Plus if you buy the iFi gear from someplace like Music Direct or Crutchfield you have 60 days to try it out.
As I said in my post, I did replace the Mac mini. Sent it off to my son for his use!
I also forgot to mention that before my network bridge, located in my rack, I do have fiber isolation using a pair of TP-Links: Amazon.com with Cable Matters 1G transceivers Amazon.com + 1M of fiber cable.
An LPS for the NUC is a good idea to try.
How do you like the 6SE? I thinking about it and the VAC Signature Mk IIa SE.
A dedicated streamer will improve your system so much, and it does not have to be expensive. Holo Red streamer is one of them, but there is a long waiting list since it is so hot considering what it can do.
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Questions:
- Are you staying with Roon? It sounds like it since you just built a ROCK. Which in my opinion was a fantastic idea.
- Do you have an open Ethernet port for another component in your rack?
- Budget?
- OK with buying used?
Have you looked at this topic?
My last thought for the momentā¦
You asked for input from this groupā¦maybe not the wisest decision. 
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Especially without a dollar cap.
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The ARC Ref 6SE is a superb preamp. Together with the ARC Ref 160S, a fantastic combo.
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- Yes, staying with Roon - I purchased a license some time ago.
- I do have one port left on my ethernet bridge.
- Budget: depends, of course! For example, the cheap Supra cable was a bust, the Cardas cost $360 and is excellent. Iām doubtful spending a lot more on a USB cable would be worth it, considering how good the Cardas cable is.
- Fine with buying usedā¦
I upgraded my system very similar to you. I have a NUC12 as well.
The difference between our system however is that I use a Sonore Signature Rendu SE with a Uptone EtherRegen to convert to optical. Itās likely that this is the last part of your chain that can be cleaned up.
Some say that the MKii is so good that there isnāt much of a benefit coming from the SonoreSigRenduSE. No sure, I just know the MKii sounds quite good!
Iām going to back @waymanchen11 above. In my research, Shunyataās USB cables seem to consistently review at or near the top of the proverbial heap. Iād test a Shunyata Sigma in your system, and try a LPS on the Rock to see how that does. (The Cable Co is great for a huge variety of cable demos. Cost of shipping is negligible to gain the knowledge that it is / isnāt worth upgrading over your Cardas USB.)
You might also test different fiber modules. Iāve read recently that different SFP modules impact the sound quality. Might be worth researching, especially since those donāt seem particularly expensive.
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Those TP link converters works well if all you need is to do a long run of fiber from point a to point b, however, I highly suspect the DC power supply for those converters introduces too much noise which could translates to jitter for your optical chain. Youād be better off by just using a single run of AQ cinnamon ethernet cable without those converters I my opinion.
By going optical, itās best to use quality switches with SPF ports and you can then pick and choose quality PSUs for the switches you are using.
Network streaming is very tweaky, I personally would not believe what I just wrote a year ago. But now I realize every bit has an additive effect that can translates to huge improvements.
Bad advice is easy to ignore! Good advice always acknowledged.
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When the cost of a cable approaches 50% or more of the component it is connecting, one has to be questioning the laws of diminishing returns to go beyond that! Just sayingā¦from my experience that is the case.
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Another component I seriously looked at along with the GS150. We use our system as a 2chan/HT. Our current use would have meant replacing the KT150ās every 14 months or so. For me that was too much money. For the time being I am staying with a tube pre and SS amplification.
This might be interesting. You can use it as a Roon endpoint and you get to use Luminās excellent software as well.
This power supply made a huge difference in powering my hard drive! Iāve been saying Wow quite often now whenever I listen to music. Not that expensive but big on performance.
I use to have Cardas USB cable, and Clear Beyond interconnects, and speaker cables. While they sounded quite nice and sweet, it is a bit veiled and muffled sounding compared to the more pricey cables I have now. Once you hear a better cable, youāll see how dull and lifeless these Cardas are. Anyhow, thatās my experience.
I think when you have top level amps, it deserves top level front end to get the best from it. Anything less no matter how you tweak it will only be so good. Even getting top level digital gear and cables, while it gets me very involved, but it still cannot match my turntable in shear realism and involvement.
None of it is ābadā advice of course! Just suitable for different folks! Sounds like a balanced approach you have there. One can wait to see if the AirLens ever shows up and read folks beta reviews then on whether it makes a difference having it between a ROCK and the MK2, instead of a USB cable. Or like many say, you can try one of the non-PS Audio I2S over HDMI devices mentioned above from Holo or iFi or Sonore etc and see if they help in your system.
Also the wedge-shaped iFi Elite power converters do seem to be highly regarded. I usually just replace the standard wall warts with leftover power blocks from WD RAID drives, from which I extracted the drives before. I have not tried listening for the difference. But figured it was not likely to hurt.
I find my Grimm MU1 to be a fine as in final solution.
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