Pandora again, and now Spotify too...

@elliottbnewcombjr,

Now that’s a throwback picture if I ever saw one. Although I don’t’ see a pc, except for the monitor, keyboard, mouse and printer. The location and positioning of the speakers are my earliest recollection of bookshelf speakers where exactly @elliottbnewcombjr has them placed.

And he’s even got a 45 rpm record player. I actually have about 125 or so 45’s I haven’t played since I was a kid. I’ve been thinking about putting them on the bay for about 5 bucks a pop.

But that was long ago and at the time no one was calling them bookshelf speakers. I think back in the day, those speakers I saw were Advent or KLH speakers(?) resting in bookshelves. Nicely done at @elliottbnewcombjr.

@tyray 

Very observant, no one else has ever mentioned the 45 player. I play old Jazz 45’s downstairs in the main system. Some, not a collection, just for fun.

Speakers shown above, white linen, are AR-2ax, compact 3 way, designed to fit on or in a bookcase; no port, pair of level controls for the tweeter and mid, to adjust in the space they find themselves. I had a pair in college, they were stolen, I always missed them, a thread here inspired me to get a pair, restored them, they sounded so good I moved them to my office and restored a 2nd pair for my garage/shop system.

The PC is partially in sight, but in the shadows: an HP compact, horizontal on a shelf suspended from the counter at my left, so I have access to it’s front ports, it’s dvd, card reader, a very small 2nd cd to make copies of music cds, and a small portable 2TB hard disk for all my data (that is identical to the backup one I keep in the trunk of my car).

Those speakers with 10" woofers, in this small room, do not need a sub, previously I had smaller 2 way Wharfedale’s, they needed a sub to keep from sounding small.

The office was completely changed to provide excellent imaging for the 1st time ever.

The Vertical TT was an unfinished project I completed, I got two non-working ones in a trade for a Fisher 800C with a member here.

And, this is the 1st time I could use the reel to Reel at a nice standup height, and 1st time I could use the Mickey Mouse Dust Cover I bought and saved for many years.

The earlier photo: I keep waiting for someone to mention my Nixon Punching Bag!

I got started with Pandora and also really liked their set up with their stations. I use a Grace digital on one of my set up and can't beat it for the price. 

@cleeds 

I prefer FREE, and Good Enough, preferring compressed has nothing to do with it for me.

UPDATE:  Finally... purchased a WiiM Ultra (on Crutchfield) and connected it to the RME ADI-2 via regular shielded USB 2.0 cable, and to my router via Ethernet cable.

Very impressed from the get go.  It looks very well built and comes beautifully packed with several cables (including HDMI, but no USB) and a remote.

Hookup and setup including the app were very simple and easy.  Since we will be using it as digital transport only with app control I didn't bother unpacking the remote.  Enabled the 3 services we use - Pandora, Qobuz and Spotify, all with subscription - with the app.  Duplicating my app setup on my wife's iPhone took maybe 30 seconds.

The most important stuff:
All 3 services were accessible immediately (just enter your login info) and they stream flawlessly in their top native resolutions.
The sound quality through the RME DAC is superb.  I am too lazy to run an A-to-B listening comparison vs. the Mano (possible only with Qobuz), but the WiiM sound quality running as digital transport with the same DAC seems every bit as good (pun intended).

So, our conundrum that prompted this thread is solved!

Very pleased and grateful for all the good advice here that steered us in this direction.  Cheers!