First time on the forums. I need some help with my current audio system and for one I am planning for my at-home office. My current system consists of a Bryston amp and preamp, Vandersteen 3 speakers and a Sony CD player. I would like to be able to stream to that system from my Mac Mini and occasionally from my phone. I’m not sure what type of component would be appropriate for my system. My budget would be about $800. The audio system and Mac are not in the same room so I’m thinking Bluetooth is my best option.
Secondly, I have a pair of Paradigm 3se Mini speakers that I want to use in my office. I have no other components yet for this system. I only plan to stream to them and the components would be close to my Mac. I’m thinking the Sprout would be a good choice here.
I obviously listen mainly to CDs and am not up top speed yet with streaming options. I would appreciate any suggestions or things I may want to consider.
Welcome to the forum. Do you have ethernet connection from the main system to your router. There are various ways to do this at varying price levels. Do you have a DAC connected to your preamp?
In your price range there are options from HiFiBerry and Bluesound (players). If you have a DAC, Sonore has some nice options.
Talk to Andrew at Small Green Computer. He is a Sonore outlet. After you get the basics sound is easy to tweak with LPS and better cables as budget allows.
Thanks for all the responses. I do not have DAC connected to my pre-amp and I don’t have an Ethernet connection from my router. However, I could run some Cat-6 in my crawl space to make that connection.
I will check out the Sonore suggestions.
Thanks again.
If your Mac Mini is close to your audio equipment, you could go with a USB DAC (Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt, one of the Schiit DACs, etc.) connected to your Mac Mini with RCA outputs to your preamp. You’d then use something like Roon server on your Mac to be the Network streamer. There are other options like Audirvana, too. Both have mobile app control.
Others have suggested a dedicated network streamer, which is also great. It’s worth trying the software options on the Mac Mini first though to feel things out. There are free trials.
Many here, including myself, use Roon. I use a Room Nucleus Plus server.
If I can convince my wife to move my audio system to the room that shares a wall with my office, then your suggestion of connecting the Mac to a DAC then to my system would work nicely.
If I understand the Roon correctly, adding it would just enable me to stream to other devices (since my Mac would be streaming to my audio system). Is that correct?
The Roon server will house your music (i.e. installed on Mac Mini) – you would still need a Roon Endpoint – like a Chromecast Audio, or dedicated Network streamer that supports Roon.
Out of the box, Roon can stream to Chromecast, Apple TV, and some TVs or Blu-ray players which have been tested and certified by Roon, but it may have to down-convert music to the endpoint’s maximum supported bitrate.