, but I would not use another brand, at this point. I tried Eversolo once and it was too complicated to use, not intuitive. I am using a Denafrips Pontus 12th Anniversary DAC with the Rose, which sounds great. I feel if I spent twice as much on a DAC, the Rose would sound twice as good. It sounds as good as my VPI Prime X turntable, maybe better on some recordings. My two cents only...